James "Jim" E. Kling, Jr.

James E. (Jim) Kling Jr.,89, longtime Nampa resident, passed peacefully away on Thursday, Sept. 22 at a local hospital. Jim was born in Nampa on April 22, 1927, and from early on, he faced life as an adventure to be lived. He loved to chase the fire trucks in Nampa on his bicycle, looking for any excitement he could find. His love of hunting and fishing was evident also as he would bring his shotgun to school and stand it in the corner during classes, after an early morning duck hunt. 

   Jim graduated from Nampa High School in 1945 and was proud of being a Bulldog. He could recite many of the cheers from his high school days and faithfully attended his annual class reunions, even the one held the week before his death.  

   Jim enlisted in the Navy just before graduation to serve his country in WWII and was shipped to Okinawa where he had many adventures. He loved to share his memories and mementoes with family and friends of those days when he served as part of the Greatest Generation. 

   After returning home, Jim attended the College of Idaho for several semesters, before acquiring a job with the Union Pacific Railroad. Being a sharp dresser in a spiffy car, he soon caught the attention of one of the young ladies lingering on the corner outside the Kuna Drug Store. And so one of his greatest adventures of 67 years began when he married Carolyn D. Hawkins on November 12, 1949.  

   Born to this union were three children, Jim III, Cathy, and Cheryl, and they joined in the fun times to be had. During Jim’s 22 years on the railroad, he would often come home from work on hot summer days, load the family up on motorcycles and head down to the Snake River for a swim or ride up on the mesa of King Hill past cool irrigated fields. 

    Jim was a family man, and this lead to many family adventures together: hunting arrowheads along the Snake River, weeklong hunting camps each fall with friends, and later church and youth camp trips to Oregon and Canada, all done together, often with other kids along, singing and playing games in the car.  

   Jim loved people, they energized him, and his happy smile welcomed them. He and Carolyn found joy in having people in their home, whether for a meal or for a weekend, the door was always open. Jim was an accomplished guitar and mandolin player and most Saturday nights their home was filled with music as friends joined to play or listen and join in the fellowship. Out of those jam sessions was born a band that Jim played with for several years, and he found joy in many of their original songs, including one about Idaho that they premiered at the Snake River Stampede.     

   Jim loved God and was faithful in his church attendance throughout his lifetime. Most nights he would lead his family in kneeling beside his bed to pray together. His love for the Bible was evident as he daily read out of his scriptures and often read to his family. Over the years Jim willingly served in many different capacities in his church, with his last being elder of Living Grace Community Fellowship. He looked forward to church each week, eagerly greeting everyone with his happy smile. 

   After leaving his position as Signal Inspector of the Northwest on the railroad, Jim started his second career as an entrepreneur. Along with his partner in life, Carolyn, they had many adventures utilizing their people skills. They were partners in 20-20 Realty in Nampa, and tried their hands at various marketing ventures as they went through life meeting people and making friends.  

    Jim’s skills at being a visionary really came to the front as he began putting together companies. His tireless energy worked best as he saw a seemingly insurmountable goal and found inventive ways to achieve it. Some of his greatest joys were putting the people together to form Entech, the Energy Release Company, and AIM International, the Barley Green Company.  

  Even in his last years, Jim always had a new idea that he was excited about, a new company that would fill a niche, a new venture that seemed impossible to others, but he was sure he could make happen.  

   Jim’s love for adventure and excitement led to many exciting, and in other’s eye’s dangerous, adventures, and he loved to recount these stories to his spellbound audience, often his grandchildren in his later years. From his time of eating an hallucinogenic mushroom, to his night alone on a mountain in a snowstorm, to his safari shoot in Africa, he would regale others in grandiose style. 

   Wherever Jim was he brought light and excitement, and he will be greatly missed by his loving wife Carolyn, who served him to the end, his sister and husband, Janet and Larry VanCleef; his three children and their spouses, Jim III and Debbie Kling, Cathy and Russ McCrea, and Cheryl and Jeff Towery; his eight grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren with 2 more on the way. He was preceded in death by his parents, Jim and Josephine Kling, and his brother, Dick Kling. Life has lost a little of its sparkle, but we take hope as we know we will see him again, when there will be “no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.”  

  A memorial service to honor and celebrate Jim’s life will be held on Monday, October 3, at 11:00 a.m. at Valley Church, 2900 Life Way, Caldwell, ID 83605. Military honors will be provided by personnel from the US Navy. Flowers may be sent to Nampa Funeral Home, and donations may be made to Open Arms Home for Children, c/o Living Grace Community Fellowship, 3757 W. Harbor Point Dr., Meridian, ID 83646.

Services are under the direction of the Nampa Funeral Home, Yraguen Chapel, 415 12th Ave. So. - Nampa - 442-8171. An online guest book is available at www.nampafuneralhome.com 

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