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Andrew J. Calderon posted a condolence
Thursday, March 14, 2019
My Grandfather, my Mother’s Father, was an indomitable spirit with a loving heart. With true grit and determination he lived everyday to the fullest with a true sense of adventure. His incredible work ethic and ingenuity drive much of who I am today.
When I was young I remember him taking me to help at his appliance repair business. I was under 5, but can still remember spending a lot of time with Grandpa. He let me tear apart some defunct appliances and I loved building things out of them and especially crushing things in the vise. The workshop, the creek on his property, and the park were some of our favorite places.
He would take me fishing, on adventures to the rail road to flatten penny’s, and of course to hang out and show off with his friends. I loved getting those flattened penny’s and hiding behind the car as they shot off the tracks and trying to find them.
Grandpa grew up near train tracks in Portland and loved trains. He worked for the railroad when he was young. One time when my grandmother and him were in their teens or early 20’s he showed her one of his favorite ways to make trouble. He would take little Torpedos (basically small dynamite charges used for notifying conductors) and drop them around town and watch the police try to figure out what happened.
He went to Jefferson high school, I went to Benson, the rival school, although over 50 years apart.
I was lucky enough to see his most wonderful side, and that’s basically all I ever saw. Everyone told me when I was older that I was lucky I didn’t miss behave around him because he was all about business and a strict disciplinarian. Not to me, I must have brought out his soft spot.
I always felt safe and in awe when with him. He was the biggest toughest dude I’ve ever met. He jumped motor cycles like Evel Knivel back in the early 50’s before it was what it is today, loved boxing and airplanes of all shapes and sizes.
His passion for aviation was insatiable. When he was 15 years old he snuck in to the airforce to become a pilot. Back then things were not digitized (1949) so it actually worked... for a while. He simply fibbed about his age long enough to hang around and get in trouble. He took me flying when I was 2 and buzzed my mother’s house, tipping his wings as he flew overhead. His pilots license was expired but then again, not much could ever stop him from filling my day with love and excitement.
He was an incredible fisherman and caught everything under the sun all over the country. Living in the Pacific Northwest he caught a lot of Salmon, Trout, & Sturgeon. He loved to fly fish. He showed me how to fish and I’ll always remember how he would put a “bobber” on my line so I could see when the fish was biting. Some of my fondest memories are with my Grandpa with a fish we just caught. He would chase me around with one, or just give me one to keep me occupied so he could do some real fishing to feed the family while camping. He took me to so many places to catch trout I’ll never forget the fun times we had at the side of a pond or in a boat on a lake.
Grandpa was a great hunter and had an impressive collection of guns. He made his own ammo and had an incredible workshop that he built on his property. He taught me a lot about firearms and to take them seriously.
When it came to rocks Grandpa could not only find the rarest of stones but cut, polish, and create just about anything. He always spruced up my grandmothers finds so she could make jewelry and win contests. He spent so much time out doors living life to the fullest it’s incredible to think how devoted he was to getting out and doing something every single day.
Grandpa could seemingly do anything with his hands. He built houses, his business, model airplanes, remote control airplanes , and an entire train set that he worked so we could spend all day driving the trains.
We loved to eat chicken soup together that he would make for us very regularly, Fig nutens, and all kinds of beef jerky and smoked salmon. You would open bottles and cans with your teeth, which I’ve never known some one to do that. It was quite impressive and a little terrifying. Everyone called him Jim, except to me he was Ba Pa.
He introduced me to Cars, Motorcycles, Fishing, Computers, Sports, and Video Games and of course was an incredible roll model for me during my first 5 years of life.
Not long after I turned 5 years old my grandfather suffered a major stroke that severely limited half of his body. While this limited his mobility and definitely put a damper on his and our overall family mood he pushed through and persevered to stick around with us for another 28 years when it was unimaginably hard to do so.
His humor and mischief never ceased. He loved to tell me about what trouble or difficulties he had been able to cause during his week whenever we were catching up. He could make up the best stories or retell an old favorite and always keep you laughing.
As I got older I got to bring my children to spend time with Grandpa. Never as often as I would have liked as he lived in Portland and I had moved away to Montana.
Quentin who is 2 years old looks so much like grandpa when he was a baby. They both share such an adventurous spirit and I’m so glad I got to see grandpas face when Quentin sat on his lap and gave him his first big Great Grandson hug.
I cannot express what my Grandfather meant to me. I wish I could. But I know Grandpa would want me to continue on taking my children on incredible, unforgettable adventures, every day like he did for me. To make the small moments seem like the biggest moments and the little things for them seem like the most important things because some day that might be all they have left, those wonderful memories.
I’ll miss the dirty jokes, the card games and board games, and think of you often. I’ll try to continue being them man you would want me to be and you would be proud of.
You would always ask me, “who loves you baby” and I’d always tell you, Mom, Grandma, just to tease you until I’d say “You do Grandpa”.
I love you Grandpa and I’ll see you again someday.
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Andrew J. Calderon uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, March 14, 2019
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Andrew J. Calderon uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, March 14, 2019
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Andrew J. Calderon uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, March 14, 2019
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Andrew J. Calderon uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, March 14, 2019
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Andrew J. Calderon uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, March 14, 2019
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Andrew J. Calderon uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, March 14, 2019
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Andrew J. Calderon uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, March 14, 2019
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Andrew J. Calderon uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, March 14, 2019
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Andrew J. Calderon uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, March 14, 2019
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Andrew J. Calderon uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, March 14, 2019
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Andrew J. Calderon uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, March 14, 2019
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Andrew J. Calderon uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, March 14, 2019
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Kelsey Lee posted a condolence
Saturday, March 9, 2019
To the family of James Coulter,
I am sorry for your loss. May you find comfort in knowing that "Jehovah is close to the brokenhearted; He saves those who are crushed in spirit." (Psalm 34:18) With sympathy,
C
The family of James Coulter uploaded a photo
Saturday, March 9, 2019
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