Obituary of James Lusk

James was born the 11th of 12 children on Oct. 25, 1921, to James Pope and Mary Katherine Lusk in Marion County, TN. He passed away Dec. 15th, 2005 in Mesa, AZ. Jim attended school through the eighth grade and started his Freshman year three times, always staying at least through football season. He often hitchhiked to New Mexico to see his sister, staying until he was homesick, then hitchhiking back. As he usually didn’t have money for food when traveling, he often told about one of his best meals being an 'onion sandwich' someone gave to him along the way. During WWII he served in the 1905th Engineer Aviation Battalion, shipping out of New York in 1943 to Bombay. India and then on to Burma. There, he lived in a tent for two years, one month and fifteen days, building the Burma Road to China. In 1947 Jim signed on to travel with a Harvest Crew to Colorado. This crew also owned the Ideal Café in Limon, which doubled as the bus stop. He arrived at dinner time, and five weeks later married the waitress that served him, Gladys Phend, a union that lasted 58 years. They were blessed with two children, Ceana in 1957 and Kirk in 1961. Jim became a volunteer fireman in April 1966, when the house across the street caught fire during the middle of the night and he went to help. A night that began a long term commitment to the Limon community. In 1969, Jim earned his GED, began working for the Limon Post Office and was inducted as an Honorary L Club Member. The reward for many years of being a member of the sidelines Chain Gang at football games in all kinds of Colorado weather. Jim was a long time member of the American Legion, the Limon Lions Club, and a life time member of the VFW. He had a beautiful voice and enjoyed singing low bass with the Genoa Community Choir and a Barber Shop Quartet. He had a wonderful sense of humor, loved to laugh and play cards, but especially loved to play golf. Most of all, he loved his family and friends. Gladys and Jim moved to View Point in Mesa, Arizona in January of 1995. He is survived by his wife Gladys, daughter Ceana Hildebrand and husband Kent of Colorado Springs, CO; son Kirk and wife Venus of Avon, CT; four grandchildren, Caleb and Kaitlin Hildebrand and Rachel and Kyle Lusk; one sister, Louise Bailey of Thousand Oaks, CA; and many nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the memorial fund at the Hub City Senior Center P.O. Box 1143 Limon, CO 80828. Memorial services will be announced at a later date.