From Seth:

James Francis “Jim” Stattmiller

Age 75, of Mpls, succumbed to cancer at his home on December 18 surrounded by his family. Survived by wife Debe, sisters Judy, Cris, Kathryn, brother Fr. John, Jr., sons Seth (Elizabeth), Kaleb (Kate), Sylas (Adrita), daughter Anna (David), and grandchildren Hugo, Zola, Abraham, and Seymour. Preceded by parents John, Sr. and Catherine Stattmiller.

Jim was an Ohio State football fan and a reality television devotee. He loved antagonizing Republicans with the facts and his kids with slow rides around Lake Harriet after church. He feared dying alone and doing his taxes.

Jim grew up in Columbus, OH, the middle child where the oldest was named after dad and became a priest and the youngest was named after mom and sent to a convent.

Jim became a true hippy, hitchhiking across the country in the 1960s, protesting the Vietnam war, and wearing every item of clothing until it was threadbare. His chief struggle in life was between the pennies he wanted to save and the dollars Debe wanted to spend.

Jim and Debe met as best man and bridesmaid at a Flynn wedding. They owned a huge house in Cincinnati’s North Avondale neighborhood not long after the race riots of ’69 and before the wealthy returned. They filled the house with friends that mostly paid rent, but sometimes the currency was fresh baked brownies.

When it was time to raise the kids, Jim and Debe moved to Minneapolis to be closer to Debe’s family.

Jim was an English teacher at Hughes High School in Cincinnati and then Mounds View High School in the Twin Cities. When he was laid off Jim became a handyman because he had always been curious about what was behind the wall. In 1984 Jim became a stockbroker. He was adept at picking the right stocks to buy, but not so good at knowing when to sell. We often heard about the proverbial ship that was about to come in just before it sank, sometimes well inside the harbor.

Through it all Jim supported a family of six with long days and weekends, putting all of his kids through private school and college. He was always home for dinner at 6:00 even if that meant going back to work later in the evening.

Jim was guided by a moral compass that never wavered. He wasn’t always right, but his integrity always remained intact and he never shied away from an apology. He was a teacher by training, but led by example.

He was not afraid of asking a question. He was not afraid of looking foolish and he was not afraid of offending. He spoke his mind and showed us what it means to take oneself seriously.

He taught us to think bigger. When a young Anna pronounced that she wanted to be rich enough to fly to Paris for lunch every day, dad responded that he wanted to be rich enough to fly Paris to him every day for lunch.

According to Jim, having children was the best decision he ever made. Somehow he only occasionally missed a track meet or basketball game, but there was never an instance when he didn’t drop everything to rescue one of his kids that had locked the keys in the car, needed a house repair, or found themself short at the end of the month. He has left us with so much, but it still seems impossible that we must carry on without him.

In lieu of buying flowers, please place cash directly into casket.