James Peyton

JAMES RICHARD PEYTON

5/23/1948 - 4/13/2024

James Richard Peyton was born on May 23rd, 1948, to parents "Jack" Andrew Jackson Peyton and Lillie May Goulden in Sacramento, California. "Jim" had blackish hair and blue eyes. He was a 6 footer and liked sports. He attended Crocker Elementary, Cal Middle school, and C.K. McClatchy high school. He had an older brother Jack "Jug" Peyton, who was known in later years for walking his 2nd bulldog named Rosebud in William Land Park. Between the two of them, they seemed to know every make and model of antique car.

Jim Peyton had one brother, Jack "Jug" Peyton, who was featured in the news for walking his dog "Rosebud" very often in Land Park. Jim had 3 sisters, Janet Whitham, Joann Price, and Jeanne Cole. Jim and "Jug" lived in the back room of the house growing up, and was known for pranks such as fake throw-up. He had a good sense of humor.

Jim married Violet Josephine Clark on November 30th, 1968. They were married for 12 years. Jim had has first son when he was 25 years old, and his son is also named James Richard Peyton. His second son, Joseph Andrew Peyton, was named after Jim's father Andrew "Jack", as Joseph's middle name. Jim and Violet were divorced in April 30, 1981. Jim married his 2nd wife, Karen Anne McMahon on December 6th, 1981. Jim had his 3rd son Jeffrey McMahon Peyton with his second wife, Karen McMahon. They celebrated their 42nd anniversary on December 6th, 2023.

While living with Violet, Jim would charge people to park on his lawn in order for them to go to the "Pig Bowl" in Hughes stadium at Sacramento City College. He lived a block away from the school and the big water tower. He had 2 dogs, Chester and Homer, in his small green house at the end corner of the street.

Jim coached little league Baseball with people in the neighborhood such as Ross Relles of Relles Florist. Jim's father had also coached sports before him.

Jim's best friend was Jerry Dewsnup, owner of VVR, or Vintage Vehicle Renovations behind the Sacramento Bee building on 21st & S streets in downtown Sacramento, right behind the Sacramento Bee Newspaper. This was a place that worked on and fixed classic cars. One of VVR's claims to fame was working on Abraham Lincoln's original horse carriage. Jerry had an antique cash register and a portrait of Humphrey Bogart in his establishment. Jim would spend hours in the shop with his friend Jerry and often go to the annual Hot August Nights in Reno, Nevada with him. Another friend at VVR was named Art. A childhood friend that came over to the house were Jim grew up with his siblings was Jerry Glaviano, who became a P.E. teacher at C.K. McClatchy high school.

Jim was an avid sports fan of the San Francisco 49ers. His favorite music group was the Rolling Stones. His beer of choice was Budweiser. Jim was a baseball fan who knew many, many statistics from way back before his time to his own. He had a great collection of Baseball cards that he eventually sold and regretted it later. He was also a boxing fan who had a collection of rare boxing cards. As a child he listened to old time radio shows such as The Shadow and Boston Blackie. There was a pet turtle that boys Jim and Jack jr played with named Nosy. The turtle was buried in 1954, as written in cement outside the family home near the chimney. As a native Sacramentan, he went to Vics's Ice Cream and Tower Records like most people. He owned several classic cars over the years, usually one at a time, such as a Reo, a green Mercury, a red 1921 Studebaker, a gray Studebaker, and a kit car hot rod painted black with red and yellow flames over the black background. In the 1980s Jim traveled around most of the states by car on summer vacations and did a trip across a large part of Canada some years after retirement. He had a dream of going to Australia, but never did. Jim seemed to know a lot of people in Sacramento, and knew a lot of places around the town. He enjoyed going to Towe Ford Museum and the later museum in the same spot renamed Cal Auto Museum. He enjoyed going to Antique Stores and buying life size statues of comic book characters such as Captain America, Spiderman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. He had a large bust of the Incredible Hulk, and a large Yoda, just to name a few. Jim was one of 3 people featured in a magazine article in "American Profile" newsmagazine about collectors called "Cool, Crazy, and Uncommon Collections". In his garage, Jim had a collection of comic character related drawings which he had framed, drawn by his first son, as well as boxes and boxes that went with his many statues in the house.

Jim worked for the Unemployment Development Department (EDD) in the cashiering department on Capitol mall. He continued working for the state and later worked in the office in Rancho Cordova. He was a manager who also specialized in conflict resolution. Jim began to get a few tattoos shortly before retirement. He retired from the state after around 35 years of continual working. He continued with his tattoos until eventually he had 44 tattoos, all of Warner Brothers characters! As space on his body started to run out, Jim branched off into collecting Warner Brothers figurines and paraphernalia. He started to collect cookie jars and salt and pepper shakers of all kinds of cartoon characters, not only from Warner Brothers. He bought t-shirts of many a comic and cartoon character. As time went on, he filled an entire house with collectibles, enough to be a small museum in its own right. He enjoyed watching "Pickers", Pawn Stars, and home shows on television.

In 2004, Jim moved to from Sacramento, California, to Shady Cove, Oregon with his wife, Karen Anne McMahon. He lived there until his death on April 13th, 2024, in room 3333 of the Ashanti Rogue Hospital in Medford, Oregon. He died around 3:00 in the afternoon, and unfortunately, no one was with him except the doctors at that moment. He will be missed by all who knew him. He is survived by his 2 sisters, Janet Whitham and Jeannie Cole, first and second wives, 3 sons, and 1 grandson, Isaac "Izzy" Peyton. Jim's last gift to his 2nd son with special needs was a Spiderman backpack and 2 t-shirts, one of Mickey Mouse and one of Snoopy, with a card that has a sheepdog on the cover. His name was read aloud before a crowd after his death in McKinley Park, and a candle was lit in his honor in East Sacramento. Jim Peyton is sorely missed and loved as a brother, father, husband, and friend.