Dr. James Stephen Tallman

James (Jim, Little Jimmy, Jimbo, Papa T, Kimo, the “Big Kahuna”, Doc or whatever you called him) Tallman was born in Creston, IA on February 10, 1927. He grew up in a rural farming area of Iowa, where his father Bert worked at the First National Bank of Creston Iowa and his mother Dora was a nurse, along with his older sister, Marjorie. He was good in sports, and he was an All-District Center in Football and played basketball, which made up for his ‘not so great’ grades in school, of which only one “A” was found and that was in high school Choir. Jim left Creston and was inducted into the Army on June 12, 1945, and was stationed in Italy at the end of WWII, but he was discharged early after his father’s death in 1946 and moved his ailing mother to live with his uncle, Thomas Heppeard, Mayor of Lake Oswego, OR. After his mother’s death in 1948, he worked at the Delta Delta Delta house in Corvallis OR at Oregon State where he met his future wife, Audrey Durston. They were married on August 20, 1950, and they moved to Eugene, OR so he could attend the University of Oregon where he received his Bachelor of Science. He was also a proud member of the Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji’s) and kept in touch with many of his brothers over the years. While in Eugene, their first son, Stephen was born in 1952. Upon graduating, they moved to Camas Valley, OR where he taught Science at the Camas Valley High School with Rod and Ann Petty and Cecil Barnett, whose families became lifelong friends after teaching. They also had a second son, Daniel in 1953, so with two sons, teaching didn’t bring in enough income, so he picked up summer work driving logging trucks as well as running a chicken farm. He made more money driving logging trucks in the summer than teaching year-round, which influenced his decision to leave teaching and move to East Portland so Jim could attend the University of Oregon Dental School. While going to night school, Jim worked at Smith’s Home Furnishings while Audrey worked at Blitz Weinhard to help financially. Jim graduated in 1960 and worked with Audrey’s uncle, Dr. George Evans, who gave him his practice at the Taylor Street Building in downtown Portland. He also managed to have two more sons, David in 1957 and Matthew in 1959 and a daughter Elizabeth in 1961. With five children, they needed a bigger house, so they moved to SW Portland on Pendleton Street as well as moving his dental practice from downtown to SW Portland with his business partner, Dr. Bill Gallagher. After Dr. Gallagher died, Dr. Joe Gordon bought his practice and they worked together until Jim retired in 1996.

With so many kids and a dental practice, Jim & Audrey didn’t have a lot of free time and extra money, so they enjoyed entertaining with longtime friends, the Congelton’s, Gardiner’s, and LaFromboise families by playing Bridge and yearly camping adventures, anxiously awaiting what “New New” device would be invented (Camp Showers, Stew Bombs, Put Put Golf Courses) as well as traveling as often as possible to Sea Village on the Kona Coast.

Jim was also a longtime member of the Lions Club in Portland and worked collecting paper and selling Christmas trees to raise money for their Vision and Hearing mission.

He was married to Audrey for 48 great years, raised five children and was lucky enough to find love again with AnnaBelle Davis, whom he married in 1999 for 23 happy years. They spent their retirement years at Courtyard Village and West Hills Village where they made dear friends over the years.

He loved to sing in the church choir at St. Andrews Church, play cribbage, camping, fishing, photography and always had a wry sense of humor till the end.

He passed away peacefully in his sleep on August 19, 2022, and is survived by his wife, AnnaBelle Davis-Tallman, his son Steve Tallman and wife Lisa, Dan Tallman and his husband, John McEnhill, Matt Tallman and his wife, Cheryl, and his daughter Beth Tallman, stepsons, Mike & Norman Davis, stepdaughters, Jan Jacobsen and Jill LeBlas, grandson, Craig Tallman, granddaughters Alicia Richter and Kelley Dittrich, great granddaughters, Audrey and Abigail Richter, nephews John & Andy Dinges and niece Nancy Dinges. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Audrey Durston Tallman and his son David Tallman, stepdaughter Judy Davis, his sister, Marjorie Rowland and his nephew, Jeffrey Rowland.

As he always told us while camping, “leave this place better than we found it” and Jim Tallman did that in his life.

A private family graveside service will take place at Finley-Sunset Hills Mortuary followed by a memorial service at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 3228 SW Sunset Blvd, Portland, OR 97239 on Friday, October 7th at 2pm.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Lions Club Vision and Hearing Mission, Open Arms International, plant a tree in memory or donate to a charity of your choice.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.finleysunsethills.com for the Tallman family.