Thanks Jessie for all your years of work at Shelby Parts and Restoration and your continued support to keep it going. We all know how much Jim appreciated your efforts over the years. Sometimes it is hard to convey thoughts into words, this is one of those times. Living apart from people you have a common interest with sometimes is limited to phone conversations. I can still hear his voice. For me, there was always a lot of jokes, like the first time I flew out to visit his home track, the beautiful Road America. Jim told me to bring some mountaineering gear in case I wanted to go climbing. I kind of knew better, as the plane descended out of the clouds, my hunch was confirmed, Wisconsin was flat as a pancake. I was fortunate enough to walk around Road America with Jim and sample one of the several famous bratwursts I enjoyed that weekend. Then there was football. Jim once told me he had been to every home Green Bay Packers game since 1969. The last time I was at his shop, he brought out some of his Packers memorabilia, the good stuff from the 1950's -1960's. We would sometimes exchange e mails during the Packer's away games, knowing that he was at all the home games. Needless to say, there have been a lot of nail biting Seahawk/Packer games over the years, how fitting if the Seahawks make it far enough, it will go through Green Bay. Every time I see a Packers game on TV, I think of Cowles. Jim will still be watching the Packers, it will just be from a higher elevation.
Jim is not gone. He lives in each of us, in one way or another. It may be through our personal memories or the item we acquired from him. His legacy will continue through the cars he restored and the parts that passed through his fingertips eventually making it onto a car. In the end, his parts allow us to enjoy these cars to their fullest.
To his family, condolences in this difficult time. To Jim, thanks for all you did for us over the many years. Mark Hovander