James Morgan Harper

James Morgan Harper was born on February 22, 1925 in David City, Nebraska to Morgan and Avis Harper, and died on December 15, 2018 in Bellevue, WA. The oldest of three children, Jim grew up in several towns near Lincoln, Nebraska. He entered the US Navy following his high school graduation during WWII. During his service, he received training in electronics and worked as a radioman. He finished his service in Honolulu, HI when the war ended, and went on to graduate from the University of Nebraska through the GI bill with a degree in electrical engineering. Jim went to work for Boeing in Wichita, Kansas, where he met Pat Dean. They married in Wichita in June of 1956 and had four children there, and one more after transferring to the Seattle area, where they settled in Bellevue. Jim was a true renaissance man, a tinkerer with an interest in all kinds of subjects he came across. He was an electrical engineer, and carried that love of building things (not to mention taking them apart) into his hobbies at home, building electronic equipment and computers well after retirement. He was an avid outdoorsman, and he and Pat taught the kids the joys of camping, hiking, fishing and backpacking. He was a woodworker, handyman, and home mechanic, regularly building and repairing things in and around the family home. He was an avid gardener, growing flowers, fruits and vegetables in their beautiful yard in Newport Hills. And he was a voracious reader, constantly curious and absorbing knowledge on all sorts of topics. Jim was incredibly intelligent and curious, and always interested in learning new things. The family was transferred briefly to Germany for 6 months in 1967, when Jim worked on a Boeing project there. Through that experience, Jim and Pat developed an interest in traveling and seeing new places and cultures. After the kids were grown, they continued to travel, both by road trips in their fifth wheel trailer and to various destinations overseas. Jim was a real family man, and he and Pat made the family their priority, creating a home environment where the kids could learn and grow. Jim passed away at Everlasting Comfort Adult Family Home in Bellevue, and was preceded in death by his parents, Morgan and Avis Harper and his wife, Pat. He is survived by his sister Dorothy Bader, brother Tom (Marie), and sons Patrick (Kelly), Brian, and David (Hilda), and daughters Eileen Allis (Todd) and Amy Sabia, ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America at https://alzfdn.org/support-us/donate. A memorial open house will be held on Saturday, January 5, 2019 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm at the family’s home at 12810 SE 56th Street, Bellevue, WA