Jim was a compassionate man who valued loyalty and integrity, and who was endowed with a lion’s share of stubbornness.
I knew Jim for nearly 40 years. I was introduced to him in 1981 by Bill Cope while I was working the Dallas appraisal district. Jim offered me the opportunity to do occasional appraisal work for him. Well, one appraisal assignment lead to more appraisal assignments, and I left the appraisal district in 1983. Jim and I worked together for the next 10 years. We worked on a wide variety of appraisals, a few were quite complicated and some seemed to be never ending. We had a term for those never ending assignments “Cracker Wrapers”. We have all eaten at restaurants where there would be a basket of cellophane wrapped crackers. You would unwrap the package, and attempt to put the wrapper on the table, but it would stick to your fingers from the static electricity. It would take several attempts to get the wrapper off of your fingers and on to the table. On those difficult appraisal assignments, we would look at each other and say “another cracker wrapper”.
Over the years as Jim and I worked together, we got to know one others family. We often celebrated holidays, birthdays, and special occasions together.
The last time I saw Jim was January of this year, 2020. Before everything changed and before we had a clue what 2020 would bring. I met him at his home/office. He was very proud of his home/office complex and took me on a tour the many improvements he made over the years. He enjoyed the workshop where he could piddle on whatever project he had going at the time. As was usual for Jim, the property was meticulously maintained, well organized – everything in its place. Jim’s artistic creativity was obvious. Many of his friends know that when he first enrolled at North Texas State University in 1961 he was working toward a Fine Arts. Eventually his practical side won out and he switched majors, earning a BA in Business Administration. His creative talents and artistic intuition surfaced repeatedly in his work and in his life.
That day in January, as we had several times before when we had taken the time to get together, we went Win Buffet, one of Jim’s favorite restaurants. We talked about the usual stuff - business, family, other daily activities. This day he was especially happy about the past Saturday he had spent with his granddaughter, Reagan. He very much enjoyed whenever he got the opportunity to spend time with her. It was obvious that Jim loved and enjoyed his family and was more content with the current phase of his life than he had ever been.
Jim was a valued mentor, associate and friend. We shared many laughs together. He will be missed.
Jim Getto