James Marvin ("Jim") Dear of Fairfax, VA passed away peacefully on April 27, 2019.  Born in 1939 in Pineville, Louisiana, Jim was the beloved husband of Christine (Potera) Dear; loving father of Kimberly, Scott (Sandy), Gary, and Steven Dear; adoring grandfather of Dawnielle (Matthew) Przylucki and Brent (Kali Holler) Dear.

Jim served in the U.S. Air Force as a Radar Operator and then in the U.S. Naval Reserves as an Intelligence Officer.  He graduated from Louisiana State University with Bachelor and Master Degrees in Forestry.  Jim spent his career as a Forester in the U.S. Forest Service serving in Mississippi, Arkansas, Denver, and the Washington, D.C. Headquarters, where he retired in 1995.

A true renaissance man, Jim could fix anything and knew at least a little something about everything.  He was an avid reader and book collector with an excellent memory, and in the rare case that he couldn't remember something off the top of his head, he would "have a book on that".  He was a Civil War aficionado, studying the history and visiting battlefields as much as he could.  He was "full of bull" – as he put it – intentionally mispronouncing words (or making up his own) and inventing songs or back-stories to make even the most mundane task seem exciting.  Jim had a green thumb, and was constantly "saving" little trees around the yard, and cultivating them in pots until they were big enough to be planted or given away.  Jim loved to hunt and fish and spend time in the woods.

For a long time, he had been wanting to "head back South", and we are so grateful that he finally made it.  He will be missed terribly, but his love of books and plants, and his sense of humor live on through his children and grandchildren.