Jim was born December 17, 1946 at Mercy Hospital in Denver; the second child of Helen Wallace and Lawrence Eugene Effinger. He had one sister; Judith Ann Potter, and two step brothers; Robert Musser and Douglas Musser of Baltimore and Philadelphia, respectively. He has been twice married and twice deeply in love. His first wife, Mary Jean McCaslin Effinger died at a young age, of breast cancer. She and Jim had three children; Jacob Lawrence, Molly Lea, and Jessep Walker. They all now reside in the Greeley and Windsor area. His wife, Lyndon, was one of Mary Jean’s nurses. She and Jim married in 1998, and then renewed their vows again every five years. Lyndon’s three children; Kelly Dawn, Andrew Johnson, and Nathan Connor all adored Jim, and thus a huge “his-and-her family” came to be. In addition, Jim was now the proud grandfather of nine children: Lilly Anna and Chase Solebach, Madeline and Michaela Earhart Effinger, Gracelynn Morgan Effinger, Tatum Daigh Hitchcock, Addison “Addi” Shippy, and Daelynn and Kylee Trimble. His great-grandson is due in March. He is also survived by his daughter-in-law, Carrie Earhart Effinger; sons-in-law, Kevin Trimble and Gregory L. Solebach, as well as numerous beloved nieces and nephews.
Born in Denver, his family moved to Chatham, New Jersey at the age of eight. His father was an executive with AT&T. Sadly, his dad died in New York City when Jim was 10 years old. Jim, along with his mother and sister, moved back to Colorado, where they lived on Cook Street, and Jim attended South High School. As a little guy, Jim adored climbing trees, playing “cowboys”, and “paying off his boys” with money he got at Woolworth’s. In high school he participated primarily in gymnastics. He joined the Navy at age 17, and went to radio school in San Diego. He was then stationed in Newport, Rhode Island on the USS Gearing. The tour of duty on the Gearing took him throughout the Mediterranean (Spain, Italy, Turkey, Lebanon, and the Straits of Gibraltar). He then extended his tour to attend submarine school in Rhode Island and Connecticut. Following his schooling, he served on the USS Argonaut and the USS Hunley. The Argonaut was the last of the pre-nuclear submarines.
Following the Navy, Jim moved back to Denver ad worked primarily in construction. In 1974, Jim began his career at Union Pacific Railroad, where he worked as a train conductor for 32 years. He and Mary Jean were married August 31, 1968. Jacob was their first born, arriving in 1976. Originally living in Bailey, the commute for the railroad proved arduous, so he and Mary Jean moved to Greeley, where Molly Lea and Jessep Walker were born.
Following his marriage to Lyndon, whom he lovingly called “Lizzy”, he underwent five surgeries on his shoulders and elbows, as it was apparent that he could no longer hang off the sides of the trains. Union Pacific granted him a full disability. A few years earlier, Lyndon als stopped her nursing career after developing Menier’s disease. Newly married, madly in love, these two were now being given the gift of time…time to make up for “lost time”. This, they totally cherished and were by each other’s sides throughout the coming 21 years. They loved their family, first and foremost, and especially savored time with their grandbabies. They loved traveling, especially to the tropics. Their most favorite spot was on Eleuthera, in the Bahamas. Their love for each other was truly remarkable – so much so that one of their doctors coined the term, “The Effinger Effect” to describe spontaneous, unexpected healings that occur through the power of love and “in spite” of the best medical predictions. Jim will be sorely missed for being such a gentle and kind soul, and for the simple truths which he imparted all throughout his life.
Services will be held at 11:00 AM, Wednesday, December 18, 2019 at the Allnutt Macy Chapel, 6521 W. 20th Street, Greeley, CO 80634. Please visit www.allnuttgreeley.com to send condolences to the family.
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