James Morgan Sedore

Jimmy was all about trees. But not only trees, he was more passionate about Jesus, the Bible, his family, serving others, and being a good steward of the planet. Wonderings, questions and ideas were unending in his mind. His nature was generous, patient, faithful, forward-looking, self-motivated, a hard worker, a natural leader, and an incessant learner.

The John Keith and Ruth Morgan Sedore family was from the land of corn and oats. Jimmy, born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was the youngest of three (brother John Erie and sister Betty Jean), until his parents adopted Dan, one of their many foster kids. They moved to Chicago when Jim was 8.

He first saw the forests of the Pacific Northwest while attending a Jamboree as an Eagle Scout at age sixteen. That experience inspired him to continue his interest in forestry by attending the University of Idaho.

After completing his Bachelor of Science, he was hired to manage campus landscaping for the U of I, while also studying for his Masters in Plant Sciences. In 1975, he began working for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources as the forest nursery manager to grow 1.5 million native seedlings every year. He loved to say, “I grew trees to reforest Mt. St. Helens . . . twice!” In 1985, he left the nursery to work for Human Resources at the DNR, as the Safety and Law Enforcement Manager which became Safety and Health. 33 years later, in 2008, he retired.

James Morgan and Elizabeth Palma Richmond were married in 1981 and had one child. He was very proud of his daughter, Raina, who was homeschooled in childhood, and became a successful Librarian.

From 1995 to 2006, Jim and Liz participated in many short-term mission trips to Mexico, Alaska, and Mongolia. In 2008, they moved to Ulan Baatar to live full time as Project Missionaries with the Evangelical Covenant denomination. There, he was recruited by Joint Christian Services to be the New Venture and Strategy Director.

The last 7 years of his life were occupied with helping to care for his great nephew. He spent untold hours gardening. He was also on the Morningside Board and the Tumwater Tree Board.

On February 14th of his 74th year, James was diagnosed with a 7cm Glioblastoma brain tumor and given 3-4 months to live. He and his family decided not to treat it. On Hospice and at home, he remained mostly symptom-free until his last month, and on June 29th, died in his sleep.