Tributes

Jim- James William Poindexter was born in Salem Oregon to Bill and Betty Poindexter on May 2 1950. He was the oldest of four children. The big brother to Amy, Wendy, and Paul. Jim was 5 years older than Amy and resented having a new baby in the house. It was so good when he got all the attention. Jim freely admitted try to harm Ami. Like when he was sitting in a tree shooting bbs at her and running her trike into a ditch. Bill was a patient father and often took Jim backpacking and fishing. Jim always talked about the wonderful trips with his dad into Jefferson wilderness area. Jim was industrious and had a paper route in grade school. He often took his earnings to Meyer and Franks to buy Cashews. He loved those warm and salty roasted nuts. The other thing Jim loved as much as nuts was animals of any kind. He had several pets over the years but almost always had a dog. He had a warm spot in his heart for boxers and dachshunds. Jim was also a trap marksman during his youth and participated in many shooting events. In junior high Jim met his best friend for life Jon Denton. Jim and Jon were always out fishing, or hunting, or working with their birds of prey. Jim had several birds of his own which he dearly loved. There are more fish stories about Jim and John then one person could tell.After high school Jim took a try at college, but he just wasn't ready yet. Jim joined the Navy to avoid being drafted into the Marines. In the Navy he became a corpsman and was imbedded in a Marine unit, so much for not being in the Marines. Jim went to Vietnam and served in a triage unit in Danang. He knew the sound of helicopter meant incoming wounded. His job was to patch the young men up so they could be transported to a medical ship off shore. He helped many soldiers no matter what the outcome of their wounds. Then Jim spent a year as a corpsman at a US Navy hospital in Iwakuni Japan. After that Jim returned to the states and tried his hand at being an EMT in Florida. Jim returned to Oregon to give college another try. Jim and Bonnie met and became friends in 1973 and were married in 1975. Jim attended nursing School at OHSU in Portland 1975 through 1979. In 1979 Scott was born, followed by Kevin in 1981. Their sons were the joy of his life and he tried to instill his love of fishing and the outdoors in them. Jim worked as a nurse starting in Pediatrics at OHSU then in corrections for Multnomah County for several years. During this time, he also enrolled in the Air Force Reserves as a Flight Nurse and served for two years before deciding that he wanted more time with his family. While working for Multnomah County Correction he became acutely aware of a need for effective treatment for opiate addictions. He and a partner started the Delta Clinics 1991. They were pioneers in the treatment and successful delivery of healthy babies born to addicted mothers. They had to fight many misconceptions and stigmas to get the clinics up and running. Oh the stories he could tell. He grew the business to four before he sold it in 2005. Jim continued his fishing passion and even drove his boat to Zapata Texas one time to fish in Falcon Reservoir with Jon. On occasion he demeaned himself by catching trout. His fishing adventures took him to many lakes and rivers in Oregon Washington, Idaho, Montana, California, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, Mexico and even Brazil. Jim and Kevin even went to Missouri on a fishing tackle shopping expedition one year, and smuggled illegal fireworks into Oregon in the process. Jim enjoyed many trips beyond fishing including cruises to Alaska and Mexico and a tour of Italy. He also went with his parents for a two week tour of China. Bill and Betty, his parents, built a vacation home on Anderson Island WA in the late 70's. Jim enjoyed many visits to "The Island" for relaxation, puttering around the house, fishing in the freshwater lakes, swimming with the boys, long walks on the many paths and exploring hidden gems on The Island. Many fond memories were built there. As an adult, Jim really enjoyed his time with his "sibs" and as the nieces and nephews came along he reveled in their accomplishments and loved time learning about their lives. He took great pride in his family. In 2004 Jim, Bonnie, and Kevin lost Scott after many years of Scott battling his drug addiction. Needless to say this was a very troubling time for the family. Jim became semi retired after selling the clinics in 2005. Jim and Bonnie parted as friends in 2007. Jim and Mardi met in August of 2007 online. Their first date was for coffee that turned into dinner. Jim followed Mardi to China in October where she worked for three months. He worked on his nursing recertification during the day and they enjoyed the Chinese culture at night. They traveled several place in China on weekends. Beijing, the great wall, the terracotta soldiers in XI'an (Sheanne), the Teahouse of the August moon to name a few. They discovered their mutual love of travel and became good travel mates. He moved to Oregon City with Mardi the following spring.Jim was a great trip planner if you gave him the name of a destination two days later he would have a full literacy developed. Jim and Mardi traveled together to New Zealand, Iceland, and an extensive trip through Europe. This last January they took a three week trip to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. Jim returned to Danang where he was stationed during the Vietnam war. The trip gave Jim some closure over the war and a new insight into who the Vietnamese people are. Jim always like to garden but once he saw Mardi's garden he was hooked. He learned to grow wonderful tomato, peppers, corn, squash, and he was trying brussel sprouts this year. The garden lead to a green house, automatic watering system, and plant sales. Jim's plant sales were not about making money. It was about meeting people and sharing his insights into gardening. If you stopped to buy a plant it often turned into a garden and green house tour. If anyone was looking for a variety of tomato he didn't have. He would add it to a list of varieties to start next year, and asked the customer to return next spring and he would have it.For the last few years Jim worked for Summit Health doing wellness clinics and flu shot clinics, and loved his work. He loved helping the clients. Whatever Jim did it was about the people. He loved meeting people and making new friends, he had a gift at starting a conversation with anyone he met. He was an active Facebook participant posting and communicating daily with several friends.Jim and Mardi joined the Stinke family every July for a camping trip at Prineville reservoir. Each morning Jim would set up his coffee shop and provide free coffee and Lattes for anyone he could get to stop by the camp site. The camp rangers looked forward the week that Jim was there because they loved his lattes. Jim was an exception cook. He would search the internet daily for new recipes and was always excited to plan events. Mardi's family came over on Sunday's for a family dinner and Jim always cooked wonderful dishes.Jim became a beloved member of the Slick family, and loved helping out. He would always volunteer to help with remodels, or any task needed to be done. He was exceptionally generous and he would do anything for anyone. It was always about the people.

Tributes

James William Poindexter

May 2, 1950 - May 16, 2013