James Trowbridge

James Lloyd Trowbridge was born in Chicago, Illinois on October 4, 1919 to Margaret (Eck) and Lloyd Trowbridge. After his mother died in 1921, he was raised by his grandparents in Chicago, sharing a household with his mother's younger sisters, Gertrude, Louise, Harriet and LaVerne. When he was 9 years old, Jim began selling the Sunday Chicago Tribune for 2 cents a copy, and soon got his own route, which he worked for 5 years. While in high school, he worked at a delicatessen, and on the weekends, he and his friends fished and explored rural Illinois and Wisconsin whenever they had the use of a car. He quit high school in his junior year to take a job in a coal yard office, and later, was hired by Bell & Howell Laboratories to test chemicals. All his life, Jim loved getting out in nature and exploring, and he also enjoyed motorcycles and cars, as well as canoes and bicycles, and went on many adventures with his friends. He bought his first (leaky) sailboat in the 1930s, and promptly sailed it across Lake Michigan. Jim joined the Army in 1943 where he served as a jeep driver in Europe. His unit fought in the Battle of the Bulge. After the war, Jim returned to Chicago where he completed his high school degree, and went into business with his friend, Joe Smith. He met Myrtle Van Epps of Yankton, SD in Chicago, and they were married in Yankton on June 8, 1949. They had three children, Betty (Paul Hagen) of Wautoma, WI; Gail Trowbridge (William Schuldt) of Duluth, MN; and Dick Trowbridge (Wendy Syer) of Knoxville, TN. He raised his family in a home he built himself in Warrenville, IL, and worked at Sears Roebuck, Warrenville Window, and then opened his own janitorial business. In 1965, the family moved to Neshkoro, WI, where Jim invented a collapsible boat, for which he received a patent. Later, Jim established a retail gift and furniture store called the Colonial House in Wautoma, WI (now called The Gables and operated by his daughter Betty). Jim was a gifted woodworker, and he built and refinished furniture throughout his life. He also built a wooden sailboat under the guidance of boat-builder Ferdinand Nimphius in Neshkoro, a labor of love that took over three years. Jim and Myrtle made many friends during the over 30 years that they wintered in Florida, trailer camping and canoeing. Jim is survived by his wife of 61 years; their three children; their two grandsons, Geoff Syer Trowbridge of Knoxville and Byron Schuldt of Duluth; many cousins; and wonderful friends, both old and new.
Memorial Services will be held at Grace United Methodist Church on Saturday, July 24 at 11:00 A.M. with visitation at 10:00 A.M. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund is being established.

Memorials may be sent to:
Betty Trowbridge-Hagen
P.O. Box 562
Wautoma, WI 54982



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