Eulogy for a Friend

An Eulogy for my Friend Jim (Jimmy) D. who passed away in 2011

By JBH Wonders, 07/2011

These are just my personal thoughts. Jim had many dear family members and friends that will remember him in different ways than me.

Jim (“Jimmy”) D. was my friend for over twenty years. We camped together, picked guitars around many a campfire, and yes, tipped a few beers together. He introduced me to shooting with muzzle-loading firearms. Jim and I and many of his other friends burned up a ton of black powder over the years.

Jim was an easy going man, well liked, and a devoted dad to his daughter. He liked people and had a habit of just walking up to strangers and starting a conversation with them. If the conversation went well, Jim often had some contact information before he moved on.

Jim was an avid lover of history and was very knowledgeable on the subject as well as numerous other topics of interest. Jim was intelligent and had an incessant thirst for knowledge.

Jim is survived by many good people that cared for him very much. A couple of his dear friends knew him from childhood. They grew up together. Jim shared many memories with me of the times he had with family and friends long before he and I started hanging together.

Jim never actually told me this personally, but I heard that he had studied the Bible at sometime in his life, but still did not believe in God. If this is true, I don’t know if he was an atheist or agnostic. We never discussed creation verses evolution or any other topics of faith. We discussed and debated about everything else though. Jim usually won any debates with me.

I would like to think that during one of Jim’s attacks perhaps some faith trickled in and he started seeking something stronger than himself. Perhaps he woke up during that last night and said a prayer and his soul was healed.

Jim will be missed but his earthly pain is over. We all need to keep watchful.

“Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” Mark 13:33