James Burchill Obituary

James Burchill
April 12, 1946 - January 16, 2021
Davis, California - James (Jim) Burchill passed away at home in Davis on January 16 at the age of 74 of natural causes.
Jim was a longtime Davis community member and owner of James Burchill & Associates, Inc. a public affairs firm he led for over 25 years.
Born in Long Beach to Wayne and Lillian Burchill, Jim attended San Juan High School in Citrus Heights and California State University, Sacramento (Sac State). It was at Sac State that he met his wife, Naomi Sakai, of over 47 years.
He is survived by his beloved wife, Naomi, children Emiko, Kiyomi and James Burchill and granddaughter Natalie Burchill Couk.
Memorial donations may be made to Yolo Food Bank (yolofoodbank.org).

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Sacramento Bee on Mar. 7, 2021.

Memories and Condolences
for James Burchill

3 Entries

Bruce Zerr

July 9, 2022

Naomi:

I first knew of Jim in 8'th grade, over at Sylvan Middle School in Citrus Heights. We became great friends while we were inattending high school together - at San Juan High.

Jim was always focused - even this early time in life. In 9'th grade, in our mutual class of Mechanical Drawing (by Algaard), I got to know him well. He told me he wanted to go to college, and study "Politics", when he grew up.

Jim also told me that he wanted to invest, to buy "Stocks". Jim also always talked about owning his own business, to work for just 'himself'. He never talked about working at a job, to have a career.

So, while it was a surprise - but not that much ... when Jim brought a large bag of 'Bing Cherries' with him to the lunch table (late May) and passed samples around. They were very ripe, very delicious. Then he essentially asked for orders, that he'd bring you cherries just like this from home the next day/week ... for 15 cents a pound. (I found out later that a neighbor had given Jim permission to pick the cherries off his backyard cherry tree). He was thus, in the business, of selling them ... another line of business.

I believe it was because he wanted to go to college at Sacramento State University ... but he already knew, that his father didn't have a good enough job to even consider paying for this. So Jim was already working - like no one else I knew, was, to earn money to put himself through college.

Example: Where other kids 'talked' a story, Jim worked it. I came back to San Juan High in September... after the end of my Freshman year ... to find out that Jim had put together his own business that Summer. He had built a wooden box to fit on his bicycle handles and then filled it with dry ice and ice cream treats such as fudge bars. He then bicycled down over a mile to my neighborhood (which was having several 10's of new homes built that Summer. (The temperatre in Citrus Heights could reach 100 oF at 8:00 in the morning!)

He told me that he had then taken his earnings - and had alreaduy used it to buy a single (1) share ... of AT&T Stock. I remember it cost him a hundred dollars! for that one share of stock... (That's the equivalent of over $1,000 in todays money. I made but $2.50 a week, mowing lawns.)

Then, a summer or two later, he invited me to come along with him for a weekend vacation his family was taking ...in the Gold Rush foothills south and east of Folsum, CA. The owner of the camping grounds took the two of us into a small hill with a small, gold mine on the south side of his property. He showed us inside and showed us where the mine had struck a gold-bearing, quartz vein and followed it ... removing it all the ore.

The following, next day Jim and I went gold panning up the creek about a mile away. Jim actually found a tiny flake of gold. Great fun.

He was a character. He was cheerful, happy. He was just very pleasant to be with. He sat at a lunch table in the San Juan Cafeteria - and people felt welcome. The table was "filled with his friends" because he was there. There was no strife, no conflicts ever started. Both guys and girls ate at his table.

Our paths separated some toward the end of our Junior and Senior years. We didn't have but one or two common classes together then. We graduated together in June 1964.

We both applied to attend Sacramento State University. He was accepted. I wasn't. I was accepted out-of-state though ... South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

The Vietnam War came. I had a month's leave in Oct of 1970. I looked Jim up. He invited me to come along on a weekend tour of the Gold Rush region of the foothills. He was looking to buy antiques, and sell a pickup truck of old grade school desks. (Yeah, you guessed it. This trip was 'business'.)

While riding with him, he told me of another line of work (business) he had. He was renting a Victorian house in downtown Sacramento ... and subletting it out to women college students going to Sac State. He sounded like he was making enough money, to not be paying for his own 'room and board', for him to be making enough to attend college.
He put himself through college.

After this time I was only able to catch up with Jim but a couple more times in our lives. >(I never came back to live in CA.)
The last time I saw Jim was close to Christmas of 2004. We met in his office. We talked about old times. He took me out to lunch, at an Asian restaurant in Davis.

I miss him...greatly.

Love, Erika, Linds & G

Planted Trees

Phil Isenberg

March 8, 2021

Naomi:

Jim had a sterling reputation among a tough collection of peers. Politics tends to harden people, but not Jim. Smart, focused and successful, he resisted cynicism. Whether working in the State Assembly for Howard Berman, and later for Norm Waters, Jim had a terrific style, worked hard and helped make California a better place.

We worked together over a long number of years. He was a gentleman who never cut corners.

Marilyn and I send out love to you and the family.

Phil and Marilyn Isenberg

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