On the morning of Friday, January 22, 2021, Jim suffered cardiac failure while being treated for a blood infection at a hospital in San Diego, California. He was seventy-four years old. Jim was born in Lorain, Ohio, in 1946, and spent his childhood in that small midwestern town, getting into various misadventures and mischief with his five siblings. When he was an adolescent, his family made the move westward to Ontario, California, where he attended high school and shortly thereafter met Elaine, the tenacious woman who would become his wife. Though their partnership was at many times tense and dramatic, such a quality is to be expected from two strong personalities, and they nevertheless shared a complex affection for each other that endured through forty years of marriage. Together they established their family of five children in Ontario, and Jim pursued the development of his general contractor business, Noah Constructors. As the company grew and found success, Jim was able to take his family across the globe on numerous trips to places ancient and exotic; many photos exist with him standing proudly by a famous monument while wearing his signature Noah Constructors jacket. In 2000, he and his family relocated to San Diego, California, where he continued his career in construction as a DSA Class 1 Inspector, and became a well-known figure in the regional construction industry. In addition, during this time Jim was publicly elected to the Padre Dam Municipal Water District Board of Directors, and as part of his grassroots campaign he personally called hundreds on the voter rolls to ask for their support. In his waning years, he battled through numerous health challenges, including colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, sepsis, and post-polio syndrome, and triumphed over them all with grit and gruff (along with a healthy amount of winks and charm directed at the nurses). Throughout his life and right on until the end, he demonstrated a will to life as determined as it was stubborn, and is best summarized by his ready response to having faced death numerous times: “I’m not f***ing done yet!”.
Jim is survived by his daughter, Jamie; three of his sons, Jason, Justin, and Simon; his daughter-in-law, Kim; and his siblings, Victor, Steve, Sharon, and Mike, along with their extended families. He was predeceased by his wife, Elaine; two of his sons, Noah and Nathan; his brother, Ron; his parents, Victor and Kay; and numerous family dogs, including his loyal chocolate lab, Buddy. Services will be held at 11:30am on Friday, March 5, 2021, at Bellevue Memorial Park in Ontario, California. In lieu of flowers, please donate in Jim’s memory to California Labradors, Retrievers, & More Rescue.
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