James A. Lorentzen

James A. Lorentzen

"Submit to the inevitable gracefully" was Jim Lorentzen's frequent counsel to his sons—wise advice that even he himself followed on October 29, 2020 when he died at age 93.

Jim was born the second of three sons to Mae and Joe Lorentzen in Des Moines and attended Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. He joined the Navy at age 17, which required his parents' consent, and served as a tail gunner in WWII in the Pacific. By fortune and good luck, he never fired a shot in anger.

He returned to the States and helped his parents start a small ranch in Meeker, Colorado where he developed a life-long love of the mountains before returning to Des Moines and enrolling at Drake University. There, Jim met Connie Egeland on a blind date; she was a Theta, he was an ATO like his father. They were engaged in the Greenwood Lounge on New Year's Eve 1949.

Two years into his undergraduate studies, he gained admission to Drake University Law School, then started his legal career with the Polk County Attorney's office.

When Jim was told that, to practice law in Polk County, he would have to register as a Republican, he registered as a Democrat. (That advice about "submitting to the inevitable gracefully" hadn't yet crystalized.)

In the '50s, he joined the Whitfield firm. He met Gerald Patterson and together they formed a new law firm in 1965, Patterson and Lorentzen, which eventually became Patterson, Lorentzen, Duffield, Timmons, Irish, Becker, & Ordway.

Along with Connie, Jim raised three sons to appreciate the art of question-asking, ranging from the endearing ("Do you know how much I love you?") to the incredulous ("Why on earth did you do that?")—questions that his sons would put to him on occasion as well.

After his oldest son Michael died in a bicycling accident in 1991, Connie and Jim's relationship with Cathy, Mike's widow, deepened. She became their daughter and Jim walked Cathy down the aisle when she married Bill Brett. Their two children, Eily and Joe, joined Will and Maddie as treasured grandchildren and favorite companions to him in his later years.

Jim was preceded in death by his wife, Connie, his oldest son, Michael, his two brothers, and his parents. He is survived by sons John (South Jane) of Des Moines and Jamie (North Jane) of Frontenac, Minnesota; daughter-in-law Cathy Brett (Bill) of Polk City, Iowa; and grandchildren Will, Eily, Maddie, and Joe.

Out of respect for the health and well-being of family and friends amid the pandemic, no immediate funeral is planned. Memorial donations may be made to The Connection Café, an ecumenical meal service (theconnectioncafe.org), or the Food Bank of Iowa (foodbankiowa.org).