MONROE — For years, Jim Bloss regularly filled The Daily Herald’s editorial pages with well-researched calls to action — encouraging readers to avoid single-use plastics and support the reintroduction of grizzly bears in the North Cascades, among other topics.
“You’d think he was an environmentalist his whole life,” said Jim’s wife, Lynn Bloss.
Within the past 10 years, Jim became increasingly concerned about climate change, she said.
He watched a speech by young climate activist Greta Thunberg “and was truly shamed into becoming involved,” he wrote in his final opinion piece for The Herald published Saturday.
“I saw in her my children and grandchildren and the world I had helped create, with all of its apparent problems and issues resulting from poor use of our planet’s natural resources,” he wrote.
He died in his Monroe home on Aug. 15, surrounded by family members. He was 83.
Jim joined the Snohomish County chapter of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby three years ago, around the same time he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He also served on the county’s Climate Action Advisory Committee.
“Jim was an amazing man who was dedicated to his family, his church, helping those in need and his community,” Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers said in a statement. “He really devoted himself to making our world a better place each and every day. He only stepped back from his volunteer positions several weeks ago despite a long fight with cancer. He will be missed.”
Mark Rohde, a co-leader for the county Citizens’ Climate Lobby chapter, said Jim “seemed to know everybody.” When chapter members searched for a guest speaker for their meetings, Jim always had a person to suggest, from state lawmakers to staff at the state Department of Ecology.
For the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Jim regularly wrote letters to the editor in The Herald about local and national environmental issues. And he emailed officials and fellow activists his concerns about old growth preservation and the potential repeal of the Climate Commitment Act.
“He had great ideas, but he was certainly persistent in the extreme,” Rohde said. “That reflected the degree to which he was 1: bright, and 2: really, really passionate about recognizing a need for change and wanting to hold politicians accountable for taking care of people. He was always on the lookout for something that needed to be fixed.”
In recent years, Jim talked with Lynn about purchasing an electric vehicle and asked that she only hand pull weeds, rather than use herbicides.
One coniferous tree at the edge of a 3-acre field in the couple’s backyard was close to collapsing, with an angled trunk slowly approaching the ground. When Lynn suggested having someone cut it down, Jim staunchly disagreed.
“He’s right, you know,” she said, looking out at the tree on Monday. “It’s still doing its work.”
‘He had our six’
Jim grew up in St. Louis and got his bachelor’s degree in commerce from St. Louis University. Not long after graduating, he enlisted in the Air Force, during the early years of the Vietnam War.
He served as a transportation officer on bases throughout the United States, as well as other countries like Thailand and Japan.
Jim met Lynn in 1967 when they were both stationed in South Carolina — she as an education officer for the Air Force.
“He blew me away,” Lynn said. “And he was so smart. He was so kind.”
After the couple married in 1968, Jim obtained a master’s degree in logistics from the Air Force Institute of Technology. Lynn and Jim continued to move around the world and began raising their three children, Emily, Frank and Judi.
He eventually achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel before retiring from the Air Force in 1983. In 1991, following a series of jobs in Taiwan and New York, the family moved to Monroe, where Lynn grew up.
Jim started the Sky Valley Taxi service in 1993, allowing him to connect with residents throughout the county. He saw a need for a shuttle in the community, Lynn said. So he bought a Ford Taurus Wagon and for nine years, helped others commute.
“This is a guy who should be going out and making lots of money with the background that he has and everything,” Lynn said. “Those things just called to him.”
About 25 years ago, after a family member had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, Jim also joined the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The nonprofit offers free classes and support groups for people with mental health conditions, as well as their family members and friends.
For 15 years, he served as president of the Sno-Isle NAMI chapter, lobbying at the county and state levels for funding and public support. After stepping down as president, he remained a volunteer with NAMI for the rest of his life.
“Jim Bloss has been a courageous and tireless advocate for the needs of our county’s most vulnerable residents,” the county’s Director of Human Services Mary Jane Brell Vujovic said in a statement. “We in the Snohomish County Human Services Department have had a long and deep relationship with Jim as he has endeavored to help all our county’s residents lead lives of greater dignity.”
In a written tribute, Skip Short, a fellow co-leader of the local Citizens’ Climate Lobby, said Jim often “told me that he had my six.”
“As a man, a husband, a father, a defender of our freedom, our planet and everyone that had the privilege to call him friend, he had our six,” Short wrote. “It is the world’s loss that Jim no longer is with us.”
Ta’Leah Van Sistine: 425-339-3460; taleah.vansistine@heraldnet.com; X: @TaLeahRoseV.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
