He came to us from Lincoln High School in Denver, courtesy of an uncle from Brooklyn who took him on a campus tour prior to his senior year. Jim was a member of Cloister, worked in Commons, and became one of the many of us caught up in sociology and politics. He wrote his thesis on “The Legal Profession and a Changing Society,” but as important was active in the Trenton Action Project, which foreshadowed his lifetime of helping others.
Following a master’s degree in counseling at Lehigh, Jim spent a career mixing teaching and social work, serving with Upward Bound, vocational rehabilitation agencies, and for years as a high school guidance counselor. Cementing his spot in the Nation’s Service Hall of Fame was his volunteer retirement job: children’s librarian, including the persona of Dr. Starfish, teaching sea life and friendship.
Jim is survived by his wife of 50 years, Donna, married in the Chapel; children Joshua and Jamie; grandchildren Nico, Noah, and Elizabeth; and brother Paul. In their sadness and ours, his sense of giving can serve as both a comfort and a call to action.