James "Jim" Soterios Maness

Born in Stillwater, OK to Sandra “Yia Yia” Maness (Gouras) and L. Jack Maness, he was one of three boys and one girl. The family also lived in Paul’s Valley, OK before settling in Coffeyville, KS. Summers often included road trips to visit Sandra’s family on Long Island, NY, and the occasional ball game at old Yankee Stadium. Jim was very close to his father, who passed in 1979.

Jim was an adventurous young man, taking unplanned road trips to the west coast in the 1960s. He met Kathy Mullins of Atchison, KS while studying engineering at Kansas State University. They married in 1970, moved to Denver, CO where they had two sons, Jack Marshall in 1975 and Nicholas “Nick” James in 1976. The family moved to Lompoc, CA in 1986. Kathy passed suddenly in 1989. The boys moved back to Denver that year and Jim later met Ruth Gonzales, whom he married in 1995. They were married for 22 years until Jim’s passing. Jim was a talented engineer with wide interests. During his career he worked and traveled in Alaska, Canada, Oman, and Johnston Atoll, a small island in the South Pacific. After retirement he enjoyed spending time with his wife and fishing and camping with his sons in the Rocky Mountains and bayou of Louisiana. Preceded in death by his first wife, Kathy, his father Jack and mother Sandra, he is survived by Ruth Gonzales (wife), son Jack (Laurie Kubitz) of Denver, CO, son Nick (Elizabeth Scheef) of Covington, LA, his grandchildren, Jackson, Alexander, and Kathleen “Katie,” his brothers George of Wichita, KS, and Robert “Bob” of Tucson, AZ, and his beloved little sister, Patricia “Patty” Wilson, of Tulsa, OK.

Arrangements under the direction of Olinger Crown Hill Mortuary, Cemetery & Arboretum, Wheat Ridge, CO.