James Lewis Largen

Jim was born in a little log cabin on the southern side of the Blue Ridge mountains three miles east of Mount Airy, North Carolina. His dad was a traveling farmer, and at the age of 12 Jim was given a horse and a plow to work his own fields. Mostly they farmed corn and tobacco. His dad even built a wood burning drying room to dry the tobacco leaves. It was at the age of 12 that Jim picked up the guitar. The family eventually moved to High Point, North Carolina as his dad got work there. There was a radio station in town, WHPE, that would have folks come on and play their instruments. It was there that Jim would watch people play and he began his journey of playing the fiddle and mandolin. Jim would join the Air Force where he served for four years on the B-29 which was eventually upgraded and renamed the B-50. Immediately after joining the Air Force he found himself in Denver, Colorado. He was hanging out at the Denver Dancing Academy where he met Jeanetta Faye Craig. They saw each other a few times, but she had already made plans to move to California. After she was gone a while he wrote a letter to her and said his goodbyes as he was in the Air Force and she was in California. But, that was not good enough for her and she wrote back telling him she's moving back to Denver. After dating awhile she asked him, "When are we getting married?" to which he replied, "Set the date!" They married in 1952 and were married for 55 years. The Air Force also took Jim to places like Guam, Texas and Roswell, New Mexico. But, Jim says he didn't see any aliens at Roswell. After discharging the service he got a job in Greeley, Colorado at an appliance service store. A year later they moved to El Monte, California where he worked at Westinghouse for 10 years. Eventually Jim and Jeanetta decided another move was in store, but Jim felt he had seen most of the countryexcept for the Pacific Northwest. But, they didn't know where so he put up a map on the wall and threw a dart. It landed on Eugene, OR. So, he loaded up the truck and off they went. When he arrived in Eugene he looked for work and was offered a position at Wolf Westinghouse in Vancouver, WA where he would work 20 years. In 1967 they bought their home in the Sifton area for $16, 500.

James Lewis Largen

July 28, 1932 - June 2, 2015