James Kinman

A Celebration of Life open house will be held for James Edward Kinman on Saturday,
July 12 th from 1-4 at Summit View Church, 7701 NE 182 nd Avenue, Vancouver,
Washington.
James, Jim, Dad, Poppy, Grandpa, was born March 27, 1948 to Charles and Marjorie
Kinman. He was the 3rd of their four boys. His childhood was filled with moves from
place to place and spending time with his Uncle and Aunt on their property in Wren,
Oregon during the summer. One of his most prized possessions was given to him when
he was a teenager. It was his Grandpa's Bible. He was a typical boy which included
climbing trees, one of which he fell out of and landed between two boulders. He
graduated from Springfield High School in 1966. When he was 20, he met his life long
love, Tamara Spencer, at a church retreat. They would marry a year later, on August
9, 1969, when he was 21 and she was 16. Theirs would be a love affair that exemplified
what God intended marriage to look like. In March of 1970, they had a son, Spencer.
Two years later they added a daughter, Tara. Eight years later, they had another
daughter, Marissa.
He worked at Borden Chemical from 1969-1983. While at Borden's, he became a
licensed Boiler Engineer. He, then, helped create the Boiler Apprentice program in
Oregon. He was also trained to program PLC's. During those years, it was not unusual
for companies with a boiler to call James for help with it and later to be the person
called to work on the boilers at church convention grounds.
In 1983, after much praying, Jim and Tamara moved to Vancouver and Jim took a job at
Frito Lay. In 1988, he graduated from Evergreen State College with a Bachelor of
Business. While at Frito Lay, Jim invented a starch recovery system that saved Frito Lay
over $1,000,000 per year. He also invented a phalange/fitting for a pipe that kept
breaking. The company that made those pipes flew him out to their production facility
because they were so impressed. By 1994, he was being offered jobs with
Fortune 500 companies and it looked like another big move was on the horizon.
It was not to be. On July 19, 1994, as a pedestrian, Jim was hit by a car in a crosswalk
and thrown ~80 feet. He sustained a head injury and a severely broken leg among
other injuries. Jim was not able to return to a job after the accident but he and Tamara
worked together building 55 homes. In 2007, due to the economy, they began their next
5 year adventure, Kinman Property Preservation, cleaning out bank owned homes.
They worked long hours enduring cold, fatigue, and frustrations. In 2012, Jim began to
help a friend in his business by automating many of the processes, helping with
production, providing maintenance services, and whatever else required his assistance.
He enjoyed the work and using his skills. Throughout these years, Jim also owned a
backflow testing and repair business. In 2017 and '18, Jim and Tamara developed a
subdivision along with their son. They completed another one in 2024.
Jim could fix anything and everything. His daughters often called him asking how to do
something or asking for help. Jim had a true servant heart and would drop everything to
help out if he could. This extended into his marriage as well. He served Tamara on a
daily basis as she did him. He was always there for her and supported her in all her
endeavors.
One hobby and passion that Jim had and loved to participate in was hunting and fishing.
There was always a good story to tell. He often replied, when asked if he had caught
anything, that it was called fishing not catching. He was known to be the one who would
happily and willingly be out at the break of day and stay out until the last usable minute
of daylight. He enjoyed hunting and fishing so much so that Tamara cleared the
schedule so that he could go. He would get up in the morning, make coffee, grab pop
tarts or bagels, and then head out with the ample lunches Tamara made for him. His last
duck hunting season he had some epic shots that were successful and his last fishing
season, this last spring, he caught a salmon. He was so excited that he shared half of it
with his daughter to enjoy as well.
Jim was a church leader and an elder. He and Tamara's home was used for church
services for over 34 years. Jim would always greet everyone that came to their home on
the front steps and welcome them in. Their home was also often used for larger meals
and gatherings, including several ministers at a time, elder meetings, and innumerable
meals shared with fellow believers.
Jim and Tamara's daily routine always started with a cup of coffee and time together in
God's word. Jim closed his day spending time with God as well. A family tradition,
around the table, of sharing what we were thankful for often, if not always, found him
being thankful for his family, how well they got along, and for all that God had done for
him. Next to God, nothing and no one was more important than his family.
He was exceedingly friendly and talked to everyone that crossed his path often walking
away as their friend or bright spot in their day. In their years in Springfield, during church
services, Jim was known as the Baby Whisperer as he was good with babies and they
liked him. He enjoyed making friends with all the animals he came across. He also
loved playing games, the hot tub, to joke, to read, to teach, and to play games on his
phone, He was known to be an ace at pool, affectionate, happy, and helpful. His life
was lived showing the characteristics of a God filled life...kindness, gentleness,
thankfulness, love, humility, and generosity.
Jim is deeply and terribly missed. He is survived by his wife of nearly 56 years, Tamara,
his son Spencer and wife Gina, his daughter Tara, and his daughter Marissa and her
husband Jeff. He has 6 grandkids that loved him dearly including Hailey (Matt), Cole
(Angelica), Haakon, Kyllikki (Henry), Shahayla, and Remington. He has 2 great
granddaughters that he adored, Rylie and Lainey. He also leaves 2 brothers, 8 sisters-
in-law, 2 brothers-in-law and aunts, numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.