Willard James "Jim" Mitchell, 95, of Meridian, died at a local hospital.
Jim was born the only son of James and Minnie Mitchell. He was raised with his five sisters on a farm near Woodrow in Eastern Colorado.
He and his wife "Bea" of 73 years both graduated from Woodrow High School and Jim graduated from Colorado State University in 1947 with a Degree in Forestry. He worked as a forester for private logging firms in Wyoming for eight years and then for the State of Idaho Department of Lands for twenty-nine years in St. Maries and Boise. At the time of his retirement in 1984 he held the position of Bureau Chief of Lands. One of his most proud accomplishments was that as Bureau Chief, he was the first person to suggest that the former Eagle Island Correctional property be transferred from the Department of Corrections to the State Parks Department, which then became the Eagle Island State Park.
He served thirty-seven months in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a radioman and rear seat gunner in a dive-bomber. He flew 34 combat missions. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for action in the First Philippine Sea Battle (June 20, 1944), and for saving the life of his pilot when they ran out of gas forcing them to make a water landing in the dark following the battle. He also received an Air Medal with Bronze Stars for other combat action in the Pacific Theatre. He survived a total of three plane crashes during the war, one on an air field, one on the deck of the carrier and the one in the sea. On November 11, 2001 he was inducted into the Enlisted Combat Air Crew Roll of Honor aboard the USS Yorktown, one of the carriers he served on, which is now a historical site in Charlestown, SC.
He married Beatrice Nickell in Berkley, CA on October 26, 1944. They raised three children.
Jim is survived by his wife, daughters, Janet (Lynn) Thaldorf and Joyce Lambeth, and son, Jim (Jan) Mitchell, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Jim and Bea lived in Boise from 1965 to 1998, then moved to Payette where they resided until 2015, after which they moved to Touchmark Meadow Lake Independent Living Facility in Meridian. In 2015 they competed in the Idaho State Senior Olympics Shuffleboard Competition where they each won two Gold Medals, one for the Singles Competition and one for the Doubles Competition.
Jim was born the only son of James and Minnie Mitchell. He was raised with his five sisters on a farm near Woodrow in Eastern Colorado.
He and his wife "Bea" of 73 years both graduated from Woodrow High School and Jim graduated from Colorado State University in 1947 with a Degree in Forestry. He worked as a forester for private logging firms in Wyoming for eight years and then for the State of Idaho Department of Lands for twenty-nine years in St. Maries and Boise. At the time of his retirement in 1984 he held the position of Bureau Chief of Lands. One of his most proud accomplishments was that as Bureau Chief, he was the first person to suggest that the former Eagle Island Correctional property be transferred from the Department of Corrections to the State Parks Department, which then became the Eagle Island State Park.
He served thirty-seven months in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a radioman and rear seat gunner in a dive-bomber. He flew 34 combat missions. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for action in the First Philippine Sea Battle (June 20, 1944), and for saving the life of his pilot when they ran out of gas forcing them to make a water landing in the dark following the battle. He also received an Air Medal with Bronze Stars for other combat action in the Pacific Theatre. He survived a total of three plane crashes during the war, one on an air field, one on the deck of the carrier and the one in the sea. On November 11, 2001 he was inducted into the Enlisted Combat Air Crew Roll of Honor aboard the USS Yorktown, one of the carriers he served on, which is now a historical site in Charlestown, SC.
He married Beatrice Nickell in Berkley, CA on October 26, 1944. They raised three children.
Jim is survived by his wife, daughters, Janet (Lynn) Thaldorf and Joyce Lambeth, and son, Jim (Jan) Mitchell, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Jim and Bea lived in Boise from 1965 to 1998, then moved to Payette where they resided until 2015, after which they moved to Touchmark Meadow Lake Independent Living Facility in Meridian. In 2015 they competed in the Idaho State Senior Olympics Shuffleboard Competition where they each won two Gold Medals, one for the Singles Competition and one for the Doubles Competition.
Willard James "Jim" Mitchell, 95, of Meridian, died at a local hospital.
Jim was born the only son of James and Minnie Mitchell. He was raised with his five sisters on a farm near Woodrow in Eastern Colorado.
He and his wife "Bea" of 73 years both graduated from Woodrow High School and Jim graduated from Colorado State University in 1947 with a Degree in Forestry. He worked as a forester for private logging firms in Wyoming for eight years and then for the State of Idaho Department of Lands for twenty-nine years in St. Maries and Boise. At the time of his retirement in 1984 he held the position of Bureau Chief of Lands. One of his most proud accomplishments was that as Bureau Chief, he was the first person to suggest that the former Eagle Island Correctional property be transferred from the Department of Corrections to the State Parks Department, which then became the Eagle Island State Park.
He served thirty-seven months in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a radioman and rear seat gunner in a dive-bomber. He flew 34 combat missions. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for action in the First Philippine Sea Battle (June 20, 1944), and for saving the life of his pilot when they ran out of gas forcing them to make a water landing in the dark following the battle. He also received an Air Medal with Bronze Stars for other combat action in the Pacific Theatre. He survived a total of three plane crashes during the war, one on an air field, one on the deck of the carrier and the one in the sea. On November 11, 2001 he was inducted into the Enlisted Combat Air Crew Roll of Honor aboard the USS Yorktown, one of the carriers he served on, which is now a historical site in Charlestown, SC.
He married Beatrice Nickell in Berkley, CA on October 26, 1944. They raised three children.
Jim is survived by his wife, daughters, Janet (Lynn) Thaldorf and Joyce Lambeth, and son, Jim (Jan) Mitchell, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Jim and Bea lived in Boise from 1965 to 1998, then moved to Payette where they resided until 2015, after which they moved to Touchmark Meadow Lake Independent Living Facility in Meridian. In 2015 they competed in the Idaho State Senior Olympics Shuffleboard Competition where they each won two Gold Medals, one for the Singles Competition and one for the Doubles Competition.
Jim was born the only son of James and Minnie Mitchell. He was raised with his five sisters on a farm near Woodrow in Eastern Colorado.
He and his wife "Bea" of 73 years both graduated from Woodrow High School and Jim graduated from Colorado State University in 1947 with a Degree in Forestry. He worked as a forester for private logging firms in Wyoming for eight years and then for the State of Idaho Department of Lands for twenty-nine years in St. Maries and Boise. At the time of his retirement in 1984 he held the position of Bureau Chief of Lands. One of his most proud accomplishments was that as Bureau Chief, he was the first person to suggest that the former Eagle Island Correctional property be transferred from the Department of Corrections to the State Parks Department, which then became the Eagle Island State Park.
He served thirty-seven months in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a radioman and rear seat gunner in a dive-bomber. He flew 34 combat missions. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for action in the First Philippine Sea Battle (June 20, 1944), and for saving the life of his pilot when they ran out of gas forcing them to make a water landing in the dark following the battle. He also received an Air Medal with Bronze Stars for other combat action in the Pacific Theatre. He survived a total of three plane crashes during the war, one on an air field, one on the deck of the carrier and the one in the sea. On November 11, 2001 he was inducted into the Enlisted Combat Air Crew Roll of Honor aboard the USS Yorktown, one of the carriers he served on, which is now a historical site in Charlestown, SC.
He married Beatrice Nickell in Berkley, CA on October 26, 1944. They raised three children.
Jim is survived by his wife, daughters, Janet (Lynn) Thaldorf and Joyce Lambeth, and son, Jim (Jan) Mitchell, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Jim and Bea lived in Boise from 1965 to 1998, then moved to Payette where they resided until 2015, after which they moved to Touchmark Meadow Lake Independent Living Facility in Meridian. In 2015 they competed in the Idaho State Senior Olympics Shuffleboard Competition where they each won two Gold Medals, one for the Singles Competition and one for the Doubles Competition.
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