James Norris Hamilton
On July 3rd 2025, a husband, father, brother, grandfather, stand-in grandparent for many, and friend to countless others, traded in his human suit so that he could venture off on his next journey. He may not be here with us physically but the impact of the connections he made in his time will never truly be measured.
James Norris Hamilton (AKA Jimbeaux) was born September 23, 1945 in Fairmount, West Virginia to Juanita and James Carroll Hamilton. Moving to Richland, Washington as a young child, he grew up part of a tight knit community, as the city grew with the establishment of the Hanford Nuclear Site, and shared memories growing up by the Columbia River with his friends. His family instilled core values, a love of cars and a sense of humor that he shared with everyone.
Jimbeaux graduated from Columbia High School with the Gold Medal Class of 1963 and remained a Richland Bomber for life. He cherished the connections of his years growing up in Richland, never losing touch with those he shared those memories with.
It was during High school that he started dating Nancy Wick. After graduating he attended WSU before transferring to EWU where he enrolled in ROTC and Nancy joined him there. After graduating Jim and Nancy were married in December of 1967, moved to Texas with the Army 11 days later and followed that up with a move to Italy. These would be some of their most cherished memories and Jim was sure to keep that connection fresh for the rest of his life.
He went to Vietnam in 1970 and was lucky enough to return to his family waiting in Richland. He didn’t talk much about his experiences in Vietnam but yet again, connections kept him talking about friends and staying in touch, even tracking some down over the miles and years.
Eventually the family moved to the Seattle area after he’d left the army, finally settling in Kirkland. It was there that he worked for Ford and then as a travel agent for the rest of his career. These jobs paid the bills, but the job he took to heart was supporting his family.
Jimbeaux was a “room mom” at school, being involved in classrooms as a dad before it was cool. He coached softball, soccer and even some basketball as the girls were growing up, leaving many of his players with memories of being pushed to meet their potential and nicknames that would stick for years to come. They most certainly learned phrases like “save your breath for cooling your soup” and “3 things can happen and 2 of them are bad”. Jim also officiated youth sports and served on league organizations, following his advice of “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem”.
He still referred to Nancy as “The Lovely Ms. Nancy”, requesting hugs and kisses on the regular. Again with the connections, this one the strongest, never to be broken.
Jim leaves behind his wife Nancy (Wick), his daughters Annie (Bill) Wymer and Megan (Brian) Brazeau, grandchildren Jessie and Michael (Wymer), Julia and Kyle (Brazeau) and his sister Carolynn (Tom) Leach. The legacy he leaves behind goes far beyond his family. Connecting with his people was his pastime and with it he leaves an untold number of stories and famous 1 liners.
We hope you can join in the celebration of Jimbeaux’s life well lived, on Saturday October 4, 2025 at the Lake Ballinger Center at 23000 Lakeview Dr. Mountlake Terrace, WA from 2-5 pm. In lieu of flowers, please donate to your favorite charity in Jim’s name. We hope to see you there.
The post first appeared on Barton Family Funeral Service.