James Charles Vaughn

James “Jim” Vaughn was born on July 26th, 1946 in Los Angeles California to Bert and Lester Vaughn. He was their first son, and the second of 8 children. Shortly after he was born, the family would move back to Arkansas (where Bert and Lester were from), where he spent much of his formative years. In the mid 1950s the family moved back to Los Angeles where they would live for the next few decades.

When he became old enough, in the mid 1960s, Jim joined the Air Force and was stationed in Taiwan during the Vietnam War, where he would eventually meet his wife of 53 years, Lee. Little did she know at the time, but Jim had a nearly fluent understanding of Chinese, and managed not to let that secret out for the first couple of dates. After marrying in 1969, they moved to Los Angeles to start their life together. Jim attended UCLA, thanks to the GI Bill, and graduated with a degree in Chinese Literature and History.

In late 1970, their first son, Kevin, was born. The family lived in greater Los Angeles before moving to Seattle in the summer of 1977 and remained in the region for the rest of Jim’s life. Only a few years later, in early 1981, their second son, Danny, was born. In 2009 Jim would finally become a grandfather, when Kevin and his wife Dawn adopted a young girl from China named Quinn. Two years later they would adopt another daughter, Anais (“Ani”), making Jim the grandparent of two.

Jim started an almost 40 year long career with Quality Food Centers (QFC) in the late 1970s, that would last until he retired from the QFC Corporate Office around 2016. During his time in the stores, he would work his way up to the position of Assistant Store Manager at several different stores in the greater Seattle area. In the mid 90's, Jim was promoted to a position at the corporate office. In the beginning, he was the Help Desk Manager, where he was known as the man to go to if anyone in the stores had a question about anything. His calm and polite demeanor made him perfect for the job, and long-time employees fondly remember being able to seek him out for answers no matter how silly the question, and always receiving friendly responses back. His final role with the company was as the Division Purchases and Expenses manager. Jim loved his work and would often reminisce about it after he retired.

In 2018, Jim fell ill. It wouldn't be until several months into 2019 that he had a diagnosis: Lewy Body Dementia. He would live nearly four more years from the initial diagnosis, until he succumbed to the disease on November 20th, 2022. Despite his terminal illness, he was able to maintain a positive attitude through his struggles. He was a loving father, husband, grandfather, brother, uncle, friend, and coworker to many. He was youthful, kind, warm, sharp, witty, easygoing and had a great sense of humor. He will be dearly missed by all and will forever live on in our hearts and memories.