A Life Fully Lived

Jim graduated from Alexander Ramsey High School in Roseville, MN; received his undergraduate degree in Mathematics from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; his Master's degree in Physics from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, and his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from the University of Wyoming in Laramie.

After stints teaching and doing research at the Universities of Wyoming and North Dakota State, the majority of Jim's career was spent as a Theoretical Physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, CO, where he loved his work and was able to do groundbreaking work on a number of fronts. He was in the process of writing a book about his work.

Jim and his wife, Karen, were married in June, 1979. They were blessed with two wonderful children, a son, Duff, born in 1986, and a daughter, Aquene, born in 1991.

Besides his work and family, Jim had a lifelong love affair with the outdoors, as manifested in his activities of canoeing (including competitive whitewater canoeing), camping, fishing, biking, snowshoeing, and climbing.

Jim died in a tragic and improbable accident on December 31, 2011, when a high gust of wind blew a branch just 3-feet long and 3 inches in diameter through the windshield of his car, as he and his wife, Karen, were returning home to Longmont from Boulder. The branch slammed into his chest and he maintained consciousness long enough to steer the car to the shoulder and stop, saving his wife and other motorists from a possible collision.

To say that Jim is sorely missed by his family, colleagues, and many friends is an understatement.

In the last several years, Jim had taken to signing off his emails to his siblings with "Jimmy B." Long live the memory of Jimmy B!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

From the January 2012 "NIST Connections" Newsletter

Jim Baker-Jarvis and his wife
navigating the Brown's Canyon
Zoom-Flume Rapids.

(Photo courtesy of
Baker-Jarvis family)
Obituary:
James Baker-Jarvis
Written by James Burrus

James Roger Baker-Jarvis, a two-time Bronze Medal winner who worked in the Boulder Labs Electromagnet­ics Division of the Physical Measurement Laboratory, died shortly after noon on New Year’s Eve while driving with his wife, Karen, on the North Foothills Highway north of Boulder. High winds blew a tree branch about 3 feet long and 3 inches in diameter through the windshield, strik­ing Baker-Jarvis in the chest. He was able to steer his car to the side of the road and stop before losing consciousness. He was 61.

An avid outdoorsman, Baker-Jarvis is remembered by his wife and children as a spontaneous man who dreamed of riding across the United States on a bike and who was always thinking about work. “Every­thing, all over the house, had equations written on it; receipts, envelopes, maga­zines,” Karen says.

Read more »
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)