James Arthur Mahood

James A. Mahood
1944 - 2018
James Arthur Mahood, born March 20, 1944, died December 19, 2018.
His was not a wasted life.
Jim loved his work as a software engineer, and he pursued a wide range of interests outside of his work. As a young man, he was a photographer who, like others of the film generation, built his own dark room and developed his own negatives.
He loved sports cars, and mastered mechanics to keep them repaired and running. He was also fascinated by telephones. When he was 12 years old he wired his own private branch exchange in Idaho Falls connecting his home to the homes of his friends. After being caught, the story made the newspapers. As he matured, he took an interest in art and architecture. Restoring his Victorian home in the Avenues was a life-long labor of love. He designed and built an incredible Japanese garden with a koi pond, and the home was restored to perfection.
Jim filled his home with paintings and artifacts from local artists. He also purchased and restored a Danish Lutheran church on E Street and 1st Avenue, which he used as his business office and, with a twinkling eye, called it "the one true church office building."
He was always a curious traveler, from camping expeditions into the Idaho wilderness as a teenager to an Arctic expedition on a Russian ice breaker to the North Pole as an adult. He traveled the world from the Amazon River to the Indian Ocean where his cruise ship was attacked by Pirates. His interest in travel fit with his interest in foods; he always tried and enjoyed local fare, from eel to insects. He was one of the vital few who pursued his work and his other interests with passion and pleasure.
Jim is survived by his wife, Tanya Mahood and his brother, Gerry Mahood. Also survived by a host of nieces and nephews; many cherished childhood friends and his adopted Brazilian family. He was preceded in death by his father, Arthur K. Mahood and mother, Marian Martin Mahood.
Jim will be laid to rest without ceremony. The family will gather for a celebration of Jim's life at a later date.