James Wallace Nesbit

James Wallace Nesbit arrived on Siskiyou Street in Portland, Oregon June 1, 1949, the fourth child of William Wallace and Virginia Hunt Nesbit. He died at Riverbend Hospital on January 18, 2025 after a severe stroke and other complications. 

His curly long hair was doted on by his mother and was the subject of early grooming by his older sisters. Jim cared less about dressing up, and more about nature, science, astronomy, travel, and music.

His early love of animals prompted a snake pit on his parents back porch, with which he could terrorize his sisters (or maybe get even with them for making him play dress-up?). His love of the outdoors led to dragooning his father into numerous camping trips and then earning his Eagle Scout Award. 

With his love of animals firmly anchored, he majored in Zoology at BYU, and his passion for science led to a degree from the University of Utah in Zoology. He then went on to get his second Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy. He began his pharmacology career in Lancaster, California. He worked at hospitals in both California and Oregon, was a self-employed pharmacist for several years, and finished his career at Peace Health in Springfield. He was known to say after 35 years as a pharmacist, “I can't fix stupid, but I can medicate it." 

Jim owned two A-frame houses to which he liked to escape city-life. One was on Tenmile Lake and the other was near Sunriver. Both were in the country with few neighbors. He loved to star gaze, watch meteor showers, and seek out a solar eclipse.

Jim never hesitated from an adventure, and traveled frequently visiting places all over the world. He saw the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Great Wall of China. He went to Peru, Spain and Thailand, just to name a few. Jim also loved local travel, especially if there was good music and a cold beer. In the 80's, Jim was a regular at Portland's ZooGrass weekly jazz and bluegrass celebration, usually with a box of KFC in hand. 

Jim was a devoted father, raising his daughter and four step-children with Sherry. He supported his family whether it was school activities, graduations, weddings, mini-golf, trips to the science center, planetarium, the Newport Aquarium, snow trips, long distance travel or just family events. He loved doing anything and everything with his family, including his grandchildren. 

Jim also had a life-long interest in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, traveling with family and extended family to watch plays numerous times over the decades. Jim's appreciation for poetry, travel, music, and art reminds his family of the poet Conrad Aiken who, instead of a tombstone, chose a bench whereupon Aiken had the inscription, "Cosmos Mariner-Destination Unknown" inscribed. Those of us who knew and loved Jim can see him signing on as Aiken's newest junior mate on the Cosmos Mariner, where they can continue to explore Destinations Unknown. 

Jim is survived by his daughter, Michelle Mullen and her husband Sherman, his step-children, Serena, Sonova, Joey and Soren, his sister Catherine Nesbit, his grandchildren, numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and extended family. 

A celebration of life will be held at The Public House in Springfield, (Jim's favorite eatery) Friday, February 7, 2025 from 1 pm until the inventory is liquidated.