Jim was a key ingredient in the success of hundreds of new brokers he put into the business through the training program at Davidson over a period of 20+ years, including me.
He was tough, demanding, knowledgeable, somewhat arrogant at times--he knew his stuff !!!
I can still here him saying, "Every month you start at 0 !" to emphasize that the brokerage business was not an easy business, especially out of the rodeo chute for a rookie.
Davidson has lost some really good people over the last 20+ years. Bob Bragg, Gene Lewis, and Don Knudsen in the horrific company plane crash of Election Day 1994--all good men, very knowledgeable, and friendly, and I was especially fond of Don, who was a trust office for TrustCorp, now Davidson Trust. We often traveled in Central Montana, including Billings, and talked to lawyers about setting up trusts for some of their clients. That was the first and only time Don flew on that stinking plane, a Beechcraft Baron. He preferred driving his big, shiny '92 Olds 98 instead of flying on the corporate airplane.
Bob Retz, the former Lewistown undertaker that hired me on Jim's advice, who passed away several years ago from a heart attack--a big, gentle, giant that also knew his stuff, and now, unfortunately, Jim.
While I am sure Jim talked plenty of football with his old teammates, I found out from other people at Davidson just how good he was as a Griz player. He was humble at least around the trainees about his days as a Griz.
God bless you, Jim, and thanks !!! :thumb: I will always try to live up to your high standards !!!
