James "Jim" Richard Waldrop

James R. “Jim” Waldrop

James Waldrop, 92 of Elk River left us to join his beloved wife, Gladys, and his son, Jeffrey, on Memorial Day, May 31st, 2021. Jim was born on April 18, 1929 to Henry and Velma (Withem) Waldrop in Robinson, Illinois. He had three brother, Leo, Eugene and Kenneth, who all preceded him in death.

Jim enlisted in the Army at the age of 16, but was discharged for being too young. He wandered the country doing many jobs until he landed in Seattle and rejoined the Army. He served on active duty for 3 ½ years and was transferred to the reserves for 5 years. He was recalled during the Korean War and served in the 434 Combat Engineers, Korea 8th Army.

He married his first wife, Joyce Parmelee, and together had 8 children. After she passed away, he returned to the Seattle area.

James worked many jobs including gas station manager and owning a lawn care business, before joining the Seattle Metro Bus Company, retiring in 1991. He met his wife, Gladys Rogers, and they married in Seattle on August 8, 1988.

After retirement, Jim and Gladys moved to Elk River and became well-known in the community. If you saw a golf cart, it was Jim and Gladys driving around the community. They enjoyed going to yard sales and then having yard sales. Jim loved to bargain with everyone.

Jim was a hardworking man and could do just about any job around the house. He loved his collections of pocket watches, clocks, knives, belt buckles, car and motorcycle models and was always proud to show them to visitors. In the last year he enjoyed driving his side-by-side and could be seen puttering around town to visit people.

Viewing for Jim will be from Noon until 6:00 PM on Thursday (June 3rd) at Short’s Funeral Chapel in Moscow. There will be a graveside service at 11:00 AM Friday at the Three Pines Cemetery in Elk River.

The Syringa Club will provide a luncheon to follow at the Elk River Community Center.

Memorials are suggested to the Elk River Food Bank or Elk River Fire Department..

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of James "Jim" Richard Waldrop, please visit our floral store.