James Alvin Anema

James (Jim) Alvin Anema was born on April 24th 1955 and passed August 6th 2024. The son of Charles and Clara Anema; he grew up in Denver with his brother Dale, and his two sisters Alberta (Bertie) and Karen.

James attended Denver Christian high school, as well as taking 3 years of business and real estate at the Metropolitan State University of Denver from 1973-1976.

James was a sgt.-at-arms in the Colorado Senate in 1977. He the went on to become the youngest regional manager at the time for a car rental firm that later became enterprise rental from 1977-1979. He entered into real estate property management with Hans Nielson Inc from 1979-1981, before partnering with Porter Nelson; creating his own JA commercial brokerage, where he was the exclusive representative for Kaiser Permanente from 1982-1999. He continued in property management with J&B Building from 2000-2005; Moving to be the senior property manager at Dunton commercial real estate from 2006-2011.

James had many pleasures in life, he listed the top 3 in order as (1)his sons,(2) music, and (3) baseball. He was very passionate about the things that interested him. He was an accomplished pianist; playing at the Denver Metropolitan Piano Festival in 1966, as well as playing for the Denver Kiwanas Club meetings. In addition to the piano, he also played the saxophone, and had a deep love and appreciation for classical music, the theater, and musicals; most prominently Phantom of the Opera, Les miserable, and Jekyll and Hyde.

He enjoyed most sports, but none more than baseball. He was a longtime season ticket holder and lifetime fan of the Colorado Rockies; Keeping scorecards and tracking stats of the games and players. He would go to the game in person, but listen to the game on the radio at the same time, while keeping his binoculars close by as to make sure he didn’t miss anything. He also loved to golf and played in the DTC Classic Invitational Golf Tournament in both 1992 and 1993. His other interest was bowling, and was on a league for many years in addition to bowling with his family for fun.

Another passion for James was politics. He served as a delegate in the 1976 Young Republicans Convention in Memphis Tennessee. He also campaigned for Ronald Regan; and followed politics very closely for his entire life. He liked to debate and discuss policy and strategies all of the time.

James loved the mountains. He did not like to camp but loved to be up there. He drove any pass, or jeeping trail he could find, even in a huge expedition. He loved the old mountain towns, and abandoned mines; and shared that love with his children.

James married Kay on August 6th, 1982, and had two boys: Mackenzie and Barrett Anema. He loved being a father and adored his children very much. He tried to share all of his interests, values, and wisdom with them. He later married Stephanie and grew together with her four children Aaron, Justin, Brittany, and Kaley. He loved them very much as well and left a fatherly impact on all 6 of his children. He spoke of his family all of the time to his friends or anybody who would listen.

He left quite the legacy, including 11 grandchildren: Clohey, Nevaeh, Trinity, Saphire, Harmony, Malachi, Leviticus, Aubreigh, Addalynn, Ahlias, and Ariella. He is survived by His 3 siblings Dale(Roxane), his sisters Karen and Alberta, His 2 sons and daughter-in-law Mackenzie & Destinie; And Barrett & Savanna. And his 6 nieces and nephews. Justin, Dawn, Nathan, Paige, Bryce, and Lauren.

A special thank you to his neighbors at the Weston Ridge apartments for your companionship and caring. As well as his close friends Bob Gudka and Dana.

James spent his last years in retirement, enjoying his passions as best he could. He loved us all deeply, more than we could know, and left a deep and lasting impact on this earth. He will be loved and missed by many.

A celebration of life for James will be held Saturday, August 24, 2024, at 3:00 PM at Hillside Community Church, 8085 E. Hampden Avenue, Denver, Colorado.