Jim Stacey

Jim Stacey was a man both playful and exacting. He lived an eclectic life that spanned occupations, experiences and continents. He served as an Army intelligence analyst at the Berlin Wall during the cold war. He worked as a nurse and an English instructor before pivoting to TV advertising and public relations back in Kentucky. He later founded a wilderness survival school, then built a log cabin in the woods where he lived for a time as “Grizzly Gem the hairy hugger," advertising in Mother Earth magazine in search of a wife "to share the beauties and duties of cabin life.” He received more than 100 responses and a dozen visitors, but none could live up to the harsh life or his stringent standards.

He surfaced years later in Seattle where he founded a successful real estate agency, authored several books on Seattle Real Estate, hosted a radio show, taught classes at the University of Washington Experimental College, and later formed PRESS - a consultancy for new home-buyers. During this time Jim began a new worldwide search for a life partner and found someone up to the task. Jim and Imelda (Mel) Stacey, in true Jim fashion, were married by Father Guido Sarducci in a group ceremony/performance at Seattle’s renowned Bumbershoot music festival over Labor Day weekend 2000. The newly minted power couple proceeded to purchase and renovate several properties, riding the wave of Seattle’s tech-fueled ascendance. They then sold the Seattle properties and moved to the Philippines, Mel’s homeland, with dreams of building a lakeside camp where kids could learn canoeing, swimming, archery, among other outdoor and life skills. They also set about organizing an adoption/sponsorship program connecting friends and funds from the States with resource- and opportunity-challenged Philippine children. These dreams were dashed by difficulties flowing from political and civic instability. So they returned to the US to attempt their dream camp in Missouri, where they ran into ponderous and ultimately insurmountable regulatory hurdles. With their Seattle real estate fortune greatly diminished, they set about to rebuild their empire in Fayetteville, North Carolina, purchasing several properties to renovate and rent. But the lightning in a bottle appreciation of booming Seattle was not to be replicated in the sleepier southeast. The strain of these events and efforts eventually led to the couple’s parting.

Amid and throughout these wide ranging exploits, Jim pursued additionally varied interests and hobbies. He was a stage actor, an amateur magician, and in his mid-70’s became a fitness enthusiast and licensed instructor. He was also a follower of James Randi - famed magician and escape artist, renowned for debunking paranormal claims, psychics, and faith healers. Jim was himself a skeptic of scammers, fraudsters and most politicians due to his general intolerance of dishonesty, corruption and willful ignorance. He held himself and others to high standards of integrity to the point of obstinacy. This stubborn streak led to a winnowing of social connections, including estrangement from family. At the same time, he embraced whimsy and had a lifelong love of music and a good joke. He would appreciate the irony that a man who was a natural teacher, and who had so many stories to tell, would ultimately settle for a solitary life shared primarily with his beloved dogs Jack Sparrow and Dyna. By Jim’s request, there will be no service.

At Jim’s request no services will be held.