Obituary

JIM LAMBERT EULOGY

4-21-26 2:00 PM

Good Afternoon, I am Matt Potter, Jim’s good friend. Thank you for joining us today to honor Jim.  I’ve been asked to read Jim’s eulogy written by his daughter Patty.

Ninety-two years! That’s a long time to touch lives to make memories and a lasting legacy. In that time Jim saw nearly a century of change, lived through extraordinary times and remained constant in his faith, values and love for family.

Jim grew up in a time that would be unheard of by today’s standards when his only instruction upon leaving the house was to "be home by dinner”. Growing up in Menomonie, Wisconsin meant running freely with neighborhood friends, anywhere within the city, and without parental supervision.  That’s not to say that his parents didn’t care it was just the way it was. In fact he had a hard working Irish father who believed that he could build Jim’s character and work ethic through discipline and hard labor. He also had a loving mother and four siblings.

What did running freely mean? It meant swimming and fishing in the lake; sliding on the cemetery hill; skiing on the fair grounds hill; ski jumping off the Wakanda scaffold.  This freedom didn’t come without peril as he was once pulled out of an icy hole in the lake by a friend’s sister after sliding onto the lake while sledding.  At 12, Jim also arrived home one day and told his mother he had just flown over the house after convincing the pilot of a small plane taking off from the ice covered lake to take him for a ride. No parental permission required!

As he grew older he gained even more independence. He often rode his bike carrying his .22 rifle on the handle bar basket to go squirrel hunting in the woods outside of town.  He also camped or fished on his own along the Red Cedar river or Lake Menomin in his Dad’s oar powered scow.

Boy Scouts of America became a favorite pastime and his natural ability as a leader became evident when he became a squad leader for the second annual National Jamboree in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

Jim had more than 30 different work experiences in his life time beginning with delivering a weekly shopping guide at age 8 before school on cold, snowy mornings. His father’s idea was to put him to work doing things like tagging milk cans, washing ceiling beams, mowing an acre of grass with a push mower and sending him off to work in the summer on his uncles’ Minnesota farms. While the expectation was there Jim was self motivated to succeed and do well.

Jim attended St Joseph’s Catholic School from first through eighth grades and believed it was the base for his spiritual strength, staying out of trouble, getting through school with a degree, gaining meaningful jobs and having a good family. Some of the things Jim enjoyed most about Catholic School were singing at midnight mass, serving as an altar boy and the May crowning.

A week after graduating from Menomonie High School in 1952 Jim joined the Navy and served proudly during the Korean War on the carrier  USS Philippine Sea CVA-47 and the AJ Air Squadron  VC-6 in San Diego and Atsugi, Japan.

In 1956 he attended Stout State College (University of Wisconsin-Stout) and later earned his degree in forest conservation from the University of Montana. During college he was seasonally employed by the National Park Service in Glacier and Grand Teton National Parks.

Working as fire guard at the Pole Bridge Ranger Station in Glacier, one of Jim’s favorite hikes was over the divide to the Waterton Lakes Ranger Station.  The hike took two days each way by himself, sleeping out in the open near the Canada border.  This backcountry was not well traveled and very wild.  Only one hair raising encounter with Grizzly sow and her cubs along the way.  Thankfully he escaped by lying in a stream and letting the current carry him downstream away from the bears.

Jim was asked by University of Montana Professor Lawrence Merriam to work with him and the University of California, Berkley on a National Wilderness Study in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. This required month long and ten day trips into the wilderness to interview recreational users and outfitters. Jim was also asked to write up his impressions of the wilderness environment. Merriam’s doctoral thesis and Jim’s impressions were used for legislation to enact the Wilderness Act of 1964.

Jim met Carol Ostrem from Minnesota while they were both working in Glacier National Park. They married December 27, 1960 in Moorhead, Minnesota. While Carol was teaching in Missoula, Montana and Jim was in forestry school, he had summer employment at Grand Teton National Park working as a seasonal ranger assigned to Death Canyon.  This involved back country patrol on horseback for the south half of the Tetons. Before leaving the Tetons Jim and Carol weathered a snow storm over Labor Day weekend which included bringing "Pepper” the horse in through the cabin to spend the night in the attached tack room.  The next morning their rustic cabin smelled like a barn. Jim loved it and Carol wished she had gone back to Minnesota for the summer. 

After graduating from college, Jim began his 29 year career with the Bureau of Land Management and moved with Carol and their first child Patty to Winnemucca, Nevada. This was followed by Reno and Battle Mountain, Nevada where their second child, Peter joined the family. Jim called this his growing up time, a very satisfying time with much humility and a time with great mentors and friends. Nevada also meant hunting deer and pheasants or chukars with his first Labrador Retriever "Abby”.

Jim, Carol, Patty and Peter moved to Casper, Wyoming in 1971 and then to Cheyenne in 1973.  Jim’s BLM career included many facets of the BLM and included titles such as area manager, outdoor recreation planner, coal EIS project manager before finally retiring as an appraiser in 1989.  The highlight of his career though was being asked to appraise employee housing in Yosemite National Park, the Hawaiian Islands, Tern Island and the Hawaiian leper settlement.

After his retirement, Jim managed their rental properties, ran a landscape company and traveled with Carol.  Jim had a lifelong love of the outdoors. He especially enjoyed walleye fishing with friends, bird hunting with his dogs and camping or skiing with his family.

Jim often said he bird hunted for the dog! If you ever fished or hunted with him you knew he could be a bit intense about getting the fish or the birds. Once when he returned from hunting with Patty’s Labrador Piper they were both looking at each other as though it had been the best day ever. Be assured both had a shared passion for the hunt.

Having been a ski instructor for the University of Montana at Big Mountain in Whitefish. Jim also taught Patty and Peter to ski.  Patty remembers the many "lectures” on technique such as dropping her downhill shoulder, staying over her skis and planting a pole to start her turn. She also remembers that when the lectures weren’t sufficient the ungroomed ski hill down the road from Hogadon ski area without a ski lift would further her education by skiing down and side-stepping back up.  Dad made sure his kids had plenty of fun ski time traveling to Steamboat, Colorado many weekends.

Jim was always prepared for his hunting trips, ski trips, fishing trips and travel because he was consummate list maker. He had a list for everything including chores to be done and groceries to buy, He rarely threw a list away preferring to save them in case he needed it. Consequently there were a lot of lists left behind.  One time, when Jim asked his Uncle Buzz whether he had brought something specifically for their fishing trip, his uncle said "No, we knew you’d bring it!”

One of his favorite fishing trips was to Canada with his son Peter and his Minnesota cousins.  The cousins were avid card players so on the trip to Canada Dad and 16 year old Peter did much of the driving so the card playing could continue.

Both Jim and Patty enjoyed a good father-daughter trip to Cody, Wyoming for a Spring into Yellowstone event sponsored by Wyoming Game and Fish and BLM. Grizzly bears, bat caves and black-footed ferrets were on tap for day hikes and education.

Jim and Carol made family trips memorable by taking the roads less traveled stopping at historic sites and picnic areas for lunch packed in a cooler or camping in forest service campgrounds along the way.  Family trips also included special events like a chartered sail boat to the extinct volcano off the coast of Maui and snorkeling with the fish.  Who would have guessed that a humpback whale would even surface in front of the sailboat on the way back to shore.

These kind of adventures didn’t stop, with just Patty and Peter they continued with their grandson Dyllan.  Jim talked about how much fun it was to spend time with Dyllan teaching him to ski, participating with him in Boy Scouts and taking him on road trips.  Trips included roller coaster rides in California, white water rafting in Glacier, riding ATVs on the Oregon sand dunes, open cockpit bi-plane ride, racing go carts, beaches and museums.  In his 70s, Jim was out Boy Scout Klondike camping with Dyllan in minus five degree temperatures in a tent on the hard ground.  Fun?

Being Catholic and faith in God was the foundation of Jim’s life and it was evident in the way he served others. He was a member of St Mary’s Catholic Church, the VFW and Knights of Columbus. He volunteered for Meals-on-Wheels, the Botanic Gardens and the Boy Scouts of America. He was active in the Cheyenne community by being part of the Cheyenne Community Forestry Committee; Capitol North Neighborhood Association and St Mary’s Church Council.

Jim was an all around good person, friend, husband, Dad and Grandpa. Others often referring to him as a father figure, maybe because of his commanding voice, but mostly because he was always there to help, lend a hand, offer support and offer advice if asked.  His support often came at the most critical and vulnerable times for others.  He was truly generous in many ways, but also appreciative of other people and their help.  Often remembering people by name and crediting them for their help.

Jim’s memories of Wisconsin seasons, the color, the smell of the woods, trudging through deep snow, listening to thunder in the morning, serving mass, close friends, family dogs, hunting squirrels, fishing bass, and his family are all reasons he wanted to return to Wisconsin to be buried when his life was over.

A life well lived!