Jim was born to Scottish and English immigrants Andrew and Nellie Caddis on August 25, 1927, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but spent most of his younger years near Erie, Pennsylvania, and Ripley, New York. At the tender age of 15, he quit school and ran away from home to begin his life-long journey of travel and adventure—hitchhiking and working from Miami to the Grand Canyon and Salt Lake and back to Ripley, where he joined the Merchant Marines and worked on the freighters plying the Great Lakes. In 1945, at the end of World War II, he joined the U.S. Marines where he advanced to the rank of staff sergeant. In 1947, after mustering out of the Marine Corps, he and his life-long buddy, Doug Coogan, traveled to Alaska where Jim helped survey and build the Alaskan Railroad track from Anchorage to the Kenai Peninsula, and worked gold dredges near Nome. Jim then returned to upstate New York, where he bartended at the Saranac Inn (and refused service to Joe McCarthy), got his GED, and was introduced at the New York State Ranger School to what would be his life’s passion—forestry. In 1950 he was called back into the Marine Corps Reserves to serve another year during the Korean War. After mustering out, he completed forestry training at the top of his class at the Ranger School in 1952 and returned to Alaska to work for the Bureau of Land Management. While there he realized that to move his career forward he needed to get his bachelor’s degree, so he returned to school at the University of Michigan where he got his BS in Forestry in 1956. On a blind date there he met the love of his life, Edna Garmene, who worked as a dietician at the Martha Cook dormitory. They married in 1956 and moved west in the middle of winter to Grangeville, Idaho, for Jim’s first full time job as a forester with the US Forest Service (USFS) in the Nez Perce – Clearwater National Forest. Between fighting fires, manning lookout towers, and conducting forest-management activities in the rugged mountains near Grangeville, he and Edna had their first daughter, Karen, in 1958, followed soon by two more daughters—Jeannie and Connie. He was out fighting a fire when his daughter Connie was born in 1961. In 1962, the USFS chose Jim as one of only four people in the U.S. to get his master’s degree in business management from the University of California, Berkley, which he did in just 9 months. He and the family then moved with the USFS to Osborn and Sandpoint, Idaho, in 1963 and 1965, respectively, where Jim worked as a district ranger and land-ownership adjustment specialist for the Coeur d’Alene and Kaniksu National Forests. In 1967, after 11 years with the USFS, Jim moved the family to Spokane, Washington, and left the USFS to reinvent himself as a self-employed real estate appraiser with a specialty in forest property valuation. He founded Caddis and McFaddin, Inc. with his partner John McFaddin in 1981 and then went solo as Caddis Valuation Service in 1988, which he ran successfully until he was 80 years old, when his daughters finally convinced him to retire. After 39 years of marriage and many happy adventures together, Jim’s wife, Edna, passed in 1995. Jim spent his retirement years gardening and traveling with his friends and family to Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, and around the mainland U.S., including many trips with his special friend, Audrey Holm, who preceded him in death, and his long-time friend Ventis Plume.
Jim strongly believed in community service, contributing many hours and his lifetime expertise to Campfire (particularly at Sweylokan and Dartlow summer camps), Kiwanis, the National Institute of Real Estate Appraisers (NIREA), the St. Andrews Society, the Society of American Foresters, Meals on Wheels, and the Cop Shop. He also taught appraisal classes at Spokane Community College, and was president of numerous organizations, including the Kiwanis Club of Downtown Spokane, Inland Northwest Chapter of the Society of Real Estate Appraisers, and the Selkirk Chapter of the Society of American Foresters. He received many honors and awards during his life, including membership in the American Appraisal Institute (MAI). Jim was especially proud of being honored by Kiwanis with the Hixson award, its highest honor for exemplary service, and receiving life tenure membership in Campfire.
Jim was honest, intelligent, demanding, soft-hearted, caring, opinionated, and proud of his work. He loved gardening, the woods and nature, shrimp, local history, traveling, attending the Spokane symphony, being a Marine, barbecuing, and puttering in his workshop. He was extremely proud of his Scottish heritage and his three daughters. No matter what, we always knew that Dad loved us deeply. We will miss you immensely and will love you forever.
Jim is survived by his daughters, Karen Caddis (Crestone, Colorado), Jeannie Plopper (Spokane, Washington), and Connie Caddis (Corvallis, Oregon); son-in-law Ray Plopper; grandchildren Devon and Stephen Plopper; sister Frances Davis; and brother Donald Caddis; and numerous nieces, nephews, and dear friends.
A gravesite memorial service has been planned for October 8, 2021, at 2:30 pm at Greenwood Cemetery’s military honors section. Please meet in your car on the roadway near the Greenwood Cemetery office on Government Way about 15 minutes prior to the service for an escort into the gravesite. Plans for a celebration of life are being made for the Spring of 2022, when we can all hopefully gather more freely to celebrate Jim’s life . Donations in Jim’s name may be made to Campfire, Kiwanis, Meals on Wheels, or the charity of your choice.
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