Shortly after I retired in 1997 and became a member of WARC I served three terms as Secretary-Treasurer. We were doing well if we had $100 in the envelope at the end of the
year. I said, "My political career is done," after the third term and dropped out of "the line." This fall when President Linda asked me if I would consider being Vice President
I weakened and said, "Yes." So now you know the rest of that story.
I started as a Forest Ranger Dispatcher at Antigo on 10 Nov 1958 and the WCD/DNR has been my life since then.
While at Antigo I married my college sweet heart Jan. We celebrated our 50th anniversary in June of 2009.
In May of 1960, I was drafted into the Army of the United States where I spent my next 27 months, most of them as a 'Chair Borne Ranger' in the Defense Atomic Support Agency, deep within one of the five rings of the Pentagon.
Upon my return to the real world I resumed my duties at Antigo until the spring of 1963 when I transferred to the Bowler Ranger Station as a field ranger. In 1968 I transferred to Spooner as the North Spooner Forest Ranger. In 1971 I promoted to Hayward as the first Hayward Area Ranger in the newly formed Hayward Area made from the former Forest Protection District - 2 at Spooner and District - 7 at Hayward.
In 1975, I promoted to the North Central District Headquarters in Rhinelander as the District Fire and Recreation Staff Specialist. October of 1978 found me going to the USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry program in Broomall, PA on a two year Inter Governmental Agreement or IPA assignment in Railroad Fire Prevention for the 20 Northeastern States. In October of 1980 I came back to the NCD as the Fire Prevention Staff Specialist. In 1981 the duties of Railroad Fire Prevention Specialist and Locomotive Inspector for the then Bureau of Forestry were added to my job description.
In 1991, I did something I swore I would never do and took a lateral transfer to the Madison office as the Forest Fire Prevention and Forestry Law Enforcement Staff Specialist as well as the Locomotive Inspector. Here I stayed until the 28th of February 1997 when I retired as a full time employee. In April of 1997 I came back as an LTE in my old job until a replacement could be found. When Rick Bucklew took my old job I became semi-retired but stuck around as an LTE for special projects when needed. That's what I have been doing
every since.
My wife Jan and I have lived in Stoughton since August of 1991
Our oldest daughter, Candy, and our grandson Parker live on a hilltop between Clayton and Turtle Lake. Our other daughter, Kerry, lives in Rothschild.
Jan, "Charlie" and Jim in western Ireland, 2009
Jan and Jim at the Ring of Kerry, Ireland, 2009
