James Wildblood
James Wildblood
James Wildblood

Obituary of James Shaw Wildblood

James Shaw Wildblood, Jr., passed away at home on Jan. 21, 2019. He was born August 19, 1942, in Chicago, IL and grew up in Park Ridge. His proudest accomplishment in high school was being the back stroke leg of the 200 medley relay that won the state swimming championship in 1959 and broke state and national high school records at the time. Jim attended the University of Iowa where he was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity and graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science. On August 22, 1965, he married Diane Barghahn whom he met in college. After Jim graduated from the University of Oklahoma law school in 1968 with a J.D. , he and Diane moved to Des Moines, Iowa where he worked for the Equitable of Iowa in Business and Estate Planning. In a few years he became a regional vice president recruiting Million Dollar Round Table agency managers concentrating in the SE United States. Although he traveled extensively, when at home he loved to spend time on his sail boat on Saylorville Lake. He sold his sailboat after several years and rescued a derelict houseboat and refurbished it. While in Des Moines Jim volunteered with the cub scouts and the camp fire girls. After 25 years at Equitable, he began working for Union Central Life Insurance Company in Cincinnati as a regional vice president and later Federal Home Life Insurance Company, a GE Capital company. In 2000 he retired and moved to Oro Valley, AZ where he continued his golfing career on Monday mornings. Jim was very personable and engaging and took a great interest in people and tried to help them however he could. He was a good neighbor and had a wry sense of humor. He loved being a grandpa. An unfulfilled dream was to be an Oscar Meyer Weinermobile driver. He will be missed. He was preceded in death by his parents James and Marjorie Wildblood. Jim is survived by his wife of 53 years, Diane, son Christian, daughter Megan Wildblood-Crawford (Bruce), four lovely granddaughters, Hanna, Grace, Jessie, Zillah, brother Lynn (Nancy) and daughter-in-law Krista. Any memorial contributions may be made to a charity of your choice. A celebration for friends and family will be held at later date.
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