James “Jim” Allen Black of Kinnear, Wyoming passed away after a brief illness on Friday, February 28 at Swedish Medical Center in Denver, Colorado at the age of 71. Memorial services will be held at a later date.
Jim was born April 16, 1953 to Albert and Evelyn Black in Ramona, South Dakota. When Jim was nine, the family purchased and moved to a farm in the Kinnear area where Jim subsequently worked for most of his life.
Jim enjoyed the outdoors and working with animals, both as a youth participating in FFA and 4-H programs, and as an adult working with livestock on the farm, trading and showing horses, and as a licensed outfitting guide.
At the age of 14, Jim held his first paying job doing insect control work in Targhee National Forest near Driggs, Idaho making $30 per week. On his third day on the job, he and another youth were working when they heard screams coming from behind them. They ran to see what was happening and found a grizzly bear crouched over their boss. Jim took immediate action to distract the bear which turned and chased him through the brush. The bear caught him, knocking him to the ground. Jim played dead but was scratched and bitten several times. For his heroism that day, Jim was awarded the Carnegie Hero Award for bravery.
In addition to being a farmhand on the family farm and working for several area farmers over the years, he worked in the oil fields and as a hunting guide. He spent many years employed by his dad’s licensed wilderness outfitting business as a licensed professional guide. Before retirement, he worked as a contract mail carrier transporting mail between Riverton and Dubois.
Jim was an active and long-time member of the Sunnyside Church of the Nazarene. He is fondly remembered as a man who had a big heart and gentle spirit. His boisterous laugh was unmistakable.
He is survived by his brothers Dennis (Myra) Black and Vernon Black; nieces Teri (Josh) Williams, Tami (Mike) Wade, and Tiffany (Tra) Vendela; and seven great nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents Albert (“Jiggs”) and Evelyn (“Evie”) Black; grandparents Albert and Helen Black, and Emil and Bertha Klamm.