James Lee Hardin

Jim Hardin was born in Washington, Iowa on May 6, 1934 to parents Orville B. Hardin and Emma (Mapel) Hardin.

As a youngster, Jim was active in Boy Scouts and began building and collecting models of cars and airplanes, continuing this interest for the rest of his life. He played trumpet in his high school band, graduating from Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa in 1952.

During his college years at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, Jim hosted a radio show and was the announcer at college basketball games. Jim met his wife Louise at Cornell during his junior year when friends set him up on a blind date. The couple continued seeing each other and were married during the same month he graduated from Cornell in 1956. Louise’s father performed the ceremony at the Methodist Church in Charles City, Iowa. Jim and Louise became parents to two daughters, Sheri Lynn in 1957 and Julie Ann in 1960. Both daughters currently live in the Seattle area.

In Des Moines, Jim worked first for Interstate Assurance Company and later joined The Travelers Insurance Company as Assistant Manager in Personal Lines. After working in the Des Moines office, Jim was transferred to the Chicago office of Travelers. After finding a house in La Grange, Illinois, Jim commuted by train to the downtown office. Another move four years later took the family to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin office. Finding a home in Whitefish Bay, the girls attended junior high and high school there. Jim was active in the Methodist Church as a lay leader, taught a confirmation class, and was sometimes asked to give the Sunday sermon.

Jim had a phenomenal memory with stories from his past to entertain friends in conversation. He loved history and could remember many facts the rest of us forgot. Some people credited him with being one of the best conversationalists that they knew. Jim’s friends meant a lot to him and he kept in touch with them over 65 years, and they loved him in return.

Jim’s childhood interest in cars continued for most of his life as he built more models from kits. Word got around and it soon became known that Jim would repair models for friends. His interest in cars led him to purchase 1/43 and 1/25 scale models as well. He became known in the hobby as the one to go to for repairs and kit building. His love of cars included knowing all kinds of detail about their manufacture and specifications. The family always knew he could answer their questions about cars.

Upon his retirement in 1989, Jim and Louise decided to move to the West Coast to be near their daughters in Seattle. Bellingham beckoned and they bought a house there. Jim and Louise settled into Bellingham and joined Saint James Presbyterian Church.

More recently, Jim started a business building models of Texaco service stations with the assistance of Sheri’s husband Dennis Delaney. Their business, Proscale Models, made Texaco service stations for model cars. They sold a large number of buildings, and this business became a great source of pleasure to both Jim and Dennis.

Jim is survived by his wife Louise, daughters Julie (Ralf) Gray and Sheri (Dennis) Delaney, grandson Austin (Vicky Lin) Delaney, and great-grandson Jesse Delaney, with a great-granddaughter on the way.