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James Royal Bassett was born February 26, 1948 to the parents of Royal Clarence Bassett Jr. and Afton Luella Peterson Bassett in Logan, Cache, Utah. Jimmy, as his family and childhood friends referred to him was the sixth child in a family of seven.
Some of his fondest memories included early experiences in the small farming community of Wellsville, Cache, Utah. He enjoyed hunting and fishing with his father and family including swimming with friends at the ole swimming hole (Little Bear River) on the edge of town. His mother made the most fantastic fresh baked bread and to die for cinnamon rolls. His father cut the boys hair and fixed breakfast (pan cakes with home-made syrup) on the weekends.
His older brothers Bill and Warren provided guidance and shared many of their own “growing-up” experiences with him. Shonnie, his sister and a first class tomboy kicked the tar out of him every day during summer vacations. R.C. (his Dad) could be quoted as saying, “She’s tougher than boiled owl shit”. …And, Jim could attest to that.
As a teenager he enjoyed hanging-out with friends and soon became fascinated with cars. Jim helped his mother buy her first automobile (1953 Ford Victoria) with money earned from delivering newspapers and picking beans for Lyman Maughan. Jim’s sisters, Sharon and Joyce were like extended mothers to him. He lived with Joyce and her family while attending high school and college.
He attended Wellsville Elementary, Wellsville Jr. High, South Cache high school, Clearfield high school, Sky View high school, Utah State University and Weber State University with an emphasis in business and computer science.
He married Sharon Ahrens at the age of 21 in August, 1991. They moved to Davis County (Kaysville and Layton) where they raised three children; ShayLyn, Jennifer and Brian. Family leisure time included camping, boating, water skiing, and back packing. They were divorced in 1987.
Often these family outings (especially at Hyrum Lake) included Brother Warren and sister Shonnie along with their children. Jarvis, his younger brother lived with him and his family in Kaysville while he was working in Davis County.
Brian and his Dad became interested in ATV’s (four wheelers) and would spend their free time riding the dunes or camping on Dad’s house boat at Lake Powell.
He married DeeAnn Shiba in the fall of 1988. Nicholas was born during the summer of 1991 and Colton in 1995. Jim and DeeAnn enjoyed travel and often vacationed in Hawaii or the Caribbean taking the boys with them. Golfing became a favorite pastime for the entire family. They were divorced in 2021.
Jim enjoyed spending time with the boys and his grandchildren (Braxton, Derrick, Dylan, Sydnie and Lexus). Also, he liked investing in the stock market, landscaping, home decorating, carpentry, backpacking, hiking, gardening, antique collection, photography, log furniture building, old car restoration and bonsai gardening.
In 1998 after retiring from Utah Power & Light with a career in computer software at the age of 50, he and the family moved from Layton, Utah to Portland, Oregon. They built a new home amongst the tall Oregon pines and Alder trees by a creek on a hill overlooking the city of Beaverton.
At the turn of the century, Jim worked for Portland General Electric and was responsible for their e-commerce web activities and enterprise computer technology architecture. In addition, he could often be found tinkering with his home computers, enjoying the home theater or listening to music. Digital photography and video editing quickly became a hobby. Friends and family often requested his services for family or work related get-togethers and personal photos.
Jim worked for over 30 years in the computer profession including programming, architecture and project management as-well-as various related management positions.
He was fascinated with computers both at work and at home. He owned a computer software and hardware firm for several years in addition to his regular full time job. The house typically had around ten networked desktop and server computers performing functions that he pondered the financially feasibility for.
Travel destinations included Europe, Australia, Asia, Alaska, Mexico often via cruise boat His 2002 Harley Davidson (a boyhood easy rider dream) became a garage ornament. However, the bike keeps calling his name whenever he walks by. Later Jim enjoyed ATVing, UTVing and electric bicycling.
At 73 Jim is in good health with the assistance of rotator cuff repair, ...sans 1 gall bladder, cyclical bouts with kidney stones, spinal fusion and moderate complications with rheumatoid/osteo arthritis.
ShayLyn, her husband Bruce, their children, Derrick and Dylan; Jennifer, her husband Mike and their children Braxton and Sydnie; along with Brian and his daughter Lexus spent a week or so with grandpa in the spring of 2005. They enjoyed traveling the Portland area and trading old Utah stories at dinner time with him. All the grandchildren, Nick and Colton played together and soon understood that “Grandpa” and “Dad” was often the same person. In addition, he is the proud grandparent of Taylore, Kinna, RyLynn, Keaton, Scarlet, Harper and Maisey.
At the time of this writing he has retired, moved from Portland to St George with a home on Coral Canyon Golf course. He spends his free time making aspen log furniture, feeding his photography passion, building a street rod, upgrading his cabins next to Zion National Park and touring the desert southwest on his iron pony (RZR). Jim and his son, Nicholas operate a small Vacation Rental Business on four acres on the east border of Zion National Park.
And, if you are still reading this and want to know more check out my public profile on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bassett.Jim
