James Howard Rice

James Howard Rice was born on January 11, 1926 in Aurora, Illinois. He was the eighth of twelve children in the family of Lawrence W. and Darle D. (Breedlove) Rice. Jim was raised in Aurora during the years of the great depression and developed very strong family ties and values. Like many of his siblings, he was an excellent student and graduated at the top of his class from West Aurora High School in 1944. Upon high school graduation, Jim enlisted in the U.S. Army Infantry where he served in active duty through 1946. Upon honorable discharge, he held the rank of Second Lieutenant/Platoon Leader. During his military service, Jim attended officer training school at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Upon discharge from the service, Jim returned to Ann Arbor to enroll in the University of Michigan College of Engineering. In June 1950, he graduated with his B.S.E. (Mechanical Engineering) with multiple honors including the Phi Kappa Phi and Tau Beta Pi honors fraternities and the Douglas Aircraft scholarship. Later, Jim attended graduate business school at the Northern Illinois University where he received his M.S. Business Administration (Finance) in 1972. He again had a distinguished academic record in his masters program receiving the Beta Theta Gamma scholar fraternity award. Following his college graduation in 1950, Jim returned to his hometown of Aurora, Illinois to commence work for the Barber-Greene Company starting what would become a 35-year career there. Also importantly in 1950, Jim married Margaret Ellen Simpson, an Aurora native. During their 65 years of marriage, Jim and Maggie were constant companions and partners in all that life brought to them. They raised three sons, James Collins (Cully) Rice, Thomas Sullivan Rice, and Timothy William Rice. Cully became a computer systems engineer, Tom an attorney, and Tim a high-level diesel systems technician. Jim's work for the Barber-Greene group of companies started in Aurora, then took him to Toronto, Ontario, back to Aurora, and ultimately to Denver, Colorado. Responsibilities during the early part of his career included Design Engineer, General Sales Manager, and Product Group Manager. In 1972, he was promoted to Vice President Planning and Development. In 1976, after arranging for Barber Greene's purchase of the Mine & Smelter Company in Denver, Jim moved west to serve as General Manager of that company through 1982. He ended his career as the Vice President Corporate Development from 1983 through 1984 at which time he retired from Barber Greene. During retirement, Jim served on several corporate boards, including the American Gold Minerals Corporation, which was later acquired by the Altex Corporation. For a number of years thereafter, Jim carried on a solo business consulting practice under the name J. Howard Rice Associates. Throughout his life, Jim believed in community service and was very active in such activities. For many years he served in a variety of capacities at the Wesley United Methodist Church including Finance Chairman and later Board Chairman/Lay Leader. He was President of the Aurora Jaycees (Junior Chamber of Commerce), worked for many years as a United Way fundraising leader, served as a member of the Denver Rotary Club for nine years, and was a member of the Denver Petroleum Club. In retirement in Park County, Colorado, Jim served as treasurer and board member for a not-for-profit organization known as Friends of the Pool. He also served as a member of the Park County Planning Commission for five years and for four years as chairman of a board created to oversee the construction of a new jail in the county. Perhaps Jim's proudest community service achievement was in being named Chairman of the Board of the Colorado Mining Association in 1984. Prior to his election as chairman, he had served for many years on the Board of Directors of the CMA and also held the positions as Membership Chairman, director of its educational foundation, and as a member of the executive committee. Jim and Maggie were extremely fond of and shared many happy days with their grandchildren Katie, Jon, Joseph, Patrick, and Timothy. More recently, they were blessed with great-grandchildren Charles and Olivia, in whom they found great joy. Jim passed away in the company of Maggie and his two surviving sons Tom and Tim at Porter Hospital in Denver on November 2, 2015. His eldest son Cully preceded him in death earlier in 2015. Jim was revered by his family and all who knew him for his many fine qualities, among them his sharp intellect, integrity, honesty, generosity, good counsel, warm manner, and keen wit.