James Arthur DeBaun

He leaves a huge hole in the hearts of his family and friends who were entertained by his sense of humor, love for music, sports, and animals, as well as his caring heart.

Jim was born on August 30, 1952, to Garnett DeBaun and Virginia DeBaun (McGuire) in Sullivan, Indiana. He is the second oldest to four brothers: Henree, Joe, Jay, and Jack. The family moved from Indiana to the Southern California area in 1959 to where he lived most of his life.

Being a lover of rock music from childhood in the 1960s through his teens, Jim taught himself how to play the bass guitar during his school years emulating his guitar heroes Pete Townsend and Jimi Hendrix. Being such a fan of the latter lead Jim to naming his son, Jimi. His talent on the bass allowed him to perform throughout the years with his older brother, Henree, and with others on various projects.

Once Jim graduated from Artesia High School in 1970, his love for music and the influence of 1970s Los Angeles FM radio motivated him to get an Associates Degree in Radio/TV at Long Beach City College to which he started his first career in broadcasting. This career found him moving back to Indiana in 1979 and back to California in 1989. Jim’s broadcasting career started at KLON (Jazz) radio in Long Beach, California (Producer, ’75-‘79); WVTS (Rock) radio in Terre Haute, Indiana (Music Director/Air Personality, ’79-‘84); WAXI (Country) radio in Rockville,

Indiana (Program Director, ’84-’88); and concluding back in California as an Instructor in Radio/TV Production for Long Beach Unified School District (’88-’93). Although Jim’s professional career in broadcasting concluded in the late 1988’s, Jim’s passion for early FM style rock radio remained until his passing. He ran his own Internet radio station, Classic Rock Deep Cuts (CRDC) “Underground” radio (www.crdcradio.com), which has comedy clips, albumoriented rock, creative bumpers, and no commercials. As of this writing, one can still tune in to

get the sense of Jim’s music sensibilities and still feel his presence through his song selections.

During his Summer breaks as a teacher, Jim worked at Disneyland as a Security Officer, and upon leaving his teaching position in 1993, he became full time K-9 Handler and Explosive Detection Dog Handler Lead until 2002. For the last two decades and until his passing, he was employed at the Boeing Company in Seal Beach, California with a position as an Industrial Security specialist. His passing leaves a huge void amongst those who considered Jim an easy going and hardworking coworker.

Upon Jim’s moving back to the Southern California in 1989, he met Robin Stanley (also a bass player) to whom he married in 1990. Their son, Jimi, was born in 1991 completing their family. The DeBaun family eventually moved to Orange, California to where they would spend their lives loving music, enjoying the company of their assortment of cats, dogs, birds, and other critters, and rooting for their teams every weekend. Jim and Robin were inseparable to where they often went on trips just to experience music events, such as attending the Cream reunion in England at the Royal Albert Hall or the 50th anniversary Woodstock festival at Bethal Woods, New York.

He was beloved by everyone who ever met him: A great father, a caring husband, and a best friend to all walks of life.

Jim is now at peace, joining his parents, Garnett and Virginia, and younger brother, Jay.

Jim is survived by his wife of 31 years, Robin, his son, Jimi, of whom he loved deeply. He is also survived by brothers, Henree, Joe, and Jack, and his in-laws, Bob and Carolyn Stanley, Ronda Lukasik (Stanley), Patty DeBaun, Theresa DeBaun, and Leslie DeBaun, as well as his nieces, Venus, Christina, Jennifer, Lisa, and Cambria.

The family is honoring Jim with a brief graveside gathering to intern his ashes at Fairhaven Memorial Park & Mortuary, 1702 Fairhaven Ave, Santa Ana, CA March 19th at 10:00 am immediately followed by a reception at the home of Rick and Lisa Taylor, 6902 East Cowan Canyon Circle, Orange, CA. Anyone wanting to pay their respects to Jim is more than welcome to attend. Casual attire is welcome.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in honor of Jim, a longtime Type 1 diabetic, to the American Diabetes Association.