James Edward Lorentzen

Jim Lorentzen passed away Friday Nov. 6, 2015. He was born June 7, 1940 in Oakland, California. After graduating from High School, he enlisted in the Army and entered the paratrooper program. After he completed his training, he was sent to Europe to join with the U.S Army support of other NATO Nations in defense of Europe. After his honorable discharge in 1960, Jim joined Collier Publishing Company selling encyclopedias door to door until 1964 and then became regional manager and a sales trainer for several regions.

In 1966, Jim went to Hollywood, California. He took acting lessons and was in the movies, commercials and was on the Dating Game. In 1968, he worked for a company that trained salesmen and eventually started his own business training sales people in the Los Angeles area. In 1971, Jim moved to Portland Oregon to start his own business training salesmen in a program he called Soft Selling. His training techniques emphasis was very high on integrity, honesty, service and thankfulness in the sales profession.

Jim retired in 2007 and found many interests including Reiki, working with Hospice, and volunteering for the Smart Reading program at a nearby elementary school helping students become better readers. He found a need among people to have something that could encourage them in having positive thoughts to support their beliefs in themselves. He started by finding quotations from philosophers, famous authors, spiritual leaders, and common folk. With these in hand, he started sending a semi-weekly email called Zen Notes to over 300 people and continued sending Zen Notes twice a week until his death.

Jim is survived by his sisters Colleen E Wagoner and Mary Lorigan, nephews Dylan and Sean Lorigan, and niece Kathleen Padilla.

A celebration of his life will be held at 2:00 pm on Dec. 11, 2015 at the Gateway Little Chapel of Chimes, 1512 NE 106th Avenue, Portland, OR 97220. In lieu of flowers, Jim suggested a donation to the Oregon Food Bank 7900 N E 33rd Dr. Portland Oregon 97211, 503-282-0555.