Timmins James E. of Marshfield April 21, 2011. Jim was born on February 2, 1936 in Park Falls, WI.
The simple truth is Jim was beloved by all, and touched everyone who was given the privilege of knowing him. He was the son of the late Emmett and Vera (Sell) Timmins, husband of Judy (Reinke) Timmins, father of Tracy (Timmins) Niland, father-in-law of Michael Niland, cherished grandfather of “the world’s greatest granddaughter ever” Remy Niland, brother to Mary Catherine (Timmins) Schaffner, Margaret Gray (deceased), and Charles Timmins, brother-in-law to Thomas Schaffner and George Gray, and uncle to many nieces and nephews and family friend, in the truest sense of the expression, to the extended families Jim and his family gained wherever Jim’s career with the federal government took them.
Jim received his schooling in a one room school house in Leadmine, went on to Benton High School, and then earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 1954 where Jim was a stellar baseball and basketball player.
After college, Jim coached for a year at the Iowa Grant school in Cobb, WI. In 1959, the Army drafted Jim to serve as a radio operator in Germany. Again, Jim became immersed in athletics as he traveled Europe, playing baseball, basketball, and football for the Army.
His service complete, Jim embarked on a career as a federal government investigator which took his family and him to numerous stops around the country including St. Louis, San Francisco, Washington, D.C, Chicago, and finally, Boston, and all the while, Jim rose in the ranks. In Boston, Jim served as the Chief of Investigations. Jim retired from the federal government but continued to work as an investigator for US Investigations Services, Inc. until 2002 when he retired.
Throughout his life, Jim followed his favorite sports teams: the Green Bay Packers, University of Wisconsin Badgers, the New England Patriots, Red Sox, and Celtics, and regularly attended Marshfield High School sports and his granddaughter‘s soccer, basketball, and softball games.
Jim was an active member of the Marshfield community and imbued with Midwestern charity. He would make a point of patronizing local restaurants and gas stations especially ones that were struggling “to help keep them in business”. He loved life, parties, conversation, traveling, telling a good joke or being the object of one, listening to and spinning a story, but he especially loved his family and friends.
Visitation hours will be held at the MacDonald Funeral Home, 1755 Ocean Street, Marshfield, MA on Sunday, May 1st from 1-3pm. A memorial service will be held at 3:00pm after visiting. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made to: Marshfield Girls’ Softball, PO Box 1340, Marshfield, MA 02050 or Marshfield Youth Basketball, PO Box 38, Marshfield, MA 02050