When Marj Sire called on February 7 to say that Jim had passed away the night before, I was not surprised. Not that it was expected, but I was not surprised. I was told that Jim died due to complications of pneumonia, which one of Jim’s long-time friends told me after the service is “the old man’s friend.” He and Jim often disagreed theologically at Starbucks over coffee. Jim had been in and out of the hospital in recent weeks. He had 13 stents in his heart. When learning years ago that he needed stent number 13, Jim humorously asked what the record was.
