James "Jim" Robert Oliver II

James Robert "Jim" Oliver, Jr was born in Washington state on November 5, 1966. He was the first born child, and son, of James Robert Oliver and Barbara Ann Ashby.

James grew up in Washington and attended Longview High School where he met Cheryl Ann Mai, his high school sweetheart and mother of his first two children, James and Tia Oliver. Cheryl and Jim divorced and Cheryl received custody of the kids. Whatever happened between Jim and Cheryl, Jim never stopped claiming his love for his children and his heartache at missing so much of their lives. Tia married Jason Sears.

James, Jr met his 2nd wife in Fort Worth, Texas. James married Cecilia Isabel Gomez on January 11, 1992 in Tarrant County, Texas. James and Cecilia had one son, Johnathan Carl Oliver on March 17, 1992 in Texas. The divorced, but remained life long friends. Jonathan married Emily A Miller and they gave Jim a grandson, Jake Oliver, before Jim passed. Jim was over the moon with pride for this mini version of his 2nd son. He was blessed to have had several visits with his grandson.

James met Justice Cain while she was attending college in DFW Texas. The couple were unexpectedly pregnant in a very short time frame. They never married, but both were very excited to welcome Joshua Brandon Oliver, Jim's 4th child and 3rd son to the world. Josh Oliver would make his father very proud with his adventurous nature and shared love of anime and collectibles. Josh would set off for Colorado soon after turning 18 and eventually teach himself the art of glassblowing. Josh is a rising star in the field of glass blowing and plans to return to school to study archaeology, his other passion.

Next James met and married Phillis Landry. They had 3 sons together; Matthew, Steven, and Timothy and they adopted a little girl, Emma Duncan. Jim could not be more proud of all his children and he talked about them frequently with both friends and strangers.

Jim was diagnosed with Leukemia and his declining health was a struggle for his entire family, most of all Jim who wanted nothing more in life than to provide for his children and make them proud of him.

The highlights of Jim's life, besides his children, were witnessing the eruption of Mt. Saint Helen and being a volunteer member of the search and rescue crew that helped find pieces of the shuttle explosion in the National Parks of Arkansas. He was also very proud of being a volunteer fire fighter for the Arkansas National Forest Service.

Jim loved collecting all sorts of things including coins, crystals, comics, baseballs cards, and NASCAR. He loved the Seattle Seahawks, riding his motorcycle and cooking for his family. He worked for many years as a self employed auto mechanic and was gifted at working with mechanics.

Besides his children, Jim is survived by brother Gerald Wayne (Georgia) Oliver and their kids Jackie Lee Oliver and Jerry Oliver, Jr; and brothers Dale G (Tara) Oliver, Jeffrey (Deanna) Oliver, and Patrick Shaun Kelly.

Jim spent his final days in the care of a funeral home in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Even though his children all lived far from Hot Springs, most of them rushed to be at his side for his final moments. These children took the opportunity to say their goodbyes to Jim before he was removed from life support per his final wishes. His young children were faced with making tough choices in those final days. They handled a devastating situation with grace and maturity; he would be proud of the legacy he leaves behind in all of them. I believe Jim's final wish would be that his children always know that he loved them and that they share his memory with his grandchildren.

Arrangements are entrusted to Carrigan Memorial Funeral Services. At his request no service was held, but each person who knew him honored him in their own way, and continue to leave messages of love on his Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/jro40