James C. Isom

James C. Isom June 6, 1934 - July 6, 2011 James C. Isom, 77, a resident of the Mennonite Village in Albany, died Wednesday at the Mennonite Home. Jim was born in Albany in 1934 and moved to Toledo when in the second grade, where he grew up and graduated from Toledo High School. After graduation from Oregon State College, he started his business career as a management trainee with Sears Roebuck & Co. This career was interrupted by three years in the Air Defense Command of the US Air Force, several years in the Reserves, and ultimately an honorable discharge with the rank of captain. In 1963, Weyerhaeuser employed Jim in the Longview Pulp and Paper Mill complex. In 1985, at the time of his retirement, he was logistics manager for the pulp division, located in the Federal Way offices. For the subsequent 10 years he owned and managed a consulting firm whose objective was to offer business management services to smaller companies. In 1995, with the retirement of his wife, Kathy, he volunteered as a docent for six years at the Mount Saint Helens Visitor Center and then traveled extensively in their motor home, covering the western half of the United States. After moving to the Mennonite Village, Jim continued volunteer activities in the Village, carving with the Brass Ring Albany Carousel and with the Linn County Museum in Brownsville. He will be buried in the Alford Cemetery at Harrisburg, Oregon with a service conducted for a small group of friends and family. Jim is survived by Kathy Isom, his wife of 26 years; three children, James Craig Isom, Jeanette Cathleen Mack, and Jeffery Currin Isom; two stepchildren, Lesley St. Pierre and Christopher Watkins; and eight grandchildren. A graveside service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, August 20, 2011 at Alford Cemetery in Harrisburg. A celebration of life will follow from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Lakeside Center at the Mennonite Village in Albany. The family requests memorial donations be made in his name to the USO or the Albany Brass Ring Carousel and sent in care of Fisher Funeral Home, 306 Washington St. S.W., Albany, OR 97321 www.fisherfuneralhome.com.