Jim Rodeheaver passed away Saturday afternoon, 27 February 2010, at the University of Washington Medical Center. Surrounded by his wife Lynn, daughter Terry, son Grant, his mother and sister, Jim lost his hard fought battle with cancer.
Jim graduated from Humboldt State University as a forester. He served in the US Army and worked for the US Forest Service from which he retired. Prior to moving to the Olympia area he was an avid Hobie Cat sailor. Upon arrival to Olympia, Jim and Lynn purchased a Newport 27, christened it Aeolian, and began racing with the South Sound Sailing Society. Jim introduced Kelly Coon to racing on this boat!
Jim served as the SSSS Commodore in 1994 and also was the race chair.
Jim and Lynn had bigger sailing plans. They bought a Crealock 34, named it Windchime, and began preparations to cruise the South Pacific. As part of this preparation they raced Windchime extensively, taking first overall in the 1995 Toliva Shoal Race. Jim and Lynn introduced several SSSS sailors to blue water sailing. Windchime competed in two Oregon Offshore races, Astoria to Victoria, and the Pacific Cup, San Francisco to Hawaii. The deliveries and races provided the experience and knowledge to sail safely offshore. Jim was an excellent skipper, willing to share his experience, knowledge and their boat.
Jim and Lynn spent several years exploring the South Pacific. During the typhoon season Windchime would be put in a safe place and they would return to the States to visit with family and friends. During a routine physical examination while at home in Olympia, his doctor discovered that he exhibited signs of the early stage of a blood cancer, multiple myeloma. Jim and Lynn were able to return to Australia and continue cruising until his Australian oncologist advised him that his disease required treatment. Windchime was loaded on a Dockwise vessel and shipped to Vancouver, British Columbia. They sailed in Puget Sound for a few more years as Jim spent time in and out of clinics and hospitals. They decided to purchase a 37’ Mariner Trawler. Their two children along with several grandchildren could now attend the annual Longbranch Halloween cruise in comfort!
Jim and Lynn shared their last few months together at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, living in the Pete Gross complex of apartments. On 10 February he was allowed to visit their boat, Singing in the Rain, on B Dock in Swawntown. They stopped by to visit aboard Koosah. Jim was still his positive self, smiling, but knowing that there was a harder battle ahead. He lost that battle two weeks later.
There will be a celebration of Jim’s life at Swede Hall in Rochester on Saturday, March 13th at 1400.
Dave Knowlton, Koosah