James Evrard Mitchell passed away on November 23, 2022 after a struggle with Alzheimer’s.
Jim was born September 20, 1936, in Allentown, Pennsylvania to James and Virginia Mitchell. He graduated from Carson Long Military Academy in York, Pennsylvania in 1954 and joined the United States Army in 1959 as a Sentry Dog Handler, helping to write their training book.
In 1960, Jim called his mother to tell her that he’d met Eileen, the girl he was going to marry, and in April 1962 he did just that. The newlyweds were soon off to Arizona State University where Jim received his Bachelor of Science degree with a 4.0.
Driven by a love of farming and geography, Jim took a position with Diamond Shamrock in their sales department where he was in his element calling on farmers. He later accepted a position as sales manager and retired at the ripe old age of 50. As Eileen puts it, they moved 10 times into 10 homes from Pennsylvania to California.
Jim and Eileen enjoyed living in Idaho in the 1970’s and could often be found on their land in Placerville, with new additions Catherine and Kevin in tow. The young family would travel the country, camping in Yellowstone and Yosemite, learning about the natural world from Jim.
After leaving the corporate world, Jim joined Eileen’s new business venture, Mitchell’s Crafts and Hobbies, which they ran successfully for over twenty years. In 1993, they moved to Kutztown, Pennsylvania into a 300-year-old stone house that was part of the William Penn Estate. Jim loved restoring the estate and cutting and milling trees to make his own furniture.
In 1998, Jim and Eileen returned to Idaho where Jim built 60% of their home in Eagle. In 2020, they decided to move to the mountains in Garden Valley and had fun designing the log house and barn together.
Jim leaves behind Eileen, his beloved wife of 60 years, daughter Catherine and her husband Jason DeWitt, son Kevin and his wife Sonja Mitchell, grandsons Joseph Mitchell (mother, Nancy), Kyle Mitchell and Matthew Mitchell (mother, Brenda), (step) granddaughter Alissa and her husband Brady Kuebler, their children Camden, Dannika, Easton and Farrah, nieces Stacey Warder and Jennifer Schmidtt, and favorite sister-in-law Annette Warder and her husband John Lambert. Jim deeply loved being a father and grandfather.
In lieu of flowers, family suggests memorial contributions in Jim’s name to the Shriner’s Hospital for Children, Alzheimer’s Association, or St. Jude’s Hospital.
A committal service will be held, Friday, April 28, 2023 at the Idaho State Veterans cemetery, 10100 Horseshoe Bend Rd.
To watch the committal service, please visit: https://vimeo.com/820621405?share=copy
A reception will be held immediatly following the committal service at Bowman Funeral Parlor, 10254 W. Carlton Bay Dr., Garden City.