James 'Jim' Henry Almond Jr., 76

James “Jim” Henry Almond Jr., of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, passed away unexpectedly Feb. 27, 2023. Jim was born June 5, 1946, in Beverly Station, Mo., to James and Dorothy (Elliott) Almond.

Jim graduated from Coeur d’Alene High School in 1964 and attended various trade schools over the years. While in high school, Jim was in the Idaho All-State Choir, played saxophone in the pep band, played basketball and was an Eagle Scout.

Jim married his wife, Linda Best, on June 26, 1965, in Coeur d’Alene. He worked for his parents' saw shop, 4-J’s Sales and Service on Northwest Boulevard until he started his own logging business, Almond Logging, which he operated for many years. After leaving the logging industry, Jim went to work as a service manager in the automotive repair field. This job required Jim to relocate to Spokane, Electric City and Wenatchee, Wash., for several years. Jim and Linda relocated to Coeur d’Alene in 1987 to be closer to family and live out their lives in the area they both loved so much.

On returning to Coeur d’Alene, Jim worked as a heavy-duty diesel mechanic for several local automotive dealerships, including Appleway Chevrolet and Robideaux Motors. Upon Jim’s retirement from Robideaux Motors, he was gifted an all-expense paid trip to Hawaii. This trip was the thrill of a lifetime and where he caught his record marlin that he loved to tell everyone about. Jim was so appreciative of John Robideaux for this trip and the relationship they had over the years.

As a young man, Jim was an adrenaline junkie. He loved competitive racing and raced pretty much anything including go-karts, snowmobiles, motorcycles and quads. He won numerous competitions and had an entire room of trophies to show for it. After giving up racing, Jim’s need for thrills was satisfied with snowmobiling with his friends and family and trying to spin out the grandkids at the go-kart track.

Jim was an avid fisherman and planned vacation time around the local fishing derbies. His numerous hours on the lake finally paid off in 2016, when he won the “Big One” fishing derby on Lake Coeur d’Alene. He also enjoyed hunting, camping, gold mining and riding his ATV in the outdoors with his family by his side. Jim also loved NASCAR races and watching Gonzaga basketball games. He was so pleased that Gonzaga won their game the day prior to his death. During the 1970s, Jim was a Spirit Lake City Councilman and a proud Kootenai County Reserve Sheriff’s Deputy.

Jim loved his family and always enjoyed spending as much time as he could with them. He was always willing to lend a hand and was the person you called if you needed help fixing something. Jim was an avid supporter of the Lake City Timberwolves football team when his grandsons were playing in high school. You could count on Jim to be there early with his video camera in hand while cheering on the team. Most recently, he was cheering on his great-granddaughter at her district spelling bee and, “yes,” he had his camera recording.

Jim is survived by his beloved wife of 57 years, Linda; his children, Jeffrey Almond, Kimberly Nolan and Shelley Bryner; his grandsons, Christopher Nolan and wife Jordan, Cody Nolan and wife Alysha, Curtis Nolan and Nicholas Rainbolt; and his great-granddaughters, Kolbi and Emersyn Nolan.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, March 10, 2023, at Yates Funeral Home, Coeur d’Alene Chapel, 744 N. Fourth St., Coeur d’Alene. A graveside service will follow at Coeur d’Alene Memorial Gardens, 7315 N. Government Way, Coeur d’Alene.

Please visit Jim’s online memorial and sign his guestbook at www.yatesfuneralhomes.com.