Obituary
Dear Family & Friends,
After years of declining health, Jim lost his last fight (3rd heart attack) August 10, 2022.
Jim and I were married for 51 years (mostly good!).
Born 10/18/1948 in Harrison, AR to Floyd and Myrtle Benton. When he was five his family moved to the Yakima, WA area. He graduated from Cowiche High School.
Preceded in death by sisters Joy Goodrich (Quent, deceased), Donnie Zeigler (Fay, deceased), and Connie Robertson, brother-in law Stephen Picatti. Besides myself, he is survived by sister Debby (Steve Nordberg), brother-in-law David Picatti, sister-in-law Cherrie Picatti, numerous nieces and nephews, extended family and friends.
Jim was a US Army Vietnam Purple Heart veteran where he was wounded by rifle fire and landmine. His injuries didn’t slow him down too long but came back to impact him years later.
Jim received his BA in Agricultural Economics from WSU. He worked briefly as an agricultural chemical salesman then received his Master of Education from the University of Idaho.
He taught in the Tigard (OR) school district. Initially he taught building construction where the class built a home that was sold at the end of the school year. When in the schools’ infinite wisdom canceled the building program, he taught shop, art and finance classes. In the summer, he remodeled or built homes. For several years we bought Mt. Hood Forest service cabins which were remodeled during the summer and enjoyed skiing from during the winter before selling.
His real avocation was enjoying life. Hunting and fishing doing both in the west, Alaska and Canada, big game fishing in Hawaii, Mexico (we both hooked blue marlins at the same time on one trip) and Florida. He enjoyed the thrill of jetboating & snowmobiling. He mastered white water rafting. While I accompanied him on some NW rivers (Snake, Salmon, Rogue)—his most memorable trip was 3 weeks down the Colorado River on his 16’ cataraft. He had motorcycles most of his life. Using his mechanical skills, he “downsized” a cycle to fit me. He and friends rode several times to Sturgis for the Harley rally. We enjoyed sailing in Puget Sound where we moored our boat at Pt Hadlock; later we switched to power boats.
He ranched with partner Jim Wassom for several years in eastern Oregon. During one fall roundup we brought in an orphaned wild colt that had joined the cattle.
After retiring, he reconnected with family in AR and we built a 2nd home there. During a fishing trip to Mexico in 2008 he suffered a hemorrhagic stroke, fortunately reaching Texas where he spent weeks in ICU and rehab. Deciding winters were too cold in AR or the NW, we bought in Cape Coral and decided to make that our home.
He spent most of his life experiencing it (I was probably his only compromise).
According to his wishes he was cremated and rests at home.
Raise a toast to the good times & memories. Ria.
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