Mr. James E Bushman

James Evan Bushman was born in Akron, Ohio where he lived until his family moved to Florida in 1947. He graduated from Edgewater High School in Orlando. In 1957, Jim enlisted in the Navy where he served until 1961.

After leaving the Navy, Jim returned to Orlando where he went to work with Winn Dixie. He also worked briefly for the U.S. Postal Service. Always good at fixing things, Jim took a course in camera repair and was soon hired by Southern Photo Technical Service. He worked with Southern Photo for more than thirty years in its Miami and Orlando offices, serving as a repair technician and branch manager.

Quick to lend a helping hand, Jim volunteered to help friends launch and run a North Miami-based community theater in 1973. While working behind the scenes at the theater, Jim met Jeaneen Kinchen. They were loving companions for many years, raising her two children, Kathi and David Kinchen. While in Miami, Jim was a member of Miami Shores Presbyterian Church and Village Masonic Lodge No. 315. Following Jeaneen’s death, Jim returned to Orlando in 1989 to be closer to his family.

Jim settled into his new life in Orlando, spending many happy hours with his mother, Marjorie, and his twin sister, Judy. Soon Jim met a new neighbor, Margarita “Tita” and her two daughters Sheila and Cristina. They quickly fell in love, were married April 26, 1996 and lived happily together until his passing.

Jim’s greatest joy was family, and he was blessed with nine grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. He was a loving and soft-spoken gentleman, intensely loyal, a man of integrity with an endless supply of patience. Jim had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, was an avid reader and loved a good movie. He taught himself to play the banjo and dulcimer, and embraced computers long before they were mainstream.

Jim is survived by his wife, Margarita Bushman, his daughters, Sheila Colon, Maria Cristina Troche, Kathi Kinchen, his son David Kinchen and his twin sister Judy Ulmer.