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Submitted: 2/6/23 • Approved: 2/7/23 • Last Updated: 2/10/23 • R1470210-G0-S3
Feb 6, 1948 - Oct 4, 2022
*Obituary
Jim Short, 74, of Springdale, Arkansas, passed away peacefully on October 14, 2022. He was born February 6, l948 in San Diego, California, the first child of Robert Millard Short and Eunice Mae (Floodman) Short. He experienced the first two years of his childhood living on a sailboat in San Diego Harbor and later in a small house near Tourmaline Beach, where he began school and learned to surf. He also lived in Pacific Beach, Riverside, Long Beach and Belmont Shores. He was baptized in the Presbyterian Church in Pacific Beach, California. His family moved to Madison Ohio where he graduated from Madison High School in 1966. He loved fishing, movies, cigars, conversation, the beach, and a day at the horse races.
He later married and he and his wife had two children, Scott and Julie. He worked at Union
Carbide until health issues made conventional work impossible. Taking a cue from his father, an entrepreneurial builder and artisan, Jim pursued portrait photography. He and his wife divorced in 1980, and Jim moved to Perryville, Arkansas to be near his parents and his sister, Pat, and her family. Jim enjoyed summer visits corralling his kids with their cousins for camping, swimming, and family meals.
Jim loved creativity, knowledge and friendship. He was a portrait photographer, and though there were some things he couldn't eat, he was a creative chef. He used a beloved wok everyday and relished in artisan olive oils and in the stocks of flavor: onions, peppers, and garlic! He generously cooked his favorite meals at special family gatherings, such as his nephew Jake's wedding. He sought knowledge about a wide array of topics, particularly history and science, and he found spiritual kinship with Native American concepts of connection and eternity.
Jim had the Short family bug to move and enjoyed homes in Perryville, Maumelle, Conway, Little Rock, and Fayetteville. In each place, he befriended neighbors and caregivers as well as those working in the places he frequented and was known to be kind and considerate. He patronized the public library and enjoyed riding his bike to restaurants. He was always ready with a cigar and a lively conversation. Jim valued the people he knew; he thought about them and cared about their lives and stories. He always made it a priority to call everyone by their first name. He nurtured not only people but also plants. Like his mother's plants, his were lush and fruitful, exuding life and joy even potted on an apartment balcony. He grew lemon (from a seed) and avocado plants as well as geraniums. An avocado was always sprouting on his kitchen counter.
In the last 5-10 years, Jim and his nephew Andre, who is a researcher at FSU, struck up a friendship by phone. Andre described him as an inquisitive and thoughtful man. "I loved talking to Jim because his curiosity and creativity was always beaming and genuine. We would talk for hours about the details of my research and how it fits into the world, among other topics. He was never one to stray away from a deep discussion, and always added thought-provoking questions and commentary. For example, he related a problem I had with some metals to that of vibrations in the Pyramids of Ancient Egypt. He sometimes added a "history channel" twist or relation to a dream he had the following night. He always came with such a fresh perspective; we never had the same conversation twice, I still have my connection with Jim. When a person is that influential in your life you will always have a piece of them to hold on to, and they will always have a piece of you."
Jim was a loving son, brother, father, uncle, and grandpa. His mother described him as the most generous man she knew. He is survived by a son and daughter-in-law Scott and Devonne Short
and grandson Nathan; a daughter and son-in-law Julie and Ken Binder and grandson Stephan; two
sisters and brothers-in-law, Patricia and Ed Williams and Cindy and Federico Juliao; and nieces and nephews Andre Juliao, Tracee W. Robertson and Jake Williams.
The family invites you to join them as they celebrate Jim's life Saturday, November 12, 2022, at 3:00 p.m. at Crestlawn Memorial Park, Conway, Arkansas.
Published by Legacy on Nov. 11, 2022.
Contributed on 2/6/23 by hawkinsdonna48
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Record #: 1470210