C. James “Jim” Lust

Jim was born August 2, 1936 at Station Hospital, Fort Lewis, Washington, to Carl and Arta (James) Lust. He enjoyed the adventures of an army brat, living on far-flung military bases from Fairbanks, Alaska to Arlington, Virginia, where as a teen he shagged baseballs for the Washington Senators and rowed on the Potomac with his high school crew team in an 8-man Pocock shell. When Jim’s father was deployed to Korea, his mother brought the family to live with her parents in Oakesdale, Washington, where he graduated from high school, one of thirteen students in the class of 1953.

Jim gained entrance to what was then called Washington State College in Pullman, and soon met his bride-to-be, Darlene F. Picatti, who kept him from nodding off to sleep in their sociology class during initiation week at the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity. As a senior he had the pleasure of swearing into the fraternity his brother, Michael, and his father, who decided to attend college after retiring as a Colonel from the Air Force. After receiving a bachelor’s degree and completing Army ROTC training in 1958, Jim earned the rank of First Lieutenant while stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia, and Fort Jackson, South Carolina. His letters of acceptance to the Army Rangers and the University of Washington Law School arrived on the same day, and he opted to pursue studies in law, completing his J.D. degree in 1963.

The couple returned to Darlene’s hometown of Yakima, raising a family as Jim embarked on a career in family law that culminated in a partnership with the Velikanje, Moore, and Shore law firm. He earned the respect of both his clients and his colleagues in the legal community for his integrity and sense of fairness. He was a member of the Jaycees, and served a term on the City Council. During his tenure he was instrumental in generating support for the construction of Franklin and Washington pools, an accomplishment that gave him lasting pride. In 1998 Jim was elected to the Yakima County Superior Court Bench, where he truly found his professional calling. He served until 2012, stepping down from the bench reluctantly at 75, the mandatory age of retirement.

Jim’s interests centered around his family—winter ski trips in the mountains, summer vacations at the beach, moving cattle on the farm he owned with his father and brother outside Cowiche, performing his famous “rusty jackknife” in the family pool. When his daughters became involved in volleyball, he volunteered tirelessly to support their endeavors, helping to found Team Yakima Volleyball Club in 1977, followed by the Cascade Volleyball Club and the Evergreen Region of USA Volleyball. He discovered unexpectedly he had a gift as a coach, and for twenty-two years turned knock-kneed, timid adolescents into skilled athletes who knew the meaning of hard work, team spirit, and sportsmanship. His legacy includes an impressive string of strong, capable thirty- and forty-something women to whom he forever referred as “my volleyball girls.”

He was a music aficionado of eclectic taste, equally fond of the symphonies of Beethoven, the operas of Rossini, the jazz of Dave Brubeck, and the rock ballads of Sting. He treasured Sunday dinners with his large extended family—raucous, laughter-filled evenings with home-cooked meals prepared by Darlene and his daughters, his sons-in-law manning the grill, and raised glasses filled with his favorite wines from the Pacific Northwest.

Retirement left more time for his true passion as a gentleman farmer, raising cattle and horses, growing barley and alfalfa, fixing tractors and moving sprinklers. A consummate steward of the land, he loved the look of a freshly swathed field of an August evening, the agility of a good cutting horse, and the scent of sagebrush on the wind as he walked the perimeter of his fields, his dog by his side.

Jim is survived by his wife of 58 years, Darlene (Picatti) Lust; his four daughters and their spouses, Nancy Lust, Teresa Lust (Robert Davis), Mary Riehl (Doran Riehl), Eva Lust-Wright (Justin Wright); and his six grandchildren, Carly and Elena Riehl, Margot and Joseph Davis, and Thomas and Jonathan Wright. He is also survived by his brother Michael Lust, his sister Julie (Lust) Kelley, and numerous nieces and nephews.

A celebration of his life will be held Saturday, March 26, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. at Seasons Performance Hall, 101 N. Naches Avenue, Yakima, WA.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Jim’s memory may be made to the Cougar Family Endowment Scholarship Fund, c/o Washington State University Foundation, PO Box 641927, Pullman, WA, 99164-1927, or to the Cowiche Canyon Conservancy, PO Box 877, Yakima, WA 98907.

The family would like to thank the staff at North Star Lodge; oncologist Dr. Thomas Boyd, for his unwavering advocacy on our father’s behalf; the compassionate, skilled nurses in the oncology and cardiac units at Memorial Hospital, who doted on him; and Dr. Gabriel Lascar, who knew Jim was more than the sum of all his parts.