Jim Raley

Since I started working again, I've been remiss about posting here.
First, the death of my good friend Jim Raley.

My good friend Jim Raley passed away on October 17 of last year - (has it really been that long??).

Friend, teammate, father, son, sibling.
He was kind, thoughtful, loyal, responsible, capable, strong, resilient, talented, and he was loved.
He was also tough, but you might never know that because he was never a bully, or even boastful – it was a quiet toughness.
Most of all, he had integrity.

As many who knew him know, Jim beat cancer about 20 years ago; he didn’t just beat it… he kicked its butt.

Around that time, maybe a bit before, he said something to me. I think he was considering the possibility of his mortality, and wanted to say things to some of the people in his life. For no good reason, he told me that he respected me. 

I’ve never forgotten that, that a man like Jim would respect me. I was honored.

But more than that, it was an honor to have known Jim for so long – since he was 18…
Jim, I hope you’re resting easy, and may God be with you.
I’ll never forget you.

https://www.barkerfh.com/obituary/JamesJim-Raley

Some photos:

 

 

Found a hat he gave me after he did some renos on our house. Now my go-to yardwork hat.

A photo of our early days on the team (1985).

A self portrait he posted years ago - I mocked him at the time because that is what buddies do - but it is a perfect encapsulation of what he was...

And the last time I saw him was playing golf - we had beers on that front porch afterwards..