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FAST FIVE: Jim Lyon: Hard work and kindness go a long way

by DEVIN WEEKS
Staff Writer | January 9, 2021 1:00 AM

Meet Jim Lyon. He considers himself a lifelong Idaho resident who has been blessed with a wonderful family and more friends than he deserves. He has a poor track record at retirement, with two failed attempts so far. After 21 years as a public educator and 16 years in the fire service, he finds himself working with a great team of guest service folks at Kootenai Health. He’s been there just over a year. He lives in Hayden, where each morning greets him with views of nearby mountains and Hayden Lake, which reminds him that there is no greater place to live than here.

Generation: I will confess, I never quite got this concept. I’m a 60-plus-year-old guy who has worked his entire life in public service. I was fortunate to have parents from the "Greatest Generation” who taught me to work hard, enjoy life, tell the truth and be kind to others.

Career and community involvement:

After graduating from Coeur d’Alene High School and the University of Idaho, I headed to Alaska in 1982, where I taught special education, elementary and applied technology for 20 years in both Adak and Juneau. Upon retiring from Alaska schools and returning to Idaho in 2001, I taught special education one year before joining the fire service. I earned my firefighter certification and held the titles of public education specialist, fire inspector, public information officer, arson investigator and deputy fire marshal. I was involved with public information and fire and injury prevention with both Kootenai County Fire and Rescue and Northern Lakes Fire District. I had difficulty saying no to joining any group involved with the promotion of public safety and found myself as one of the lead information officers for Kootenai County’s Office of Emergency Management as well as teaching courses for information officers and effective teaching strategies in the fire service. Each year I took on the persona of “Brave Dave,” “Professor Firestein” or a myriad of other characters while our fire prevention cooperative went to every elementary school in Kootenai County, teaching fire safety.

Parental status: I have been married for almost 10 years to Lisa, an amazing wife, friend, mother and nurse. Our blended family includes five kids and their loved ones, living from Alaska to New York, all of whom I’m intensely proud! Our first grandchild will be born this March, which we are very excited about!

1. What have you been up to since you retired from Northern Lakes Fire?

Lisa and I literally took off the next day with no clear plan other than to drive around the country. 12,000-plus miles and more than five weeks later, we returned home to enjoy Idaho and our river property down on the St. Joe. We were able to slip in a two-week river cruise through Russia and some time in Hawaii before travel restrictions became the norm. While Lisa went back to work, I began learning how to make custom fishing rods, building wooden toys, spending time on the water and always enjoying time with friends and family. I became an official “baby cuddler” in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Kootenai Health for a few months before COVID arrived and ended all volunteer assignments for the time. A good friend, and my current boss, convinced me I needed to get out of full retirement and join the guest services team at Kootenai Health for a couple days a week. In fairness to my retired self, I did say “no” several times. It is a wonderful job with the emphasis solely on assisting those patients and visitors who are having to spend time at the hospital.

2. What are a few of your favorite moments when you look back on your years with the department?

I loved my career teaching but my years in the fire service provided so many amazing experiences that changed my life. Some of the memories which immediately come to mind are: The times when I had the privilege to console or hug those impacted from a fire or fatality incident; teaching kids to be safe while I was dressed as a cowboy, mad professor, game show host, etc.; sharing friendships, laughter and emotions with peers who experienced things only those on an ambulance or fire engine understood; digging through fire debris and muck in the middle of winter nights with your partners, trying to find the cause of the fire in hopes to prevent the next one; working with awesome people in the media, time and time again, to the point where we have become lifelong friends. Perhaps the greatest experiences I recall come from the years I was a counselor at the Northwest Burn Foundation camp for burn survivor children. Those kids taught me to understand what toughness was and how to keep moving forward even when things were difficult, almost always with a smile on their faces.

3. When did you start tinkering with woodworking, and what are a few of your favorite things about the craft?

“Tinkering” is almost an overstatement! I do love working with wood and creating things from scratch, though I would never be accused of being a craftsman, any more than being called a golfer because I own a bag of clubs. I have made some folk toys that I have given away to kids that are special to me for different reasons. I’m currently making a rocking horse for a little guy who is the grandson of a good friend of mine. He has had so many challenges in his short life but is an amazing fighter and trooper. Neither he or his parents know about the rocking horse but it will magically show up on his second birthday this spring. And I continue to make and carry small wooden crosses that I give to anyone who asks or that I feel might be comforted with one in their pocket during challenging times.

4. What is something people would be surprised to learn about you?

People probably don’t know that I used to be 6 feet, 2 inches tall. OK, maybe not that. Most people who know me assume I’m a true extrovert. However, I not only enjoy, but require, frequent solitude. I rarely get more than a few hours of sleep before waking and pondering issues for long periods in the quiet of the night before falling back to sleep. I am frightened of loneliness but crave being alone, if that makes any sense.

I am also currently in the process of writing a book for my children that has been 50 years in the making. During those quiet times of solitude, I have written about my feelings and addressed life’s issues in almost 300 writings, beginning when I was a child. This has been my personal therapy over the years and I have saved each one hidden away. I have just completed the first draft of narratives for each writing and plan to edit and bind them in order to share with my kids after I’m gone.

One other interesting factoid about my life is that I have always found myself near water and as a matter of fact, have lived on three "islands" connected only by water or air travel. My first two years of life had me living with my family in American Samoa, in the South Pacific, where my father was a physician. My brothers and I have recently reconnected with many of the people that live or lived on Samoa and we have shared stories. My first teaching job was on Adak, a small island and at the time, a Naval air base 1,200 miles west of Anchorage on the Aleutian chain. From there I moved and retired from teaching on another “island” of sorts as Juneau is landlocked and only accessible by boat or plane.

5. As someone who excels in fostering positive relationships and communicating with others, what advice do you have for our community to move into this new year making peace with our neighbors and setting up 2021 to be a better year for all?

I’m sure there are many more folks in our community who are more qualified to answer this question than myself, but I would like to comment on the key words mentioned: “positive relationships.” Without a doubt, relationships are the treasures of one’s life. I have never seen or heard of anyone looking or talking about their material possessions at the end of their life. What I have seen firsthand are people asking for or holding onto those they love; friends and family. Surrounding yourself with positive relationships, and choosing to avoid negative ones, is perhaps the best gift a person can give to him or herself. Life is much too short to do anything else.

I find myself as stressed and confused as everyone else by the way many people are treating each other during these crazy times. In a time where we should all be supporting and caring for each other, I see so many people almost doing the opposite, with a passion. I guess if I had a magic wand, I would instill two traits into everyone that I feel would help make peace with our neighbors: respect and kindness. My advice? Be aware of others. Put them before yourself. Respect them. Show them kindness. How could the world not be a better place if we all did that?