JAMES FREDERICK BAUN

Jim Baun, Club President 1979-1980

JAMES FREDERICK BAUN "Jim" Mr. Baun, "Jim" to his friends, was born October 12, 1932, in San Luis Obispo, CA to Alice and Ted Baun. He passed away April 3, 2003, in Houston, TX of cancer. Jim graduated from Fresno High School in 1949, and continued on to study at College of the Pacific in Stockton, CA, where he received a BS in Civil Engineering. While in college, he played water polo. Rather than be drafted, Jim joined the Navy and became a pilot as well as a first string water polo player. This team went on to the Olympic Trials. He was very proud of his days in the Navy. After the Navy, Jim went to work with his father at Baun Construction building roads throughout CA. During his off time from work, Jim was an avid water skier. On one of his many excursions, he met his future wife, Patti. When Baun Construction sold, the family, Ted, Jim, his brother, Walt and sister, Janet purchased Sanger Rock and Sand. For the next 25 years, this company would provide rock, asphalt, gravel and concrete for local construction. In 1990, the company sold and Jim "retired" to the golf course and the tennis court. An active member of the Sanger Rotary for over twenty years, Jim was very involved in the Sanger community. He helped build Rotary field. He served as the President, Vice President, and Treasurer of Sanger Rotary during his membership. Until this past year when he was no longer able, he volunteered as a tutor for computer use at the Sanger Library. An intelligent man ahead of his time, Jim was always on the go. His athletic ability is evidenced by the numerous golf, tennis, basketball, and bowling trophies on display at his family home and a snow ski pin for skiing 100,000 vertical feet in a week from Jackson Hole, WY. He sponsored basketball and softball teams for many years. And through it all, his bright blue eyes sparkled with mischief and love even at the end. He will be missed by his family and friends. Jim was preceded in death by his daughter, Janna Lynn Thompson. Jim is survived by his wife, Patti Baun, his son and his family, Rich, his wife, Katy, and their three sons, Richie, Chris and Alex, his daughter and her partner, Shell Baun and Tim Miller, his daughter and her husband, Marci Baun and Charles Fritzius, and his son-in-law and his partner, Dave Thompson and Kari Klassen, brother, Walt and Betty Baun of Fresno, sister, Janet and Burt Delavan Carmichael. Visitation will be held at Wallin's Sanger Funeral Home on Tuesday, April 8, 2003, from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. A celebration of Jim's life will be held at Annadale Baptist Church, 14th and "O" Streets, in Sanger on Wednesday, April 9, 2003, at 10:00 a.m. Remembrances may be sent to Sanger Rotary, Little League Field Project, P.O. Box 22, Sanger, CA 93657. WALLIN'S SANGER FUNERAL HOMESanger, CA 875-6555

Published by Fresno Bee on Apr. 6, 2003.