Charles James "Jim" Freericks Sr.

1925 - 2017

Our "Last Bush Pilot" Jim Freericks died peacefully in his sleep Jan. 15, 2017. Born in Prescott, Arizona, on July 19, 1925, to William A. J. "Bill" Freericks and Goldie (Presley) Freericks, he spent his early days traveling between parents, families and locations in Arizona, Idaho and California.
He attended more than a dozen schools before he - at 17 - left high school July 21, 1942, to join the Navy for World War II. In the Navy, he boarded the USS Honolulu, a cruiser (gunship), at Treasure Island during fall 1942 and headed to the South Pacific via Hawaii. He saw intense wartime action for three years before he was discharged June 11, 1945, at the ripe old age of 19.
After the war, he returned to Los Angeles where he worked odd-jobs and took his first flight lessons. In 1946, he followed his mom to Alaska, where he started working for the CAA (forerunner to the FAA) in weather stations and airport control towers at Annette Island (Ketchikan), Fairbanks and Point Barrow. During his CAA days, he met his first true love - flying - in the early days of scheduled bush service in Alaska.
In 1951, he took his first, and last, flying job with Wien Alaska Airlines and was stationed originally in Nome. He became a true bush pilot in Nome, serving the many villages, mines and towns on the Seward Peninsula. In 1953, he married Phyllis (Roell), and they moved to the big city of Fairbanks and had a family: Chris (Stepovich), born in 1953, Lorry (Huebner) in 1955, and Charley in 1958.
The family always had a small airplane, and Jim spent a lot of time flying friends and family around the Interior when he wasn't busy flying for Wien's. Alaska boomed, Wien grew with it, and Jim moved up in the airline, ultimately flying large commercial jets, a Boeing 737 and a McDonnell Douglas DC-8.
He married Bonnie (Bryson) in 1975 and relocated for Wien to Anchorage, Seattle and the Bay Area. They made Kino Bay, Mexico, home from 1984 - when Jim retired from Wien - until 1999. In 2002, and single again, Jim moved to RV parks in Scottsdale, Arizona, for the winter, and to Silver City, New Mexico, in the summers. He spent the rest of his time busy being Grandpa and Dad in Scottsdale.
He leaves behind his three children and their spouses, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Please share a toast to him next time you have one; he lived the life he wanted after the war, full of flying, fun and family. A private celebration will happen this summer in Alaska.
His family wants to thank the wonderful staff of caring friends he enjoyed at Sweetwater Pines and the many caregivers of Honor Health in Scottsdale and Hospice of the West.