He is survived by his wife Erika Wilson, and three daughters: Teresa Skinner of Littleton. Kimberly Anderson of Lakewood, and Chase Benetti of Bullhead City, Arizona. He is also survived by his brother Darrell Wilson of Salina, Kansas.
Jim was born in Salina, Kansas on March 4, 1935 and came to the Denver area as a young boy with his father, Arthur Wilson. He attended Mountair School (located west of Sheridan and north of Colfax) which no longer exists. After graduating, he enlisted into the U.S. Navy and served his country for eight years. During that time, he was assigned to a battleship that supported our troops in the Korean War.
After his honorable discharge, he went to school to learn the sheet metal trade and took classes at Emily Griffith Technical College. Subsequent to his apprenticeship, he advanced his career to become a project manager and supervised jobs at IBM in Boulder and even spent over a year in Saudi Arabia building a military city which was later used by American troops in the Desert Storm conflict.
He enjoyed the company of good friends (which were many) and enjoyed helping them do whatever needed to be done to improve their homes. He could do plumbing, electrical, woodwork, tile, and even install hot water heaters or a furnace. He even managed to fix and replace parts on cars, trucks, and motorcycles.
His memberships included the Elks Club, (over 45 years) and the American Legion. These were the places where he met with friends and enjoyed activities such as playing pool, shuffle board, and playing cards. His other passions included golf, bowling, trap shooting, and fishing. He also enjoyed going to Las Vegas and was good at Black Jack and Craps. He never lost more than he could afford and in most cases came home a winner.
Travel was also a big part of his life. He and Erika went on a lot of road trips throughout the United States from New York to California. However, most of their travels involved going on cruises that visited Northern Europe, Mediterranean countries, Asia, Mexico, Islands in the Caribbean, Hawaii, and the French Polynesian Islands in the South Pacific.
Services are scheduled on September 19, 2019 at 10:00 AM in the Chapel Of Peace at Olinger Crown Hill Mortuary and Cemetery in Wheat Ridge, CO. with burial thereafter at Arvada Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his name to the Denver Rescue Mission at: www.denverrescuemission.org
PALLBEARERS
Mark Wilson
Marvin Burroughs
Zachary Sutton
Fernando Benetti
David Skene
Milan Kotmel
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