In Memory

Yesterday morning I learned of the death of a colleague. It wasn't a surprise but his decline from seemingly decent health to death was only 10 days. For myself, I feel the need to share a few thoughts on him.

Jim was brilliant and troubled. He was a true eccentric who was rarely understood by those who had little or a lot of interaction with him. I knew some parts of him. I think that was true for most of us at the university. I do not know if anyone knew all of him. Complex is weak word to describe Jim. The thesaurus suggests multifaceted, thorny, convoluted and byzantine. Each of those should be included in any description of him.

He was a Texan though you would never know it from his accent. He did have the pride of a true Texan.

He worked on mathematical models that probably only a relative few understood. His brilliance took Jim to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory each summer.

He loved the types of films that never left the art theater, but also enjoyed "House" on television. I wonder now if he related somewhat to the lead character who was also brilliant but almost never happy.

He worked almost constantly either on his classes, his family's genealogy or his beloved math. If you were in the office on a weekend or late at night, Jim was your only consistent companion.

He took great pride in being a Republican amongst the supposed sea of Democratic professors. I also suspect he enjoyed being a non-union man at a union shop. He constantly fought for what he perceived to be the injustice of a lack of non-union voices on university committees. I never figured out if he was married to the principle or the battle.

Jim was a pain in the ass. I cannot skip this part of who he was. He could walk into your office and proceed to talk for 20 minutes before leaving. You would shake your head and wonder "What was that about?" The only conclusion was "That's Jim." The topics varied somewhat depending on whom he was speaking to but there were some constant themes. The university administration was always on the wrong track. The students only met his lowest expectations. He constantly feared for his job despite the protection the union contract gave someone with his seniority.

I most enjoyed talking to him about films and plays. He did search for the obscure and much of it was not my idea of entertaining choices, but I did learn about films I did enjoy. I also liked it when he spoke of Saint Lucia and Paris. I can't imagine Jim enjoyed either as much as most tourists. His pleasure was in diving into the libraries doing more research on his genealogy. From him, however, I learned of a place, Saint Lucia, and parts of its fascinating history that I would have never known.

I will miss that. I thank God for knowing this part of the man.

The third floor will be a bit more quiet with his loss. It will also be a bit sadder without our true brilliant eccentric.

Goodbye, Jim. May God grant you the peace you never found on this plane of existence.