James Gillum Reynolds

James Gillum (Jamie) Reynolds died on November 30th in Jacksonville FL. Born in Miami FL in April of 1951, Jamie grew up on Key Biscayne and later in Excelsior, MN and Lake Oswego OR. He moved to Jacksonville in 2017 and was well known among the Avondale dog walking community, ever in the company of his very friendly, large and swaggering Golden Retriever, Sonny who was known to attack spewing sprinkler heads with great vigor and chase wayward lizards but only in catch and release mode.

Jamie discovered rock music while still in high school and helped form several Portland OR area bands originally in partnership with his stepbrother, Jon Koonce including an early band, Skiffle. He wrote many of the bands’ songs, sang and played guitar.

Jamie‘s writing talent led him to create many fiction works and was the winner of a Marin (County) Arts Council prize for best short story. He is the author of several screenplays and novels though none were published in his lifetime.

Jamie spent many years as bartender both in Portland at the restaurant L’Auberge and in San Francisco at the bar in the Hotel Griffon. In his early bartending career, he was voted Bartender of the Year by The Willamette Week many times over. He was also a trained sommelier and ended his work career at the Sisters OR awarding winning restaurant, Jen’s Garden.

Among Jamie’s passions was a lifelong love of baseball. He was a rabid and occasionally beleaguered fan of the San Francisco Giants but loved his annual baseball weekends at many parks around the US accompanied by his brother, nephew and others. He would also look forward to his annual meeting in St Louis for the Giants- Cards series with his former boss and mentor, John Harvey, a Cardinals fan, whom Jamie met when working as a copy boy for the Portland Oregonian where John was an editor.

His beautiful and talented wife Susan Roderick died in 2004 after a successful career as an Emmy award winning graphic designer.

His family would like to thank the excellent staff of the ICU at St. Vincent’s Hospital for their loving and compassionate care in Jamie’s last days. Nurses Cat, Brianna and Jonathan and Doctors Zia and Bhaskar and others provided excellent care. Thanks also to the Jacksonville Fire Rescue team from the McDuff station for their speedy and decisive decision making.

Jamie is survived by his brother and sister-in-law, Perry and Cyndy Ira Reynolds, his stepbrother, Jon Koonce, his wife Megan and their children Hank and Gabe and his family, niece, Lisa Reynolds Owen, her husband Jamie and children, Gillum and Jay and nephew and namesake, James Reynolds, his wife Tracy Lott and their children Lela and Clara.

Jamie would like nothing more than to move on to his next iteration with the quiet dignity and affable good humor that made him loved wherever he went. There will be no formal service but if you wish to do something in his honor, please consider a donation to No More Homeless Pets Jacksonville.

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