He was predeceased by his parents, his siblings, Evelyn, George, Florence and Wylma, beloved first wife Helen who left him with four small children to raise, and his second wife Justina who stepped in to raise those children like her own. He was also predeceased by his very special friend and helper in so many projects, Charlie Lowenberg who left us just 27 days before him, to Jims great sadness.
He is survived by his children Doug Mitchell, Murray (Liz) Mitchell, and their children, Linda (Gary) Hirt and their children, Wendy Mitchell and her son, Cindy (Tom) Burns and their children, Carol, his loving companion of 25 years and her children Doug (Tara) Pasnak and their children Mike Pasnak, Jeff (Tanya)and their daughter and Les Pasnak. He is also survived by special cousins Hazel (Fred) Stonehouse and Ross Adams (The two of you always made him laugh) and a dear niece Laureen Kornel-Praus (Bill).
Jim was a person of few words but he was a thoughtful man and he valued family over money. Jim held various jobs over the years. He began his early working life in the oil patch in south eastern Saskatchewan and when things dried up like they always seem to do in that business, he moved his young family to northern Manitoba, to the Pas where he drove a taxi for awhile. When his father passed away, he moved the family to Darlingford and then to an acreage near Kalida where the family grew up. He took over his fathers transfer business and ran it successfully for many years making daily trips and sometimes more into Winnipeg to the livestock barns. When more farmers started to buy their own trucks for transportation, he sold his transfer business and went to work for local farmers. In 1997, he moved to Grenfell and took over the janitorial duties at the Post Office for 7 years. In between working, weekends were spent going to auction sales and he started collecting and restoring stationary engines until he had a collection of over 80 engines. Those years in Grenfell saw him going to many more auction sales and making engine friends along the way. He also became a master gardener and would have five gallon pails of peas and beans waiting for Carol when she came home from work, which perhaps were not appreciated as much as they could have been. He was a good man.
Jim had been slowing down gradually in the past year or so and the last few months became challenging but his greatest wish was to stay home for as long as possible and thanks to Home care and the Occupational therapists, they were able to put things in place that enabled him to do that.
In the early morning hours of April 30th he left us a little quicker than we expected. We thought we still had a few days left with him.
We would like to thank Dr. Zimmerman and the staff at the Indian Head Union Hospital, the staff at Wolseley Integrated Center, J.T. Ambulance, Broadview Union Hospital staff and Dr. Baumann, for your professionalism but most of all your kindness and caring which we will always be grateful for.
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