James D. Widener

Jim was born in St. Louis Missouri in 1950. He was born into a military family and lived in many different cities and states including Remy Air Force Base in Puerto Rico. Jim moved frequently because his father was in the Air Force and received orders to relocate frequently. This meant that Jim had to learn to make friends and adapt to new surroundings. This early training helped Jim learn to start conversations with people, make friends easily and was a great segway into his successful sales career. He could talk to anyone anywhere. He put people at ease, had a good sense of humor and enjoyed meeting new people.

Jim lived a good portion of his life in California where he met many of his lifelong friends. He graduated from Mira Loma High School in Sacramento, attended college at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and worked in several cities in the broader San Francisco Bay area. He moved to Atlanta for a job change and later returned to St. Louis to be closer to family.

Jim always enjoyed watching sports. Since he was a young boy he always loved baseball. It was in Atlanta where he first became an umpire for softball. It would become a passion and eventually a part time job. When he moved to St. Louis, he continued to umpire and would often spend the whole day officiating as many games as he could physically manage. He had a big heart for the Special Olympics and left the rule book at home for those games. When the kids made mistakes, he would just shake his head from side to side and laugh his contagious laugh.

Jim passed away March 31, 2023 and is buried in St. Louis, Missouri. Jim is survived by four sisters, Pattie Widener, Jane Bucy (his twin) Susan Marshall and Nina White and a multitude of nieces, nephews and cousins.