James Albert "Jim" Noland

August 21, 1951 - June 25, 2020

Jim was born to Delores Montana (Gardner) and E.A. "Dude" Noland in Boise, Idaho. He did all of his growing up in Horseshoe Bend, ID and cherished his childhood adventures with his local gang of buddies and with his big brother Fred. He recalled his Horseshoe Bend years with great fondness and shared endless tales that kept us in awe.

Jim attended school there until the 8th grade, then commuted to Emmett High School where he played football and generally caused trouble. The classroom was not his favorite place, as he was more of a hands-on guy. At a young age, Jim found a life-long passion in amateur radio and assembled his first radio when he was 14. He did everything from haying, logging, changing tires, and tipping over outhouses during his adolescent years.

He joined the U.S. Navy in 1969, where he served during the Vietnam War. His duties included a brief time aboard PBR MK II patrol boats on the Mekong Delta with Harbor Clearing Unit 1, and more substantially aboard the USS Genesee AOG-8, a gasoline and oil tanker. He travelled across Southeast Asia and the South Pacific during that time - but he cherished his time in Hawaii and Pearl Harbor - he was a surfer at heart. The Navy taught him technical skills that aligned perfectly with his hands-on aptitude. Along the way he became proficient as a boiler operator.

After the Navy, Jim returned home and ended up working on the Walker Ranch, east of Mountain Home, Idaho. After a brief time on the ranch, he took employment utilizing the boiler operator skills he learned in the Navy, at Mountain Home Air Force Base. He was a boiler plant operator for nearly 25 years along side some colorful characters and good friends. He retired as a Structures Foreman after a combined 35 years of service with the Department of Defense. To cap his work career he spent three years working with his friends at Intermountain Communication.

His time in Mountain Home was highlighted with raising his two children Heather and Fred. The many years of shift work at the Central Heat Plant, afforded him the schedule to be with his kids. He made close, life-long friends in Mountain Home. He served the community by volunteering to build playgrounds, coaching tee-ball and optimist football, sitting on the Parks and Recreation Board, but most prominently as the Director of Elmore County Search and Rescue (SAR) for 16 years. His service in SAR took him statewide, where he taught other volunteers about Incident Command, search victim psychology, and communications. SAR came naturally to him and his commitment garnered him local and state awards.

If you knew him as WB7QYU, N7NQO, and most recently K7JAN - you were savvy to his genius with troubleshooting transceivers, antennas, and anything associated. He stayed active in amateur radio his entire life, with an impressive resurgence in contesting when he retired - not to be thwarted by the HOA. Working six meters was his favorite along with heading out to field day in June - particularly with his dear friend Larry Smith.

His wife Toni, who he married in 2000, was his rock and his inspiration. They moved to Boise to fully retire and be closer to family in 2010. He had the life he wanted, to be peacefully retired with Toni. He passed away surrounded by Toni, Heather and Fred. Jim is survived by his loving big brother Fred (Lila) Noland, his children Heather (Dave) Claybomb, Fred (Susie) Noland, Carolyn Woodall - the mother of his children, his step sons Sam and Ben Heflin, his special daughter Janessa Carson; nieces Andrea (Roy) Lange and Wendy (Mike) Kunkel; his grandchildren Rowdy Claycomb, Riley Noland, Gracie Claycomb, and Evie Carson.

No formal service will be held, per his wishes. A celebration of life will be held at a later date - TBA. A marker will be placed at Horseshoe Bend Cemetery. Our most heartfelt gratitude goes out to our friends and family who supported him during the tough battle with cancer, and to his hospice workers, who we adore.

The family is asking that in remembrance of his humor, service, loyalty, friendship, and ability to fix anything, that a donation be made in memory of James Noland at the American Cancer Society, https://donate3.cancer.org/