Former Sitkans who hand-trolled in the 1970s and ’80s, those who saw him on the docks, or in his office will remember Jim Greenough fondly.
Jim passed away Dec. 27, 2015, in Portland, Ore., and his ashes were recently scattered in Sitka Sound. He was 71.
Jim Greenough
Throughout his life, Jim sought adventures and new learning, enriching both his life and the lives of those around him. As a young man, he was an early Sierra Club member and joined hiking and climbing trips.
He was a competitive swimmer, and to the end boasted of having the lungs of a swimmer. He was talented in many disciplines – astronomy, farming, photography, literature, music and fixing broken things.
Jim worked his way through college at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, by prospecting in the Alaska range, walking many miles a day looking for signs of copper and staking claims for Bill Monroe. He became an adept kayaker when he went to Maine for graduate school.
Back in Alaska, he rigged a sailboat as a hand-troller and became one of the first people to commercially troll from a sailboat since the Russian era. He loved boats and the sea and continued to captain a succession of boats: the Windflower, the Raven, the Chichagof and the Phalarope.
He was an ardent conservationist who wrote about his experiences in nature for a number of magazines. He was a musician who played with a recorder group in Sitka and then, later in life, took up the cello.
He always enjoyed working with his hands and crafted everything from beautiful bowls to home remodeling. He could fix anything, usually with a creative solution.
Jim got his pilot’s license as a young man in Fairbanks and flew everything from a glider to a Lake Amphibian to the experimental airplane he built and flew most recently.
Jim tended to play down his role as a psychologist, but he founded one of the first mental health centers in Alaska. Later he provided much support to the health aides he consulted with in remote Alaskan villages.
He was known as a sympathetic supporter of gay clients and veterans with PTSD. Working for Vocational Rehabilitation, the clarity of his reports and strength of his compassion led to work all around the states of Oregon and Alaska. For several years he served as chairman of the Alaska Psychology Licensing Board.
During this year, many people have talked with him about battling cancer. Jim always responded that this wasn’t a battle, it was an adventure. He pointed out that you can lose a battle, but you don’t lose an adventure. As new symptoms arose, he took it as a challenge to understand what caused them, then to find as good a solution as he could.
Jim dearly loved his family, particularly his wife Carol, and felt that his last year had been special because of getting extra time with his daughters, Rachel Greenough, Betsy Carter, and Carolyn Velez; his grandsons, Anthony and Willie Carter; his great-grandson, Mason James Carter; and his sister, Ann Kerin as well as many other family members.
He is remembered fondly by all of his friends both in Alaska and Oregon for his generosity of spirit and his adventurous soul, his family said.