Deceased.

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Deceased.

(From James' sister, Christine Beverley Brady, LHS Class of '66, now in San Diego, cbrady7@aol.com)
My wonderful, talented brother, Jim, passed away on July 5, 1991 of a heart attack, in Bath, Ohio only about three months before his 41st birthday on October 13. His classmate and my lifelong friend, Linda Logan, told me about this site and that you were seeking information about his life after high school.

Jim continued his education at Kent State University, where he attained his BA in Architecture and a few years later, his Masters Degree in Architecture. During his undergraduate years, in one of his last trimesters at the University, Jim was afforded the opportunity, through the school, to attend the University of Florence in Italy to further his study. While in Italy, he travelled all over Europe. During his freshman year, the debacle that is well documented at Kent State University occurred where the students rioted against the Nixon Administration's expansion of the Viet Nam war and the National Guard was called in by Governor Rhodes, and the rest is history. At that moment, Jim was in Taylor Hall attending his scheduled class there. As the class ended, Jim was about to leave the building when shots fired out and bullets flew, killing four students and wounding many others. As he was about to leave a student rushed in and told him not to go out there because they were firing real bullets. The sculpture right outside that building is, to this day, riddled with bullet holes. Jim might have been a victim himself had it not been for that one student and his warning.

In graduate school, he taught a course in Design, given a student grant to study there. The granting committee at Kent State told him at his interview that he was the best design student that graduated from Kent State in twenty years. He got the grant over many waiting candidates. After graduate school, he sat for and passed his licensure test for Architecture in Ohio.

Before his passing, he worked for an Architectural firm in Cleveland, where he was known as "Mr. McDonald's" because of all the McDonald restaurants he designed and built. The most well known is located in Warren, Ohio, is two stories high, with lots of glass and the Moon Piano Player located on the second floor. He and the firm he worked for were pictured and featured in an article in the Cleveland Business Journal. He also was involved in building a nursing home in Greenwich, Conn., many homes in Ohio, and various mall store interiors, including Fannie Farmer Candies. Jim also owned and operated the Old Eight Road House, a bar/restaurant, for a time in Ohio, where he had the likes of the Drifters play there on New Year's Eve.

Jim met and married a girl from Ohio State U, Terry Bokesch, and they have three gorgeous daughters, raised in Bath,Ohio where they all graduated from the Revere School District. All went on to college: Constance Elizabeth, graduate of St. Louis University (Phi Beta Kappa) and Hoftstra Law School, now 25 and an attorney in New York City; Kirsten Leigh, 23, graduate of Kent State University like her dad, in Public Relations in Ohio; and his youngest, Kendra Stevenson, 21, an Occupational Therapist. They were mere little girls when they lost their father; Kendra was just five years old.

Jim still enjoyed running long after high school. He wanted to participate in track in college at Kent, but the Dean in the School of Architecture actually told him he had to decide if he wanted to be an Architect or a runner. He couldn't do both. Jim, naturally, chose his profession. But he still ran for his own sport and played lots of tennis until the day before his death. He also loved skiing.

Although he spent his life in Ohio, he often came home to Livingston to see all of us and his friends, lots of them on the track team with him at LHS. For me, Jim just lit up the room the moment he stepped into it. He always had that commanding presence and a great sense of humor, but most of all, a loving spirit that I miss more than I can say here. He was just the best brother, father, husband,son and friend. We all who loved him miss him deeply, including his namesake and incredible near double, my son, Jim.

Wishing all of the Class of 1968 a warm and wonderful 40th Reunion!

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Deceased.

(From Kim's sister, Leslie B. Zuckerbrot, lbz@specialtytraining.com)
Kim died October 24, 2004 in Pittsburgh at the age of 53. Although he had developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma a few years earlier, his immediate cause of death was a hospital-acquired MRSA infection following successful spinal fusion surgery.

After graduating from LHS, Kim attended and graduated from Penn State University with a degree in General Liberal Arts. He earned his JD from The Law School at Duquesne University and then worked for many years in several Pittsburgh law firms as a personal injury attorney. Then, finding that he liked promoting harmony rather than dealing with conflicts, he entered the mediation field and formed his own successful mediation and arbitration business. Kim was wonderfully perceptive about people’s needs, and his ability to remain neutral, no matter what the dispute, produced a high rate of settlements and made his mediation services popular. He had found his professional niche and his calling in life—a career that took advantage of his considerable interpersonal insight and skills.

As a mediator and arbitrator, Kim served on the Board of Governors of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of the Federal Bar Association and was the former Chair-Elect of that nationwide Section. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Conflict Resolution Center International, was a Special Master judge in jury trials in state court, and was a Special Adjunct Settlement Judge with the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He was also Chair Emeritus of the Business Dispute Resolution Alliance.Kim taught more than twenty graduate courses in conflict resolution on the part-time faculty of Duquesne University. He taught private mediation training and advanced mediation training to other mediators and was often asked to serve as a guest lecturer in the fields of mediation and dispute resolution. He served as moderator in a special half-day briefing on alternative dispute resolution sponsored by the Federal Bar Association in Washington, D.C. on February 20, 2002.

After earning his law degree, Kim lived in Pittsburgh his entire life. While in law school, he married Gerrian Miller, and, in 1982, their son, Joshua, was born. Around 1990, they divorced. In 1995, Kim married Lisa Ramser and became step-father to Lindsay and Rob. Kim was a sensitive, caring, very generous, and gentle man, and he and Lisa had a magical marriage. Having taught himself guitar and piano when he was younger, Kim was also a fabulous musician and composer. He recorded an audio cassette, Gifts from the Heart, and later a CD, Kim’s Greatest Hits. One of his songs was used as background music for a Saturday Night Live sketch. Kim could sit at the piano and play forever, loving every minute.

In addition to his wife, Lisa, and son, Josh, Kim is survived by his mother, Elaine Elkind of Summit, NJ; a brother, Matthew of Columbia, MD; a sister, Leslie Zuckerbrot of New York City; his step-children, two nephews and a niece. Today, his son Josh, now 25, is a first-year law student at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. This photo of Josh and Kim was taken in Kim’s office several years before he became ill. Kim was always exceptionally proud of Josh and loved him intensely his whole live. You can read Kim’s New York Times obituary along with guest book entries at www.legacy.com. The guest book is still open for new entries.

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