Page 6 - Microsoft Word - miniz-digest-119-122.docx

On my second visit to the show in St Louis I spent a couple of nights in Cincinnati on route. Jim and
I spent a lot of that time down in the bottle room and Nancy commented that all she heard
emanating from downstairs were great guffaws of laughter. This was because Jim and I had a very
similar weird sense of humour - some might say it was a little warped but really close friends can
banter with each other in a different manner than between others.
On that trip I took a number of New Zealand bottles with me to sell and Jim insisted on pricing them
and that I use his table to sell them. I was somewhat surprised with some of the prices being up to
twice what I had paid for them but they all sold in very quick time and with the benefit of the
exchange variance I was able to purchase a much better selection than would have happened
otherwise!

Jim always paid my sub to the Mid-West Miniature Bottle Club and I paid his New Zealand Miniature
Bottle Club sub and I always received a show bottle from every St Louis show. With the advent of
Skype Jim and I spent many an hour or more chatting, Jim showing me his latest acquisitions that
had been collected on the numerous trips they made around USA and beyond.

Jim helped me obtain all the Hoffman Mr Lucky set but he was very upset when he thought he had
obtained the rare Rockwell Paints Mr Lucky miniature only to find that it had been totally smashed in
transit when it arrived at his door.

Jim made a huge contribution to the Miniature bottle clubs to which he belonged with numerous
articles for their respective magazines. He
was both a past President and Membership
Officer for the Mid-West Mini Bottle Club and
attended almost every one of their shows,
helping with the organisation of many and
roping in Nancy to serve on the door. He
could always be relied on for an article when
one of the club magazines was a bit thin on
contributions. He was also one of the first
overseas members of the New Zealand
Miniature Bottle Club.

One thing I know for absolute fact - Jim had a
very strong Faith in God and an amazing
love of his lovely Wife Nancy, his three lovely
Daughters, their Spouses and his
Grandchildren. He had miniatures made
especially for the birth of his eight
Grandchildren, with a photo of the baby on
each of them. He sent me one every time
and had miniature bottles made for each of my own five Grandchildren. I have conveyed my
sympathy to the family and I know they can very proudly celebrate his life and reflect into the future
on the legacy he has provided.

What else can you say about such a Man. I have no doubt there are lots of stories that others can
tell. All I know is that he was one of that special breed and I for one will miss our skypes, I will miss
my dear and special friend.
I would bet that the first action for Jim in Heaven will be to obtain a miniature with a label - Distilled
& Bottled in Heaven. It would be the pinnacle of his collection!

Rest in Peace Mate

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