James Earl (Jim) Pickett

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Jim Pickett, 81, died Nov. 15, 2019 at home in Port Townsend. He had lived with Stage IV kidney cancer for twenty-eight years.

Born in Wharton, Texas, he grew up in the small farming community of Lago, and worked in his father’s Pickett Hatchery and chicken feed store. He was a state winner in the 4-H Club and an Eagle Scout. He attended Wharton County Junior College on a football scholarship and graduated from Lamar University in Beaumont, with a teacher’s degree in history—paid for with prize money won with Houston “fat stock” show champion chickens.

He began his educational career teaching junior high in Houston in 1960.

He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1961 and served two years stateside on active duty. He received a reserve commission and completed 28 years of reserve military service, retiring as a colonel in the Medical Service Corps as a hospital administrator. He was a graduate of the Army’s Command and General Staff College.

After two years of active military service, Jim resumed teaching in Houston. He completed a master’s in education at the University of Houston, and began his school administration service in Galveston, Texas. After ten years as Superintendent of Schools, he took a medical retirement in 1993. He had 33 years of public education credit.

Jim met Cherie Phillips during Army Reserve training in Wisconsin in 1983. They were married 35 years.

In 1993, they moved to Sequim to assist Cherie’s parents.

Jim began what he affectionately referred to as “paying back” for community support he had received while in public school education. He was thankful to be able to help and stay busy.

Working with Citizens for Sequim Schools, a grassroots community group, Jim and Cherie chaired the 1995 election drive for a $25 million capital improvement bond. Its passage resulted in a new middle school, a large high school classroom addition, a second gymnasium, a remodel of the auditorium and other campus improvements. Jim was honored to be selected as the Sequim School District’s hearing officer and served for three years. It was difficult to get him out of teaching, though: he taught as a substitute for six years.

While in Sequim, he became president of the following non-profit organizations:

United Way of Clallam County

City of Sequim Parks Advisory Board

Friends of Sequim Library

Sequim Sunrise Rotary

Sequim Education Foundation

Diversified Industries

He was an elected member of the Clallam County Charter Review Commission. He served a year as Volunteer Executive Director of the Dungeness Valley Health and Wellness Clinic.

For six years, he was a Sequim instructor for the AARP’s Safe Driving Program.

He and Cherie volunteered four years as weekly delivery staff with Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County.

In 2007, Jim received the Clallam County Community Service Award.

In 2010, he was selected as Sequim’s Citizen of the Year.

Jim was a proud Rotarian. He represented the seven Washington Rotary clubs in Clallam and Jefferson Counties and served as Assistant Rotary District Governor for three years.

In 2006, he became an Ambassador for ShelterBox USA – an organization that, with the help of Rotary International, provides emergency shelter for those experiencing natural or man-made disasters. Jim achieved Ambassador Platinum Plus 3 honors in 2017 as the top fundraiser for ShelterBox in North America for raising over $337,885 with his presentations in Washington state. He remains the most successful fundraiser in ShelterBox USA history.

He completed 46 years as a Rotarian in October 2017. He was honored by his fellow Rotarians with his second Distinguished Service Award.

He wasn’t all volunteer and no play. Jim and Cherie hiked and hiked again favorite Olympic trails and the beaches of the northwest Pacific. They regularly biked the Olympic Discovery Trail. They travelled internationally to bike-tour Vietnam, Canada, and the north and south islands of New Zealand. They enjoyed two bike-barge trips in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. To their great enjoyment, they hosted three Rotary Exchange students and had the pleasure of visiting two of them in their home countries.

In addition to his wife, Jim is survived by his daughter Denise Stewart, her husband Christopher, and granddaughter, Ella, who live in Dallas, Texas.

At Jim’s request there was no service. Those wishing to honor and celebrate his memory are encouraged to support any of the following helping organizations: ShelterBox USA through the Sequim Sunrise Rotary Foundation (POB 1521, Sequim); the Port Townsend Education Foundation (POB 3065, Port Townsend WA 98368), or End of Life Washington (POB 61369, Seattle, WA 98141).