Jim Frederick Eaton

December 8, 1929 to January 1, 2025
The family of Jim Eaton celebrates the life of this thoughtful, intelligent, highly independent man who lived most of his life in Olympia, Washington. Born to Angela and Philip Eaton, Jim was the youngest of two boys and brother to Kingsley.
Jim graduated from Olympia High School, where he excelled at football, basketball, and radio comedy. Never fond of rules, Jim's playful spirit landed him in detention one day. He brought his copy of Shakespeare to pass the time. When the principal saw what Jim was reading, he was immediately excused. That sense of adventure and love of language stayed with him throughout his life.
He attended the University of Washington but graduated from Western Washington University after a stint in the Air Force. While stationed at Mitchell Field outside New York City, he discovered harness horse racing at the nearby Roosevelt Raceway, where he learned how to drive and train the horses.
Later he worked as a teacher and as a personnel analyst for the State of Washington-jobs that freed him to pursue his passion for horses. He owned several farms in the Olympia area, where he raised horses and entered races up and down the West Coast with modest success. He even raced in Macau in later years and wrote about the experience in the Hoof Beats magazine.
His sense of adventure led him to take cruises to exotic places, including a trip around the world when he turned 70. He flew to Amsterdam, where he boarded a cruise ship sailing for Singapore, and then on to Sidney, Australia, where he boarded a plane for the trip home.
For many summers, Jim and his wife of 48 years, Marcia Congdon Eaton, traveled with a golf group and played courses across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia, Arizona, and Hawaii. His love of sports continued as he followed the UW Huskies to many Rose Bowls, the Holiday Bowl, and the Orange Bowl. He also enjoyed taking road trips to Nevada to bet on football and basketball games and test his luck.
He is survived by his wife Marcia and his three daughters from his first marriage to Nancy Rackleff (née Anderson): Angela Pelletier (and her husband, Steve) of Seattle, Washington; Nanette Ray (and her husband, Scott) of Novato, California; and Eve Eaton of New York City. He is also survived by his grandson, Alec Pelletier of Seattle.