Jim Booher died on January 5th at his home in Santa Rosa, CA surrounded in love by his wife, children, grandchildren and good friends, following a brief hospital stay and a five year period battling cancer and ultimately congestive heart failure. He had shared over 55 of his 80 years married to his dear wife Harriett. Together they have enjoyed the closeness of their immediate and extended family - daughter Michelle Booher-Poggi, husband Vincent and daughters Claire and Caitlin Poggi; daughter Marcia LaBrucherie, husband Rob Wright, her children Travis and Dawna LaBrucherie and his children John and Claire Wright; son Mark Booher, wife Lindy and son Jesse and daughter Lily Booher. Jim was born in Naponee, Nebraska and raised on a farm near Republican City - son of John and Virginia Booher, older brother to Janet and Bob, all of whom preceded him in death. For many years during his youth and young manhood, he took on the responsibility of running major parts of the family farm. During his college years and early married life he lay-pastored Methodist churches in Valparaiso, Ulysses and Surprise, NE. After moving to California in 1964 to take a teaching position in Fairfield, Jim spent the next 25 years teaching middle school and high school for the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District. Also during this time he was the founder, owner and partner in several transportation business enterprises providing bus, taxi and limousine services around the Bay Area. Of course, life is more than a chronicle of professional accomplishments or civic activities. Having grown up a farmer he remained a farmer at heart and in practice much of his life - often being lovingly accused of trying to convert the family land in Nebraska into a park' or a little piece of heaven.' Having worked his way through college picking up various kinds of construction work, Jim also remained a builder all his life, building three of the family homes and countless construction and landscaping projects for family, friends and neighbors. The capstone of this was likely the construction of what became known as Stirling House', the three story family home in Santa Rosa shared at times by four generations (including Jim's mother Virginia) and named for daughter Marcia's late husband Anthony Stirling LaBrucherie. Family remember him as one of the hardest working men they've known. He was always one to see a project through to its completion and was committed to leaving things a little better than he found them' - a value he brought to everything in his life. Those who knew Jim will remember, and now miss him, as a deep-spirited man of faith, a curious intellect, with a wry sense of humor and a person of enormous sentiment. His way of giving Harriett a dozen roses' once was by planting a dozen rose bushes and tending them in a garden for her to enjoy flowers for the whole season. He was a man's man' but also selected 50 pearls for Harriett's Golden Anniversary present, his favorite color was mauve and he had a wonderful bass singing voice. Jim loved to travel, principally by car in the U.S., and was a great appreciator of natural beauty. He was always curious about the topography, industry, history and culture of various regions and rarely left a garden or capital, factory or national park unvisited. He was a helper by nature and choice, often finding practical ways to improve the situation for others - countless projects, appliances, and vehicles were done or given or improved because of Jim's generosity of spirit and hard work for others. He'll be remembered not only by his immediate family but by many of the adopted' members of the family, as many a family gathering was joined by one of the kids' friends, or a single from church, or someone stationed nearby in military service - the family was always open. Jim was an outstanding and fun-loving friend, a principled man of exemplary character, a devoted husband, father and grandfather. The family invites you to join them to commemorate Jim's life at a Graveside Service: 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 25, 2015 at the Seward Memorial Cemetery. A potluck luncheon will follow at the Seward United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall. In lieu of flowers or other gifts the family suggests that donations might be made In Memory of James Booher to Habitat for Humanity (3273 Airway Dr. #E, Santa Rosa, CA 95403; www.habitatsoco.org)leaving the world a better place because of him.