James Solem passed on to his heavenly home Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, at the age of 69.
He was born Sept. 7, 1952, in Inglewood, Calif., as the second of three children to Donald and Louise Solem. Jim was raised in Norwalk, Calif., and was active in school bands, sports, church and Boy Scouts. He earned his Eagle Scout award at age 13. During the Vietnam War, Jim enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard, having various sea and land duties. His California surfing skills led him to become a rescue swimmer, followed by drug enforcement deployments, and later oil pollution investigation.
After his discharge, he married Kay Kautz in November 1975. They had two children, Krista and Matthew, who were raised in Yorba Linda, Calif. Jim pursued a career with GTE/Verizon as a communications specialist, taught advanced technology at universities in the area, and completed his MBA.
The family transferred to Lewiston in 1999, and Jim enjoyed the fishing, golfing and church activities while working to improve Idaho’s technology for Verizon. Not long after completing the University of Idaho project of making it the “most wired university,” Jim lost his eyesight and had to retire to the disability community, where he championed improvements and focused on completing his Ph.D. while participating on various boards of directors and state committees for rehabilitation and inclusion. When Jim became a grandpa, he stepped down from the responsibilities for the state and concentrated on family. For those of you who know Jim, you couldn’t avoid watching phone videos of family. He shared with everyone.
A celebration of life will be held at a later date, and the family suggests donations be made to honor Jim’s life to Family Promise of Lewis Clark Valley, 921 Ninth Ave., Lewiston, ID or the Leukemia Lymphoma Society at lls.org.
