"He Made Things Magical"

The sentiment of Joanne and Roberta about their father

Perhaps the greatest tribute daughters could give

There is a special thing that exists between a conscientious dad and his attentive daughters. Unless you are one - a dad of girls that is - it is useless to try to explain. While assembling this poor attempt to chronicle a man's life and time, it became clear that Jim knew this most valued thing - perhaps without even trying - like it came naturally. To blend the humor of life while finding his own way to offer direction - To engender the trust and respect from the most important charges in his care - To show them, literally, the world and it's wonders - And to do these things without stifling their own spirits or to bury them with boasts of an extraordinary career and lists of accomplishments - These were his gifts to them, his girls.

He was a man, to be sure. Possessing the same failings and having the same tendencies to turn left when he should have turned right from time to time - as it is with all men on this earth. Regardless, he will always be known as "Daddy" by those two girls that were his.

But, the magic lives on. I can attest to that as a newcomer and as one who missed knowing Jim by 25 years. The documentation of his impressive aviation life has been touched on in these pages. There are many gaps to be sure. The logs recording the Douglas stick-time in the DC-8 before the ground flight simulator days are missing, for example. And many is the time I have wished I could chat with Jim and hear the stories behind the hints of the events that were left untold in his flight logs and photographs and correspondence. But, what makes these things real for the outsider who is of a mind to listen are the stories of the man recounted by Sally and Joanne and Roberta. And while some things about this man will never be known, and while sometimes the accuracy's of the stories may be off a bit, these three are the ones who knew him best. One can see the sparkle of the eye or hear the laugh in the voice as the accounts come forth once again. I'm sure I have heard only a fraction of what has been shared between them over the years.

And what of the glue that held everything together? Araceli has been exactly that - the glue. She's the one who has lived as a remarkable life as Jim - on her own as well as with him. She was the caregiver, the disciplinarian, the rock-steady one, the one left behind to be the link to the heritage of the unlikely joining of the boy from Hayfield with the Filipina. She does this for her daughters and their growing families. And, she plays that role to this day - not only to her own family - but to her siblings as well. Those of us that have come to know her will never understand all of what this woman has faced. In spite of this, she is a gracious, elegant, and yet, one tough woman. These traits she has passed on to her daughters.

This has been the story of an amazing man who sprang from the Heartland, flew the skies of the world and then landed back where he started from. Maybe he was just following his nose from the known to the next nearest unknown - as most of us do. Whatever he was, he was also a man who loved Christmas time, who loved and collected Balinese art, one who also collected stray dogs, who liked to polish the engine of his car, someone who could talk to anyone - and a man who made & witnessed history in far away places of the globe.

In my view of what this mysterious world is about, I trust that by now the engineer has had the chance to tell the aviator that he is proud of his son.

It has been my pleasure to have met you, Jim.

The magic lives on.

Dennis Bidney