James Francis "Jim" Bacon

1952 - 2025

James "Jim" Francis Bacon

April 28, 1952 - February 10, 2025

West Richland, Washington - After living with heart failure for many years, Jim's body finally succumbed and he slipped quietly into heaven, at the Chaplaincy Hospice facility in Kennewick.

Jim had interests in many areas but most notably in newspapers. His lifelong interest in newspapers began as a boy when he would visit the offices and printing presses of various regional newspapers; he was a paper boy for at least two for several years. As he got older, photography became his focus including developing and printing his own film. (Both of his parents had documented their family life with still photos and home movies, which is probably why Jim first became interested.) This skill served him in high school (Columbia High School, now Richland High) as he worked on the school newspaper and Annuals.

His college career took him to CBC, then Seattle Pacific University, and finally to Western Washington University where he graduated with a degree in Journalism. His career included editing papers in Point Roberts, WA; Quincy, WA; Glencoe, MN; and Vashon Island, WA. The next phase was as a copy editor for dailies in Bellevue/Kent, WA and Mount Vernon, WA. As digital news took on a greater role, Jim's skills were less called for and so he retired and moved back to his home town of Richland, WA.

As a photographer for the student newspaper of Seattle Pacific, Jim had the opportunity to attend several noteworthy occasions in Seattle, including a Billy Graham crusade, the opening of the Kingdome, and campaign stops by candidates Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. He told of shaking hands with Mr. Ford but as soon as Ford saw Jim's press pass, he averted his eyes as if wanting to avoid engaging with the press.

His most recent hobby was making up fictional newspapers for the fictional town of Flagston, WA. In his mind, this town was somewhere near Ritzville, WA. The "newspaper" first published in the 1930's and at one point, the town supported both a morning and an afternoon paper. Jim wrote some stories from his imagination but also used actual news stories in his editions.

In addition to his interests in newspapers and photography, Jim was an avid record collector. It's impossible to know how many LPs and 45s Jim acquired over the years but the numbers were in the 100s of each type. In his teen years he was a disc jockey of his own radio station that broadcast from his bedroom to radios in the house and maybe as far as the house next door. In recent years, many LPs were replaced by CD versions. Among his favorite artists were The Beatles and Bob Dylan. But his tastes were pretty eclectic so his collections spanned many musical genres.

Services will be held at Einan's at Sunset Gardens on March 7, 2025. Viewing starts at 9 a.m., funeral at 1 p.m. and burial afterward at 2.