I knew Jim Roberts more by what he did than who he was. I regret that because I sensed he was a man who did a lot of living and had a lot to share with others.
Most of our moments together were as board members for the Sun City woodworking club. Jim was on the board because he had served as the club’s third president and was the current president of the community board, thereby making him an excellent club advisor. Indeed he was, but I often wondered why a man who spent countless hours presiding over the community governing board and all that entails would spend additional hours at woodworking club meetings and as a woodshop class instructor and as a woodshop monitor.
I often wondered, too, why Jim even bothered with the woodworking club. Judging from the stories he told about projects he built at home, he was not only an accomplished woodworker—so could learn little from other club members—but he also had a well-equipped shop of his own.
Those questions were answered after I had a chance to know Jim better. The closer you got to Jim, the more you realized he just enjoyed giving. And few men do it better than he did.
The many other questions I wanted to ask Jim will have to keep. I just thank God I had the opportunity to know him. He’ll certainly be missed.
