Born 11/3/1928 in Denver, Colorado, Jim came to California as a young child, here he found a passion for baseball and played in the minor leagues for a short time, he was a second lieutenant in the US Army during the Korean War. After the war, he earned his teaching credentials at UCLA, and taught Junior High School History & Physical Education at Fullerton Jr High and Mark Twain Jr High, while at the former, he met and married his wife of 60 years. As an avid golfer, he had the opportunity to play at Saint Andrews golf course in Scotland more than once. He treasured antique cars and the city of Los Angeles, which led him to the Peterson Auto Museum in 1994 and has been a valuable member of its community ever since, he was President in the early years, and later became a docent and received the LA volunteer of the Year award several times. Once he retired from teaching, Jim got his contractors license and started JMT Construction. As an alumnus, he held season tickets to the UCLA Bruins Football games for over 50 years.
He is survived by his wife Pat Allen, his oldest son Matthew & his wife Phyllis, his youngest son Tony, his cousin Ron Morrison & Linda Szabo, and a multitude of very close friends which are too many to list.
A celebration of life was held at his home on Saturday, 3/16/2019. As UCLA coach John Wooden stated “It isn’t what you do, but how you do it.”
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