James Russell Daley

James (Jim) was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan to Joseph (Sr) and Marie (Hine) Daley both preceding him in death. His loving siblings had 58 years of joy, laughter and many hilarious stories with their brother. Surviving siblings: Darcy (Daley) Bengtson, Margaret (Peg) Daley Seidel, Joseph Daley, jr (Jennifer), Julia (Daley) Backus (Dave). Their wonderful sister, Buffy Daley-Blair preceded him in death in 2018. Uncle Bill and Aunt Holly Sanders were like siblings to Jim, too. In youth, Jim attended St. Catherine's of Sienna Catholic Church.

The family is deeply saddened with the untimely loss of their little brother whom most have described as "a very kind soul."

Many loving nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins and life-long family friends are blessed with so many fond, happy memories of Jim. Many of those memories involved pet care, outings, fishing, hunting, family camping, boating and sharing historical lessons and fun-facts. Jim possessed an expansive knowledge of World War II and Civil War history. It was not always information from the generic school history book, but the interesting, untold details of these wars, all the while sprinkling in some intriguing side notes, gory details or facts not normally published.

Jim passed doing what he enjoyed the most, fishing. He frequently shared huge 'fish-tales' of truck-bed sleeping in frigid temps just to be the first onto the lake at first dawn. He deeply valued these escapades many times in the company of his brother Joe or dear friends, Kirk, Damon, Bob, Jamie, John, Dave and precious other fishing buddies. Jim shared many times about his many unsolicited inquiries from Michigan's finest troopers to explain the reason for his early hours on the road.

Jim graduated from Portage Central High School in 1982 and took courses in history, HVAC, maintenance and general studies at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. He enjoyed an interesting first job at Top Hat Cricket Farm in Portage, MI. near West Lake. He moved onto First Housing Corporation for a few years before he landed a position at his last company in 1989, Treystar properties in Kalamazoo, MI. Jim was a valued member of their property maintenance team for 33 years.

Jim was always there to help a neighbor or family member, and especially loved caring for their pets. Those sweet, generous gestures of love and kindness will always be cherished. The family wishes to thank everyone for their kind words, prayers and sharing sweet memories of their dear brother, Jim. They want to thank anyone who has touched Jim's life whether for a moment or his throughout his lifetime.

Jim's wish list was to fish in Alaska one day. We have faith he's finally getting to make that great-big catch in heaven.

The family is inviting you to a Celebration of Life on Saturday, May 28, 2022, 9:00 am - 11:00 am, at Lakeview Park, 9345 Portage Rd., Portage, MI., 49002, pavilion #1. Please come enjoy some coffee and morning refreshments and share a memory about your friendship with Jim.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you consider donating to the South Haven Steelheaders Sport Fishing Association. Donations for their Weather Buoy can be made at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/shbuoy19 Please write "Jim Daley Memorial" in the comments section.

If you prefer, you may mail a check to the South Haven Steelheaders, P.O. Box 107, South Haven, MI 49090. Please write "Jim Daley Memorial" on the memo line. Donations can be also made to the Kalamazoo Humane Society at https://www.kazoohumane.org/donate.