James B Peek

On August 3, 2021 James ""Jim"" Basil Peek passed away while in hospice care at Luke Haven, Venice Beach, Florida. Jeanell, Jim's wife of 62 years and a former nurse, was at his side throughout this season. We are thankful Jim's final care was within the retirement community they came to love together, Village on the Isle. On November 29, 1936 Jim was born into a farming family in Lemon, Missouri. At 16, Jim graduated high school and left the farm to pursue a college education at the University of Missouri, where he discovered he had a love for accounting. One evening during his senior year, a woman dancing in the student center caught his eye, and he knew this was the woman he would marry. After using his network to track down this nurse named Jeanell, and an initial coke date, they fell in love and married in 1959. Jim began his public accounting career with Peat Marwick Mitchell and Co. in St. Louis, MO. While working as an accountant, he was invited to help out at a college job fair. Jim discovered a passion for recruiting college seniors. Now a college recruiter, Jim still insisted on earning his CPA, which he kept active throughout his career as an executive in personnel and, later, Human Resources. In 1962 Jim was promoted and relocated to work on Wall Street in The Big Apple. He travelled the country visiting colleges as a recruiter for the world's largest company. His gift for encouraging young people in their education and careers continued into his final days. Jim supported Village on the Isle's employee scholarship foundation. During his final days, a nurse stopped in specifically to thank him for recognizing her potential and for encouraging her to pursue her BSN. Jim and Jeanell raised their family in New York until 1972, then moving to Barrington Illinois where all of his kids graduated from High School. After their children were grown, they loved traveling North America in their motor home. They hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and in Yosemite, climbed Pikes Peak, went shelling on the beaches of Sanibel Island, fished in the Boundary Waters, biked throughout Door Country, were splashed by the Niagara Falls and caught the changing of the leaves in Nova Scotia. They flew around Alaska's Mt McKinley, the highest peak in N. America and walked at the 7000 ft. elevation. A gifted photographer, Jim captured them all. Wherever they lived his ""pretty pictures,"" as he called them, have been featured in local displays for others to enjoy. A man of unshakable faith, Jim served throughout his career and retirement as board treasurer of the churches they attended and of several non-profits. His highlight was leading Great Decisions programs, a small group discussion initiative based on current global issues. In addition to Jeanell, Jim is survived by their three children, J. Brad (Kristen), Janyne (Michael), and Jeff (Shawn) and six grandchildren, Blake, Nolan, Emmy, Ally, Madeline and Oliver as well as his older brother, Dean. He was preceded in death by his parents, Truman and Thelma Peek, two sisters, Liz Langston and Pauline Deringer, and his younger brother, Kirk. Jim's favorite poem was ""Somebody Said it Couldn't Be Done"" by Edgar Albert Guest, which, in his early days, he taped to the board of his desk on Wall Street, and in his final days, recited verbatim from his hospital bed. The final stanza reads: There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done, There are thousands to prophesy failure, There are thousands to point out to you one by one, The dangers that wait to assail you. But just buckle in with a bit of a grin, Just take off your coat and go to it; Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing That ""cannot be done,"" and you'll do it. Services will be held on Saturday, August 14 at 10:30 am (Eastern) at Lakeside Lutheran Church, 2401 S Tamiami Trail, Venice, FL 34293. Internment of ashes will continue immediately after at the church's Memorial Garden. A light lunch will follow. The service will be streamed live at https://lakesidelutheran.net/live-stream/. In lieu of flowers, gifts can be sent in memory of Jim Peek to: Village On The Isle Scholarship Fund 920 Tamiami Trail S. Venice, FL 34285 Tidewell Hospice Foundation at www.tidewellfoundation.org or mailed to 5955 Rand Blvd. Sarasota, FL 34238."" American Diabetes Association https://www.diabetes.org/donate/donate-memorial Service Information Date: Saturday, August 14, 2021 Time: 10:30 am Lakeside Lutheran Church Address: 2401 S. Tamiami Trail, , Venice, FL, 34293 941-493-5102 | Map Internment of ashes will continue immediately after at the church's Memorial Garden. A light lunch will follow. For live stream: https://lakesidelutheran.net/live-stream/ Memorial Slideshow beginning at 10:00 AM Eastern Service begins at 10:30 AM Eastern