LOOKING BACK AND REMEMBERING
TIME TO REMEMBER, CAN YOU REMEMBER
Buz, Mick and Jim at Buz's wedding
I wanted to add my perspective to the story of James L. Prichard's life so I asked my sister Dolores to send me the article that would be put in the paper.
These articles are usually short snap shots of a persons life that can't by there nature and space provide a full picture of the person. I certainly don't think that I'll do much better here but I want to try. I truly loved my brother-in-law. Here we go. James L. Prichard passed away on August 28, 2007. He is survived by his loving wife of 51 years, Dolores. Think about that 51 years. With the divorce rate some place around 50%, they held it together. You have to admire that in both of them. They raised four beautiful girls Lisa, Betsy, Mary (the neighbor kid) and Jill. He leaves behind five grandchildren. Cristan and Kelly Bolster (Lisa and Cory). Dillon Day and Emily Leonard (Betsy Prichard). And Savannah Hilt (Mary and Cary). He dearly loved his family and was blessed to have many special friends. Funny how you know somebody for so many years but it is only after he passes away that you learn he was born in Seattle. I guess I assumed that since he grew up in Bremerton he was born here. Anyway, he was born on March 5, 1931 making him 76 years when he passed away. He lived here in Bremerton and went to Bremerton High (not sure if it was East or West Bremerton) but he graduated in 1950. He went on to Olympic College 1950 - 1952. Went in to the Air Force and after that started working for Boeing and married my sister. My earliest recollection of Jim was many years ago when I and I guess we all were just kids. Jim was in the Air Force at the time and dating Dolores. Jim was honorably discharged after serving four years in the United States Air Force. Jim's greatest passion was for basketball which he played for 65 years up until last year. I remember years ago when Jim played ball for Westside Ford. I went with him and Dolores to many of his games for Westside. Dolores reminded me that he played with Elgin Baylor before Elgin went on to greatness at Seattle University. I'd forgotten that. He played in the senior league for many years, I don't know how he did it. Jim was short by basketball standards but what he lacked in height he made up in with his superior ball handling, speed and passing ability. Jim also enjoyed a good round of golf. Jim had a great sense of humor. I would use many of his e-mails in my BLOG especially the cartoons. I'll miss that. In many ways Jim's humor was very close to mine. He saw the absurdity in some of the things people do, but he also saw the humor. He was great. Jim worked at The Boeing Company for 35 years. I'm not certain what he started out doing at Boeing but he managed to worked his way up the ladder moving up into management for most of that time. Jim considered himself to be a very fortunate person. I consider myself a very fortunate person knowing Jim and spending time with him over the years. I'll miss his imitation of my dad calling me, he would go "MMMMmickeyYYYYY" (I loved it). I consider him not just my brother-in law but my friend. Jim's memorial service will be held on September 8, 2007, from 1-3:30pm at the Museum of Flight, 9404 E. Marginal Way S. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to:Providence Hospice of Seattle Foundation 425 Pontius Ave N. #300 Seattle, WA 98109. 206-479-7801Or on-line at: * *
PS: Way up in the top of this article I said "They raised four beautiful girls Lisa, Betsy, Mary (the neighbor kid) and Jill."
I put in the line "the neighbor kid" after Mary's name. There is a little story behind that. It was funny at the time and I still think about it once in awhile. My family and I lived in San Diego for about 6-7 years and during that time we saw our extended families only for short periods of time during vacation trips home. Before we moved back home I flew up for a job interview and took the opportunity to spend a weekend with Dolores and Jim before I went back to San Diego. As I said it was about 7 years that I lived in California so I didn't get to see the Prichard girls grow up during that time. When I got to their house and the girls came in from play they all said hi. When Mary came in I didn't recognize her and said "Are you the neighbor kid." It was funny at the time. . . really it was. I still like it.Posted by thebscorner at August 31, 2007 07:06 AM