Jim Else

Jim Else

It is with great sadness that the family of Jim Else announces that he passed peacefully on Saturday, May 17, in Brunswick.

Jim was born in 1945, in Denver, to the late Jim and Georgina Else. Jim and his sister JoAnne were raised in Northern California, where Jim developed his love of nature and wildlife. He obtained his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of California at Davis, as well as a bachelor's degree in entomology, and masters' degrees in both medical entomology and preventive veterinary medicine.

Jim's professional and research interests were always at the interface of human, animal and environmental health, and he was particularly passionate about primates. His career spanned the globe. He designed many innovative health-related research programs, explored novel wildlife conservation strategies, and always focused on mentoring the next generation of scientists - particularly those from sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. In Malaysia, he discovered and named a new insect species causing disease in cave-dwelling monks. He subsequently spent more than 20 years in Eastern Africa leading research, veterinary and management programs for The National Museums of Kenya, The Kenya Wildlife Service and The Uganda National Parks.

It was in Kenya that Jim met Margaret, his wife of 43 years. Together with his son, Peter, and daughter, Jesse, they spent their leisure time camping under the African stars and exploring the mountains, parks and coasts of Kenya. Each New Year's was welcomed with a night-time snorkel in the Indian Ocean. One of Jim's greatest pleasures was seeing his family's continuing love for the beauty and science of the natural world. His son is an artist, his daughter is a botanist, and his grandson Quinn is following in the family footsteps by forging a career in plant sciences.

After returning to the States in 2000, Jim worked at both the Tufts Veterinary School and the Emory University Medical School. While at Tufts he led groups of American veterinary students to work with their African counterparts in rural Kenya, a life changing experience for many of those students. At Emory he was part of initiatives to find treatments for many diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

After Jim retired from Emory University, he accepted consultancy work back in Asia. He advised Indonesian palm oil plantation owners in the development of wildlife corridors for orangutans. In Sulawesi he supported programs to conserve the elusive Maleo bird. His final consultancy work was for the Carter Center's Guinea Worm Eradication Program in Ethiopia, where he designed a program to determine if the baboon populations were perpetuating the disease in humans.

Jim and Margaret moved to Jekyll Island fulltime in 2017. The abundance of birdlife, open beaches and wooded trails reminded them of the Africa they loved. Jim especially enjoyed fishing, pickleball, croquet and gardening. He and Margaret shared a passion for birding that they enjoyed on their many adventures across the globe. Jim was happily working in the garden just days before he died in peace with his family at his side.

Jim's family would like to thank the outstanding ICU staff at Brunswick hospital for their great compassion and skill in caring for him.

Jim's life will be celebrated by his family and friends at his home on Jekyll Island - his place of great happiness.

Please make any contributions to honor Jim's life to One Hundred Miles - their goals are close to Jim's heart at One Hundred Miles, P.O. Box 2056, Brunswick, GA 31521; onehundredmiles.org.

Arrangements are entrusted to Edo Miller and Sons Funeral Home, www.edomillerandsons.com.

Family-placed obituary

The Brunswick News, May 21, 2025