Page 41 - Life Legacy Project

The Hard Working Life of Jim Donovan
Jim always thought that to do the best you can, you have to work hard. And if you don’t work hard well, good luck he says. The person I am interviewing for this project is my grandfather, Jim Donovan. I am honoring him because he has been a huge role model throughout my life. He has led me to become a good person and demonstrates a respectful and humorous attitude towards life.
Jim was an active and energetic child growing up. He was born in Fort Lewis, Washington which is a military base located 9.1 miles southwest of Tacoma. He moved around often because his dad was in the military. Jim looked up to his dad as a role model because he saw him as a good citizen and hard working. In school, he was one of those students that the teacher has to put extra effort into keeping quiet. He usually got good grades and was a talker, which made him social. His earliest and most painful memory as a kid was putting his arm through a ringer. A ringer is a roller that you put your wet clothes through and it wrings the excess water out of the clothes. That incident sort of taught him to not do dumb things in life.
He decided that he wanted to go into the army after some hard things were happening in his life. He was an engineer and made bridges, streets, and buildings at bases during the Vietnam war. While he was in the war he got married and had 2 kids, Anne and Peter. When the war was over he lived in Maryland for a couple years then moved to Burlington, WA. There, he raised his kids and adopted a child from Korea, named Sarah. One of Jim’s favorite things about being a parent is watching future citizens grow up right before his eyes. One of the funniest moments in Jim’s parenthood was when he got a call from Edison school to hear his son, Peter, crying and explaining how he got swats from the principal. The experience that has impacted him the most is his marriage, he learned that you have to give up some things to keep the thing you really love. Jim’s most cherished family tradition is going to Fort Casey for Thanksgiving with all of his family.
Now Jim is retired and stays at home with his wife. An average day for him is to wake up and read, go workout at the health club, yard work, nap, then spend time with his wife. Some thoughts that he has on a daily basis is how he can prevent health issues and new, fun ways to use his free time. He likes to go to Hawaii every year with his kids and grandkids. He wants our generation to be self-starters and take the initiative to cease the day. Something Jim wishes he knew now that he never acknowledged before is that there is no summer vacation in the working life.
Jim is known around the community for having a kind and humble heart. He currently helps out with a program called Children of the Valley. They are an after school program that creates a safe learning environment for kids that are in need of help with school work. What I admire most about him is how he has been such a good role model to me and shows how to take life head on. He’s taught me to be kind even when they aren’t kind to you, be compassionate to people less fortunate than you, respect the authorities, and respect your elders. I picked Jim for the Life Legacy Project because he has been a great role model throughout my life.
By Isaac Donovan
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