James Roger Saari

Jim Saari lost his battle with cancer and passed away on Monday, August 5, 2013 at Evergreen Hospice Center in Kirkland, WA. He was the beloved husband of Joyce; married for 55 years. He was born in Toledo, WA on April 19, 1937 and lived in Vader, WA with his parents until he married Joyce. He was the only child of Waino (Nick) and Iva Saari.He is survived by his loving family. His wife, Joyce of Redmond, WA; his only child, daughter, Kimberly Johnston and husband, Bill; and his three grandchildren: Joey, Amanda and Michael of Sammamish, WA. He is also survived by his mother, Iva Saari, age 98.Jim attended high school in Toledo, WA where he excelled in athletics and where he met Joyce, who became his high school sweetheart. They married in October 1957. The next year they moved to Seattle where Jim attended Seattle University. Jim was drafted into the Army in 1960. After his two years in the Army he went into the trucking industry and eventually became a Vice President of Operations at a local Seattle trucking company. Jim and Joyce resided in Edmonds, WA for 30 year before moving in 2007 to Redmond, WA to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren. He enjoyed watching them in all of their various sporting events over the years from football, to sor, to lacrosse.After retirement in 1993 Jim and Joyce enjoyed travelling the world and especially cruising with their friends. Their most recent cruise was last summer to Ireland and Scotland with a side trip to Iceland. In 2000 they bought a second home in Arizona where they spe months of the year. Jim wanted to get back into golfing so they joined the Union Hills Country Club in Sun City, AZ in 2005. He had so many wonde friends at the club and enjoyed his morning golfing group.Jims family and friends will miss his sense of humor, gift for story-telling and his Finnish ways. We all loved him very much and will treasure our memories.At Jims request, he will be cremated and there will be no formal service. At a future date, he will be buried at Little Falls Cemetery in Vader, WA. Announcement: If you would like to make a donation in Jims memory, we suggest Evergreen Healthcare Foundation, Hospice Services at 12040 NE 128th St, MS 5, Kirkland, WA, 98034 or online at href=http://foundation.evergreenhospital.org/ http://foundation.evergreenhospital.org and designate Hospice Services or American Cancer Society.