James Edward Gathers

~ James Edward Gathers ~ James Edward Gathers, 79, of Golden, Colorado, formerly of Houston, Texas and Manhattan, Kansas passed away on the 19th of October, 2021, at Sevens Residential Memory Care in Golden, Colorado after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's disease. Born August 31, 1942 in Concordia, Kansas to Clinton and Katheryn (Pacey) Gathers, Jim grew up in Miltonvale, Kansas with his parents and twin sisters Christine and Kathleen. In 1960 Jim graduated from Miltonvale Rural High School. He attended Kansas State University where he graduated in 1964 with a degree in electrical engineering. He was a member of Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity. Jim had a varied work history. At an early age, he began his sales career by selling pumpkins he grew in the family garden. During High School he worked pumping gas and in the summers of his college years he worked for the State of Kansas on a highway crew painting center lines and edge stripes. After graduating from KSU he went to work for Humble Oil Refining Company, an Exxon subsidiary, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After a couple years, he was invited to move into industrial sales for Enjay Chemical and Enjay Synthetics, later renamed Exxon Chemical. After brief stints in Anaheim, CA and Morristown, NJ where his son was born, Exxon transferred the family to Houston in 1975 where Jim continued to work in US sales. In 1998 Exxon assigned him to coordinate sales of his group†™s products in Latin America. He retired In January of 2000 with over 35 years of service with the company that had just merged to become ExxonMobil. A proud K-State graduate, Jim played tennis, worked on sudoku and crossword puzzles, and enjoyed listening to Johnny Cash. He loved to watch Wheel of Fortune and would not answer the phone during Wheel. He liked to pull pranks, quote unusual trivia, and tell †œDad†� jokes such as, †œDo you know why cemeteries have fences? People are dying to get in!†� He also liked to tell the story of when he was seven years old and asked his parents for a baby brother and got twin sisters instead. Jim was preceded in death by his wife Becky, his infant son David, and his parents Clinton and Katheryn Gathers. He is survived by his son Michael (Rhonda) Gathers, of Golden, Colorado, grandsons Kyle and Owen Gathers, also of Golden, sisters Kathie and Chris Gathers of Manhattan, Kansas and his long time partner, Marianne Oakes of Houston, Texas. Cremation has taken place and no service is planned. Memorials may be made in his name to your local Alzheimer†™s Association or to alz.org