SERVICE INFORMATION:

A Memorial Mass will be held, 11am, Saturday, March 9, 2024 at St. John's Catholic Church, 504 N. Third Street in King City.

Please join the family for a Celebration of Life immediately following the mass in the St. John's McCune Hall from 12 Noon to 3pm.

It is with profound sadness we are sharing the news that our father Jim Stireman passed away December 22, 2023.  He touched countless people over his life and this loss is immeasurable.

In keeping with his wishes, we will not have a traditional viewing/funeral but will have a celebration of his life in King City in March.  Hopefully this will provide enough time for those wishing to attend.

Please feel free to share any memories or ways in which our father impacted your life or the life of someone you know on his Facebook page.  Once the celebration of life is scheduled, it will be shared on his Facebook page.

James Edward Stireman was born on Sunday, June 18, 1939 in South San Francisco, California, to Wilma (Davidson) and Charles Ford Stireman. Having three older sisters, Jim grew up in "South City", attending Martin School and South San Francisco High School. He attended Sunday school throughout his childhood, earning seven perfect attendance pins.  Although his father owned a sports shop and was an avid fisherman, Charles never took Jim along to his weekend activities.  While in high school, he excelled at running back on the school's football team. Both of Jim's parents passed while he was still in high school, then being brought into adulthood by his sisters.

Jim went on to attend Hartnell College in Salinas on a sports scholarship and continued playing football.  Recently, Jim attended the Hartnell College 10th Annual Hall of Fame Banquet in which the 1958 football team was honored, as that team had won a state championship.  Jim was named one of five All-Americans on that team, which included local resident Wayne Handley.  It was while attending Hartnell that he met Linda Jeanne Brauch (Vasquez).

Per the outstanding showing on Hartnell's football team, Jim was awarded a full-ride scholarship to Utah State.  However, after only 3 weeks, he resigned that scholarship to come back to California to be with Linda.  They were married in September of 1960 at the Church of the Wayfarer in Carmel and moved to San Luis Obispo to attend Cal Poly, where Jim again played football, and to start a family.  Jim was required to "red shirt" that season, but it turned out to be for the best, as that was the year of the Cal Poly Football team plane crash on which John Madden was an assistant coach.

Russ was born in July of 1961 and David was born in January of 1964 while Jim completed his Masters in Education at Cal Poly.  From there, the family moved back up to the South San Francisco area where Jim obtained his first job as a physical education teacher at El Camino High School.  Linda took a position as the Head of Reception at Peninsula Hospital in Burlingame.  A third son, Curt, was born in December of 1968.  However, after several years of working in the cold fog, Jim and Linda decided to move to the King City area, where Linda had grown up. From the summer of 1969 on, King City was their home.

Jim worked at King City High School in the Physical Education department, but over the years also held teaching positions in Health and Sciences.  He was a JV football coach for a few seasons early on, but found his true calling in Track & Field, where he headed many King City Invitational Track Meets throughout the 1970's into the 1980's, which at-the-time was a premiere event in the California high school track and field world.  This event was started by Roland Dickey, but was carried through by Jim for many years.  With the departure of Wendell Seablom, Jim also headed the King City High School Cross Country teams, which produced several state champion individuals and teams over many years. Both roles were handed off to Dave Daines in the late 1980's.  Jim was known for his caring for students, his coaching style and for his special brand of one-liners and sarcastic humor.  He was even named "The Riddler" because of that humor and because, in his earlier years, had a keen likeness to the actor Frank Gorsham, who played the Riddler on the Batman TV series.

Linda passed in 2001 and things were not the same for Jim, as Linda was truly the love of his life.  In 2019 Jim moved to The Villages in San Luis Obispo to be close to family.  He was very popular at The Villages, with that same brand of humor that "Mr. Stireman" was known for at KCHS.  As goes with aging, Jim became burdened with various health issues.  He took himself to Sierra Vista hospital on Monday, December 4th for a seemingly minor medical issue, but was admitted to the hospital and never came out.  In his last days, Jim was visited by close family and friends during his stay, with family at his bedside when he passed peacefully on the evening of Friday, December 22nd.

Jim is survived by his three sons, Russ (Beth) of San Luis Obispo, CA, David (Becky) of Ogden, UT, Curt (Tammi) of Tucson, AZ, eight grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.   …and his faithful companion chi-weiner, Noche, who can be seen in many of Jim's Facebook photos. Jim was preceded in death by Linda (wife), Ethyl, June and Lois (sisters), and Jesse (grandson).

For more information, please contact Eddington Funeral Services, 429 Bassett St., King City, (831) 385-5400.