James Allen "Jim" Santage

James Allen “Jim” Santage, 69, of Gilbert, AZ passed away December 15, 2015. He was born August 11, 1946 in Peterson, Iowa to Howard Wayne and Sylvia [Gilbertson] Santage. Jim attended Drake University and was studying Psychology. It was during this time that Jim was drafted into the US Army and served during the Vietnam War. During his military service, Jim sustained an injury and was awarded 2 Purple Hearts as well as the Bronze Star; he was then sent to Australia to heal from those injuries. He was Honorably Discharged in 1969. After being discharged, Jim starting working for a friend who owned a cleaning business, who brought the business to Arizona, where Jim later moved to. Jim later went to work for Smitty’s and worked his way up to store manager from the mid 1970’s to the early 90’s until the store closing. After Smiity’s, Jim went returned to school to work towards a degree in nursing. Later he worked at Toys-R-Us for a short period of time and then went on to working with the U.S. Post Office, where he remained until retirement. Jim loved to travel, from Fiji, to Australia; his favorite however was Hawaii, especially Maui. Jim is survived by his sister Shirley (Richard) Foust; his brother David (Debbie)Santage; his niece Jennifer (Zac) Gates; nephews Richard (Amy)Foust Jr, Curtis (Val) Foust and Nick Santage as well as his great nephews. A funeral service will be held at 7:00pm, Saturday, December 19, 2015 at Mariposa Gardens Cemetery Chapel, 6747 E. Broadway Rd in Mesa. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Child Crisis Center - http://childcrisisaz.org.