James Norris Hamilton
James Norris Hamilton
On July 3rd 2025, a husband, father, brother, grandfather, stand-in grandparent for many, and friend to countless others, traded in his human suit so that he could venture off on his next journey. He may not be here with us physically but the impact of the connections he made in his time will never truly be measured.
James Norris Hamilton (AKA Jimbeaux) was born September 23, 1945 in Fairmount, West Virginia to Juanita and James Carroll Hamilton. Moving to Richland, Washington as a young child, he grew up part of a tight knit community, as the city grew with the establishment of the Hanford Nuclear Site, and shared memories growing up by the Columbia River with his friends. His family instilled core values, a love of cars and a sense of humor that he shared with everyone.
Jimbeaux graduated from Columbia High School with the Gold Medal Class of 1963 and remained a Richland Bomber for life. He cherished the connections of his years growing up in Richland, never losing touch with those he shared those memories with.
It was during High school that he started dating Nancy Wick. After graduating he attended WSU before transferring to EWU where he enrolled in ROTC and Nancy joined him there. After graduating Jim and Nancy were married in December of 1967, moved to Texas with the Army 11 days later and followed that up with a move to Italy. These would be some of their most cherished memories and Jim was sure to keep that connection fresh for the rest of his life.
He went to Vietnam in 1970 and was lucky enough to return to his family waiting in Richland. He didn’t talk much about his experiences in Vietnam but yet again, connections kept him talking about friends and staying in touch, even tracking some down over the miles and years.
Eventually the family moved to the Seattle area after he’d left the army, finally settling in Kirkland. It was there that he worked for Ford and then as a travel agent for the rest of his career. These jobs paid the bills, but the job he took to heart was supporting his family.
Jimbeaux was a “room mom” at school, being involved in classrooms as a dad before it was cool. He coached softball, soccer and even some basketball as the girls were growing up, leaving many of his players with memories of being pushed to meet their potential and nicknames that would stick for years to come. They most certainly learned phrases like “save your breath for cooling your soup” and “3 things can happen and 2 of them are bad”. Jim also officiated youth sports and served on league organizations, following his advice of “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem”.
He still referred to Nancy as “The Lovely Ms. Nancy”, requesting hugs and kisses on the regular. Again with the connections, this one the strongest, never to be broken.
Jim leaves behind his wife Nancy (Wick), his daughters Annie (Bill) Wymer and Megan (Brian) Brazeau, grandchildren Jessie and Michael (Wymer), Julia and Kyle (Brazeau) and his sister Carolynn (Tom) Leach. The legacy he leaves behind goes far beyond his family. Connecting with his people was his pastime and with it he leaves an untold number of stories and famous 1 liners.
We hope you can join in the celebration of Jimbeaux’s life well lived, on Saturday October 4, 2025 at the Lake Ballinger Center at 23000 Lakeview Dr. Mountlake Terrace, WA from 2-5 pm. In lieu of flowers, please donate to your favorite charity in Jim’s name. We hope to see you there.
3 Responses to “James Norris Hamilton”
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Lo saro’li.
It is so hard to face that Jim is no longer with us. We first met him right after he, Nancy, Annie, and baby Megan moved into their house, which means over 50 years ago. I remember a “bonding experience” when we were rototilling our respective yards late in moonlight in order to put in our lawns. He was always so full of life, a joy to be around, with funny quips always from his quick wit. He loved his family dearly and was happy to show it. He loved coaching his girls, and when our daughter was about 6 or 7, he passed on to her his soccer coaching drill book because he recognized her talent; he was always generous like that, both in spirit and materially. He and Nancy were so helpful with our planning to cruise to Antarctica, as they had gone with Viking not long before we went. I still think fondly of one of his quiet gems of advice, as a successful travel agent. We were at a party, in a small group of friends, talking about travel. He encouraged all of us to travel, and then added, based on his professional experience, “If you don’t fly first class, guaranteed, when you die your children will!” After we laughed, that shifted our thinking, as we had never considered first class. I have also passed on that quote to other friends, giving Jim full credit for that wisdom, and the advice is always appreciated. Since that night, we have flown business/first class, as part of travel, we realized because of that remark, is being comfortable. Thanks, Jimbeaux. I am glad you got to walk with the gorillas. We miss you.
May you forever RIP, Jimbeaux. You are dearly missed.
Dr. J