Jim Hartigan (1/12/1938 – 4/30/2026)

Jim was one of those wonderful people who made you feel good just being around him. Yes, he liked to kid, yes, he had some funny old sayings, yes, he had a kind and easy-going manner. It was always a pleasure to bump into him at work for a happy few minutes of catching up.

Jim started working for Mountain States Tel & Tel in November of 1958, then US West, retiring in 1990. He volunteered with the talking books repair group for many years, as they first met in the basement of the Main CO and business office. He was a passionate supporter of reading. His wife, Nancy, had vision problems and needed his assistance; they got her set up with talking books and I suspect the value she got from them influenced his dedication to the work. Finally, in about 2016, the Arizona Talking books library no longer needed us to service the machines as the conversion to digital meant very little breakdown from the cassettes. Jim, along with Jim Morgan and Larry Mingo, continued meeting with the outreach talking books volunteers and started creating fleece lap blankets instead. They would match up fabric colors with plenty of contrast. Jim would take several home each week and Nancy and he would tie up the fringe. Nancy enjoyed the project as long as the fringe had enough contrast to help her pick out the pairs to be tied.

We met for a lunch once a year near Christmas at various restaurants. One year we met at a Greek place on Broadway near Swan. Several of us were already there and seated, Jim came in and he saw some folks sitting at a center table and thought it was us. It was actually some ladies and a man or two, I think, but he did not know them. He sat down, they were welcoming to him, and after a minute or so he noticed our group a few tables over. He stood up, thanked them for being so friendly, and excused himself to come over to the rest of our group. We all laughed and laughed, including Jim, and then had lunch. A bunch of old people, and we could all relate!!

Jim was a life-long Marine, and wore his cap proudly. Jim was very proud of his children, and we enjoyed hearing about their accomplishments. He didn’t brag so much as express his joy in the adults they had grown up to become. He truly loved who they are.

“Many times, my cell phone would ring and I would see it was Jim. It usually meant a butt dial, but sometimes I would call him back just to chat. I figured if a butt dial happened, it meant we should catch up. I will miss you, old friend.” – Patti Pace

“What I remember best about Jim was his fabulous sense of humor. I worked with Jim, Frank Bantlin and Floyd Pearsall. They have all now passed on to the big fun house in the sky and they are yucking it up together, again. The three of them kept us laughing all the time. I would say something discouraging and Jim would say “ya know, Barb, 100 years from now- nobody will give a s__t”. It would make me laugh and you know what? He was right! You will be missed, Jim!” – Barbara Palmer

“Jim was a kind, caring, and generous individual. He was fun to be around and will be greatly missed.” – Tina Herrmann

“Dad and Joe Smothers were the best of friends. I will never forget the countless hilarious stories they shared of their adventures together, whether at work or outside of it. No matter how many times we heard those stories, they were just as funny as the first time, in fact they got even funnier as the years went by. Those two were always getting into some kind of shenanigans, and the thought of them upstairs now keeping everyone laughing makes me smile. You are missed every minute of every day Dad! I love you forever.” – Kate (Hartigan) Early