Jim Stanley Misko

Jim grew up in Fallsburg, NY. His classmates from Fallsburg Central High School remember him for his quick smile, friendship, and talent as a trumpet player and actor in school plays. During his teenage years, he worked at the famous Concord Hotel in the Catskills under the guidance of his father. There he learned carpentry skills he would enjoy putting to use throughout his life.

He earned his Psy.D. from the Florida Institute of Technology in 1988 and shortly after accepted a job offer that brought him to Austin, TX, launching his career as a neuropsychologist and brain injury specialist. Jim would go on to serve on several state and national brain injury association boards and to co-own and operate CORE Healthcare, an inpatient brain injury rehabilitation facility in Dripping Springs, TX.

In 1998 he met Jennifer Oden, then a speech-language pathologist who had referred a client to him. When he stopped by to thank her for the referral, there was an immediate connection. They soon became inseparable, often spending time working on the house Jim was building with his own two hands (and the help of some skilled friends!) in Dripping Springs. In 2001 they were married in a tiny chapel in Revelstoke, British Columbia. They added on to the house in Dripping Springs to make room for their two sons, Jacob and Nicholas.

Jim’s wife and children were his greatest joy. Nothing gave him more pleasure than fostering their interests. His encouragement gave Jennifer the confidence to go into private practice. For years he drove Jacob all the way to north Austin every week to pursue his passion for music at the School of Rock. He thoughtfully engaged with Jacob’s songwriting efforts, devoting hours to discussions of intention and philosophy. With Nicholas, he went camping and fishing, driving for hours all around Texas to find just the right spot. They collected rocks and crystals wherever they went, bonding over a shared fascination with nature. Jim generously and enthusiastically shared his appreciation for art, creativity, and science.

One of his greatest passions was helping others. Jim went above and beyond to improve the lives of individuals with brain injuries and their families and he would drop everything to help out his friends and family, whether that involved physical labor, personal or professional advice, or intensively researching a medical problem and connecting someone with the very best resources.

Jim was crazy smart, curious, enthusiastic, and engaged. (To be honest, his intellectual ability and seemingly endless dropping of factoids could sometimes be annoying, earning him Jennifer’s most-of-the-time affectionate nick-name, “Mr. Smarty Pants.”) He had the gift of making people feel seen and heard and the ability to see potential and encourage them to achieve things they may not have thought possible.

Jim kept his drinking problem a secret from everyone, including his family and closest friends. In the last few years of his life, he communicated about it more openly and sought help. It is the hope of Jim’s family that his tragic loss may serve to encourage others struggling with addiction to seek help.

Jim is survived by his wife, Jennifer, sons Jacob and Nicholas, sister Elaine (Bill) Kaiser, brother David (Marina) Misko, brother-in-law David Oden, nieces Dawn Thompson, Dorothea Skornog, and Amy Oden, and nephew Adam Zingalis.

We will celebrate Jim’s life at a memorial service at Cook-Walden Funeral Home, 6300 W. William Cannon Dr., Austin, TX, at 12 PM on Saturday, August 5th. A reception will follow.

In lieu of flowers, memorials in Jim’s memory may be made to:

National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers

NAATP Foundation

PO Box 271686

Louisville, CO 80027

https://www.naatp.org/foundation/support

Or

Eloise Woods Natural Burial Park (made out to Natural Burialist)

3724 Far West Blvd, #104,

Austin, TX 78731

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cookwaldenforestoaks.com for the Misko family.