James Stork obituary, Ajijic, Mexico

In memory of

James Stork

Add memories that will last forever

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George, Mechthild and Helmut

July 4, 2025

Looking at the old photos of Jim really makes you feel a catch in your throat. It brings back lots of fond memories, but also the pangs of sadness that always come from knowing that he's gone. How great it would be to hear that laugh, and see that infectious grin, just one more time!

Take care, wherever you are. We still miss you and always will.

George, Mechthild and Helmut

Mags

July 2, 2025

Ah, France. Ah, youth. Ah, love.

Jim and Randi

July 2, 2025

Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder. Wait, what? Miss joking around with you so much. Happy birthday big guy. Lance and Susie

Jac

July 2, 2025

Still missing him. Watched his video of Storks in Paris the other day. He was so talented and full of life.

Deidre

June 30, 2025

I was going through some old photos of Jim and found this one of him with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. Which one of these is more important and more beautiful to all of us who have loved Jim?

Clear case!

We all miss you so much!

Deidre

Jim Griswold and Randi Watkins

September 12, 2024

Would love to hear your take on the latest debate! It would be fodder for several nights while sipping the fruit of the vine. And oh, how we'd laugh! We miss you so much.

Jim and Randi

Magee

September 11, 2024

10 September. Another birthday, Sweety. Here is part of a poem by some guy named Frank O´Hara. I wish I had told you this myself:

"...and the portrait show seems to have no faces in it at all, just paint
You suddenly wonder why anyone in the world ever did them.
I look
At you and I would rather look at you
Than all the portraits in the world
Except possibly for The Polish Rider
Occasionally and anyway it´s in the Frick
Which thank heavens you haven´t gone to yet so we can go together for the first time."

George, Mechthild and Helmut

June 29, 2024

Once again, Deidre got it exactly right, Jim. We certainly miss your great sense of humor. But we also miss, just as much, your keen sense of when genuine, articulate anger is the only possible response to what we see going on in the world.

Wherever you are, know that we would like nothing more than to be able to listen to another delightful and insightful "Stork rant". But it looks like we'll just have to make do with that inner voice that you bequeathed to us.

Jack B

June 28, 2024

Deidre, - You heard him too? I thought I was the only one

Deidre

June 28, 2024

I can never tire of saying it: I miss having you around. And all these messages show how many people know what a special person we all think you are!

In fact, and I hope this doesn't sound too weird, but I really do occasionally hear an inner "Jim voice" telling me exactly what you would say in a particular situation. You spoke to me loud and clear last night after that fiasco of a debate. However, I will refrain from using your exact words. Suffice it to say: you were not amused!

Jim and Randi

June 28, 2024

Still sucks and always will.

Magee

June 28, 2024

I wish there were an official pantheon of simply Very Special Humans, so that everyone could know about you. You are always with me, and now here, with the Jurassic ammonites we collected together. Three hundred million years from now I will still love you.

Jack

June 27, 2024

I think of you whenever I think of you. Today I´m thinking that you would have loved seeing the presidential debate tonight.
I imagine it would have really burned your loins. I know tomorrow is the anniversary of your leaving us but I´m thinking of you today and didn´t want to forget to check in. Please look out for Sweetie for me. I love and miss you.

George, Mechthild and Helmut

September 12, 2023

A belated Happy Birthday to you, Jim! The photos of you as a young, absolutely clean shaven Army private are a stitch. We can just imagine how much fun it would be to hear your reaction to these amazing images.

Take care, wherever you are. We miss you.

Jim and Randi

September 11, 2023

Looking pretty cute in your onesy Jimmy boy. And a happy birthday to you. You are so missed.

Robert

September 11, 2023

I remember this work. Jim was working on a project involving trying to capture the moisture divers breathe out and re-humidifying their incoming air supply. It was based on the idea that much if not most of the heat lost was from the latent heat in the air supply.

QT

September 10, 2023

Born this day 77 years ago.
Photos on the sides here express Stork´s opinion of his Army service. Center is him participating in an experiment at Scripps Institute. The point was to measure body core temperature cooling over time, and it involved sitting in a tank of cold water for a couple of hours. The method of measuring ongoing progessive drop of core body temp I leave to your imagination.
This man woul do anything to advance scientific knowledge. And human happiness.

Deidre

September 10, 2023

Even as we mourn your passing, we are so happy and damn lucky to have had you in our lives. Happy Birthday, wherever you are!

Jack B

June 30, 2023

Had lunch with your sweetie and mine yesterday. You were missed.

George, Mechthild and Helmut

June 30, 2023

Take care, Jim, wherever you are, and know that we will always really miss you.

Jim and Randi

June 30, 2023

Such a beautiful day and you're missing it. And we're missing you, as always. What's fair about all that?
Your buds, Jim and Randi

yLqt

June 28, 2023

Always.

Mags

November 2, 2022

Candles will be lit again for you tonight, Dia de Los Muertos.

Mags

July 5, 2022

One hunky Sweety all right.

Erroll Stevenson

July 3, 2022

No one has mentioned this, so I will: Jim, you're one ruggedly handsome man! That, in itself, is worth remembering ...

PETELA

June 29, 2022

The one and only. I love you forever.

Mexodus Movie Stars

June 29, 2022

Did you know making that movie with you and Maggatha, and being in Mexico was one of the greatest highlights in our lives so far? Wish we could do it again. Miss you both soooo much.

George, Mechthild and Helmut

June 29, 2022

We, too, really miss you, Jim, and for so many reasons. Like Deidre, we would dearly love to hear your thoughts on the current crazy state of the world, which would be not only incisive but also very witty. We're grateful for so many fond memories. And so we say, once again, wherever you are, you'll always be in our hearts.

Deidre

June 28, 2022

Who among us wouldn't appreciate a good Jim Stork rant about the state of the world at the moment? Just one of the many things I always loved about Jim.

We really miss you, Jim!

Magee

April 3, 2022

Just passin´ by, thinking of you, as I always do. BTW, I still love you.

Robert Ando

April 2, 2022

Oh Jim, I just stumbled across this sad news. Will miss you always. We did have some great times with John Isaacs at F.O.R. didn't we? Still remember your tornado work. R.I.P.

Jack Bzoza

February 13, 2022

Just sitting here on Superbowl Sunday thinking of you and missing you. Not that we ever watched football together. How's Magz doing? Haven't heard from her in a while.

George, Mechthild and Helmut

July 1, 2021

Jim, we can't really add much to what Deidre has put so beautifully - except to say that we would have been so curious to get your take on these strange times we've been living in for the past five years. It would have been irreverent, incisive and always well-informed - and so damn much fun to listen to! We miss you and always will, but we're thankful we had the chance to know you.

Gail Muldowney

June 29, 2021

Two of my forever heroes.
Stork and my brother Dean somewhere in Los Angeles.

Little Magee

June 29, 2021

As in the song, IIIIIIII-yi-IIIIIIIIII will always love yoooooooooooooo! Sweeties forever.

Jack and Susan

June 29, 2021

We still think of you and remember so many good times and travels together. We miss you, big guy.

Jim Griswold and Randi Watkins

June 29, 2021

Wish you were here - Really really do.

Your buds, Al Dente and Sally, Susie, Sara, etc.

Deidre

June 28, 2021

Jim, you are so missed! Hardly a week goes by without my telling people about things you used to say or do, especially what a cool head you had.

We all know how smart you were, but it was coupled with good sense and compassion. I consider you a friend who sadly Is not physically present, but rest assured you really do live on in so many people's hearts.

Jim and Randi Griswold/Watkins

September 11, 2020

You are soooooo missed birthday boy.

All our love,
Jim and Randi

Sweety

September 10, 2020

Birthday love.

Susan and Jack Bzoza

July 1, 2020

Jim, we still miss you every day. This will never change.

George, Mechthild and Helmut

June 30, 2020

The gap you left in our lives doesn't diminish with the passage of time. On the contrary. Wherever you are, Jim, know that you are still in our hearts and always will be.

Jim and Randi Griswold/Watkins

June 29, 2020

I was just thinking that things would be different if you were still here. Not quite sure how, but you would surely be influencing our lives once again. You are so missed.
Randi and Jim

Magee

June 28, 2020

Five longshort years. You are yet as timeless as a redwood tree, as powerful and reliable as the oceans tides, and I will love you forever. Your Sweety

September 11, 2019

Missing you never gets any easier.

Would it kill ya to send a message????

All our love and continued inappropriate humor,

Randi and Jim

Magee

September 10, 2019

73 candles, to be precise.
10 September 2019

Lock #2

September 10, 2019

Still here. Still love you.
yLqt
10 Sept 2019

July 3, 2019

Over the past few days we have been reminded of you daily by the wonderful photo you took of us with Maggie and Nellie. You had insisted on doing it and, fortunately, we listened to you. So we are, today, missing listening to your advice, your humor, and your friendship. Both Maggie and Nellie are gone but, like yourself, they remain in our circle of love.

July 3, 2019

We think about you often and still miss you very much. Especially when a wishful-thinking "Stork sighting" here in Germany inevitably turns out to be just another Northern European man who resembles you. You'll always be in our hearts.

George, Mechthild and Helmut

July 2, 2019

June 30, 2019

Think of you untenable and lots.
Had dinner with your sweetie the other night.
She looks great and seems to be doing well and misses you terribly. We talked a lot about the road trips we took together. Talked about doingone to Zacatecas soon. More memories of you.

Jack & Susan

June 29, 2019

This still sucks, big guy.

Jim and Randi

June 28, 2019

I will always love you, Doctor Stork.

Jim Rambo

September 12, 2018

Still missing you all the damn time, mi amigo. Mexico just ain't the same without your positive message, your nearly constant smile, and your forever friendship. Even for one who loves to write, the words don't come when your legacy is involved.

September 11, 2018

Truly missed.
Susan and Jack

September 11, 2018

Happy Birthday big guy. We love and miss you so much. There will always be Mexodus.

Jim and Randi

Mags P

September 10, 2018

Happy birthday, Sweety. I'm still here I still love you.

my friend Sandy hanging one of my Stork photos

Gail Muldowney

July 5, 2018

Hey Jimmy. I use the skills you taught me about photography and Photoshop and I will never forget where I learned those things. But a more important lesson you taught me was about enthusiasm. You never mentioned enthusiasm. You just radiated it and it was the contagious kind. The smiley kind. It would not hurt for me to channel a bit more enthusiasm into my life.
By the way, I am just starting to hang art on my walls. A photo you took has just taken a prominent wall in my newish home. Below your photo is a photo I took that you spent many hours helping me to sharpen and 'pop the bracelets'. Thank you.
You are missed.

mags

July 4, 2018

And I still love you.
Magee

July 4, 2018

Oh Jimbo, we miss you so much. Sometimes life has a way of sucking.

Lance and Susie

July 3, 2018

Fairly far away you see a tall guy about the right age with about the same build, about the the same beautiful white hair and beard, sometimes only from behind or from the side, and you think, hey, he looks like Jim. And without thinking about it, your feelings pull you a step further: hey, he looks a lot like Jim. And you sort of squint and all of a sudden it really does look so much like him that, without even forming the words, you think maybe it is him. And then your mind and memory take over and you say to yourself that where we live, there are a lot of strangers who look enough like him to make you stare and wish.

It's so hard to believe it's been three years, Jim. We still miss you so much and think about you so often.

Love to you wherever you are,

George, Mechthild and Helmut, Germany

June 30, 2017

Two years now knowing that all we can do is miss you, Jim, and remember all the things that made it such a joy to know you. You'll always be a part of us and our lives.

George, Mechthild and Helmut, Germany

Gabrielle Smith

June 29, 2017

It still really sucks that you're gone. I'll find out if it's true or not some day, but I like to think you're picking out the best spots in the universe to take Mags to see. Maybe you're everywhere at once now. Anyway, you were an excellent human being and I miss you. Thanks for inspiring me.

June 29, 2017

Another year .... Dearest Jim, you are still with us in our hearts and minds and laughter. Oh my, how you are missed. Still unbelievable...and we hold your sweetie very close in our hearts. Love you, Kris

jim and linda rambo

June 29, 2017

Jim, You gave an entirely new meaning to that word "friend" and enriched our lives nearly daily. I know that we will never have another like you..loved you like a brother and always will. Jim and Linda Rambo

June 29, 2017

Always with us,
Jack and Susan

Mags Petela

June 28, 2017

You will always be my Big Sweety. I love you.
Your Little Sweety

We'll always have Paris. I'll am keeping you close. I love you, Big Sweety.

Little Magee

June 28, 2017

Deidre Graydon

June 28, 2017

We all love and miss you... You were always there for everyone else, and you and your essence (your kindness, wit and humor) are a constant inspiration. We will never forget you!

Morir poem 1

yL qt

November 25, 2016

2 Nov 2016, Ajijic, MEXICO

yL qt

November 25, 2016

Jussy and Wilson

yL qt

November 25, 2016

Jim

yL qt

November 25, 2016

Morir poem 2

yL qt

November 25, 2016

Joan Onffroy

July 15, 2016

Miss you much, Jim. I have many wonderful memories of our times together. I also think often of Megs. Wish I were in San Diego to see her. I was just at a mall today and remembered Jim helping me buy my first IPAD and helping me set it up. Also called him about it in Mexico after he went home. Remember sliding down a snow covered hill with him in the High Sierras,. Wish you were here, Jim. You left us much too soon.

Little Sweety

July 14, 2016

We are all here with Wilson. It is his turn. He'll be in your picture soon. We all love you both

bernadette probus

July 13, 2016

Dearest Jim,
Now your Mags is up here in San Diego to help Patricia & Wilson navigate Wilson's transition, so I'm losing the last of the triumvirate of the 3 best male friends,& first ones, I made in SD UCSD as a new divorcee with a little girl to raise as we raised me from 22...67 now! Times I didn't I'd make it to 30, certainly not that I'd outlive Elie, Jim, and Wilson! Life without you in it is certainly not as fun or full as before you left, but, oh how glad I was to have had you here a little longer ...We'll see Mags, P&W tonight & love them all a bit harder for you, too.

xos Bern

July 5, 2016

I miss you, Jim, and think of you often. love, always, Nancy

jim and Linda rambo

June 30, 2016

I know that it's only the end of the first year that our great friend has not been with us. We miss him just as we did when he left us....it doesn't change. If anything, he is appreciated for all of his humor and talent even more. It is both heart breaking and heart warming, an odd combo, for sure. On reflection, it was Jim's honesty and focus that were compelling...along with his intellect. As the years go by, friends like Jim, and the memories, are what helps keep it all in some balance. The warmth and humor are most missed today.

Jack and Susan

June 29, 2016

Has it been a year, already? Really?
We miss him often and are warmed by wonderful memories.

Deidre Graydon

June 28, 2016

Today I've been remembering Jim's kindness, his warmth, his intelligence (jeez he was smart!), his wit, his sense of humor, and of course the fact that he has such great political sense.

In the last couple months (and especially the last week), I've often thought of what Jim would be saying about all the political insanity around us. It's just a guess, but I suspect he wouldn't be feeling too kindly to the Trumpeters and Trumpettes, nor of course to the Brexiters here in the UK.

Oh, how I miss those great rants.

We love you, Jim!

Deidre and Laurie

June 28, 2016

June 28, 2016

It's been a year, Jim, and we still really miss you. You will always be in our hearts.

Mechthild Antusch, George McElheny and Helmut Sommerfeld, Germany

Jim & Randi

June 28, 2016

We often think of Jim, but today especially. It's been a very short/long year. Tough to find words.

I love you too

It's me.

June 27, 2016

Surf's up

It's me.

June 27, 2016

BBB

It's me.

June 27, 2016

Big Sweety in La Manz 2012

Your Little Sweety

June 27, 2016

My Big Sweety I love you more than ever, and I will love you forever.

Gail Muldowney

June 27, 2016

Jim, some of us still miss you every day. But you left enough valuable, positive evidence on this planet of your existance so you will not be forgotten for quite a while. We can still miss you.

Remembering Jim on October 31 in Frankfurt

Mechthild Antusch, George McElheny and Helmut Sommerfeld

November 7, 2015

The Storks

Jack & Susan Bzoza

November 2, 2015

Celebrating Jim in London

Deidre Graydon

November 1, 2015

LMBS

MagZ SweeT

October 23, 2015

Just some of the hundreds of Jim's friends

Deidre Graydon

October 10, 2015

Some of the words Jim's many friends have used here to describe The Big Guy.

yLqt Magee

October 8, 2015

Brent Poppenhagen

October 7, 2015

Jim was a wonderful, wonderful man and a good friend, particularly in our latter years when old fraternity brothers would gather in Colorado. What great times and great memories of Jim. He will be so very missed. Gods speed.

Bernie Probus

September 26, 2015

Yes, he was. I have to get to my basement because I believe I saved a wood airplane that he built for my daughter, Julie, when she was about 5 or 6? If I find it, I'm going to carry it down to Ajijic to add to the Day of the Dead Memorial @ their house, or wherever else Mags has the event. We're flying down 10/30 for it. Have no idea which of their friends has kindly told her they'd pick us up at the airport & have no idea where we'll bunk! I've never traveled like that, dear old friend, Jim, without car reservations, hotel reservations...but for you, wouldn't miss it for anything...

Beverly Bandler

September 19, 2015

Jim was a lovely man--his countenance was one of openness, no hidden agendas, and generosity of spirit. A kind and classy fellow.

Marsha Thurman

August 23, 2015

Loved annual visits with Jim and Mags. Always so honored to spend time with Jim. So funny and always so kind, interested, and interesting. Such a loss but such an honor to have known him.

judy herrmann

August 16, 2015

jim, i met you only once, but liked you instantly. you have left too soon.

it doesn't take knowing someone for a long time to know how they make you feel and you made me feel comfortable in your home with margaret.

am so glad we met.

Deidre Graydon

August 12, 2015

From everything others have written so far, I am struck by how we all see a very similar person when we think of Jim: how incredibly articulate he was; his willingness to explore all sides of an issue (okay, religion maybe not so much). Just as important, though, was the fact that he was immeasurably kind and very very funny.
I met Jim almost forty years ago when I was living in Frankfurt, Germany. A mutual friend of ours, George McElheny, introduced us. We often sat in the kitchen in George's fourth floor apartment/ commune in Frankfurt and shot the breeze, solving most of the world's problems within hours (unfortunately, somehow the messages never quite got through to that same world).
I have lived in Oldenburg, a town in northern Germany, for almost forty years. Not many friends are willing to brave the elements (mostly cold and warm rain..) to visit me here, but Jim was a hearty soul and made the trek. Over the next ten years, I visited and stayed with Jim and Margaret almost every year in Berkeley and then later in Ajijic, the last time with my partner Laurie. The great thing about traveling anywhere with them was that they always had great ideas about where to go and what to do. Our trip in 2013 to the Mexican coast was one of the most relaxing vacations either Laurie or I had ever had. It was filled with lolling about in the sun as well as sitting and drinking in a small restaurant, and of course with Jim taking LOTS of amazing photos. Seeing Jim and Margaret close up and seeing first-hand how much they loved each other, the deep respect and understanding they had for each other, how much they obviously enjoyed each other's company and how much fun they had together, was downright inspiring.
Even though Jim was very funny, it was always tempered by kindness. I never heard him say an unkind word to anyone or (aside from a few politicians who undoubtedly deserved it) say negative things about other people. He was always able and willing to recognize good intentions.
Probably many of us remember particular things Jim said over the years that have changed the way we see the world around us. One such comment I always try to remember is his admonition that it was no good making really important decisions with your head. You have to make them with your gut. Your head is there in order to tell you how to do what you want to do.
One thing I know for sure is that we will all miss him terribly.

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