Jimmie Elwood Draper Sr.

August 19, 1931 - December 28, 2020

Jimmie Elwood Draper Sr., lovingly called Pops by his family, was born on August 19, 1931 in Mt. Pleasant Utah. He died peacefully on December 28th, 2020 in Washington, Utah after living the majority of his life in Sacramento, California. He used to say, “When I left Utah I broke the handle of my snow shovel and never looked back!” He spent the last 14 months of his life in warmer Southern Utah bravely moving forward after the death of his dear wife Janice from a short and swift battle with cancer. He was 89 years old. Miles Vernon Draper and Estella Lodicea Draper, his Grandparents also preceded Jim in death. When the need arose they stepped in and took over the role of parents, adopting and raising him as their own. His family grew with brothers and sisters who were also aunts and uncles; Ila Vern, Earl Jay, Miles Vernon, Neldon Don, Stella Lavaun and Ina Gold. He was doted on as the baby of the family. The remarriage of his mother Clara Alice brought three more brothers into his life -- Morris, Mike and Scott Lund whom he was in contact with until his passing. He is survived by his four sons; Jimmie Elwood Draper, Jr. (Leslie), Jeffrey Earl Draper, Sr. (Pam), Darrell Wallace Draper, Sr. (Michelle), and Randy Craig Draper (Sheryl) in addition to his 17 grandchildren, 3 of which he helped raise and 35 great grandchildren. Jim grew up in Mt. Pleasant, Utah where he made many friends, including his life-long friend Charlie McKay. They meet as young boys and went through life’s rites of passage in school and at church. From being baptized to ordained as Deacons -- they did it together, with just one month separating their births. Jim and Charlie were also normal boys and engaged in their share of shenanigans while growing up in Mt. Pleasant. They used to ride Charlie’s horse up to the mountains to go fishing with red bait, and in the winter hook up a sleigh behind his horse and take a sharp left or a right, hoping to unceremoniously jettison the rider off and into a snow bank. Jim also became acquainted with hard work at a very early age. He started by working for his older brother Earl, alongside his younger brother Morris. Being the older brother, Earl convinced them to help out with his coal delivery business to the homes in Sanpete County. Jim and Morris came home covered head-to-toe in coal dust and were lucky to get a small portion of the wages. His next job was at the local Turkey Processing Plant. Depending on the way the wind blew there was no mistaking the location of this job. He didn’t have fond memories of that work experience. It was cold, the stench was nothing less than putrid, and the pay was terrible. All of this was strong motivation to learn and develop new skills to take him further in life. At the end of high school Jim along with his friends were drafted into the Korean War. At that time, one month the inductees were assigned to the Marine Corps and the next month to the Army. Jim figured this out and learned they were all headed for the Marines, so he and Charlie decided to volunteer instead, and enlisted in the United States Air Force. Jim was in his early 20s stationed at Mather as an aircraft electrician, when he met Janice. She moved to Sacramento from Trona after graduating from high school and worked as a switchboard operator. They met down at Stan’s Drive in on 16th and K Street, the place where all the young folks used to hang out in the evenings. According to Jim, they dated for about a week before he proposed. They were married on June 21, 1953 at Mather Air Force Base. They were later sealed in the Oakland Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an eternal family with their sons on February 22, 1967. Jim, Janice and their four boys moved to their long-time family home in Rancho Cordova on May 1st 1968. They were active and faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, attending the same congregation for over 51 years. Jim lived life with an adventurous spirit and always brought his wit and humor to every gathering and situation. Among the many things he will be remembered for: •Setting the Camping and Motorcycle tradition for the Drapers: There are too many camping and motorcycle trips to count, some of the memorable ones include camping as a young family at Ice House Reservoir, Skyline Drive in Manti Utah, and riding the Rubicon. Jim was no stranger to long motorcycle trips. While in the Air Force he rode his old Harley Knucklehead from where he was stationed in Texas all the way to California, and later after he had teenagers, he took 1,600+ mile round trip to Utah with Jim and Jeff. He was riding his Yamaha 350, a 2-cylinder motorcycle and his son Jim Jr. and he would take turns with Jeff on the back of their bikes. They took sleeping bags and camped under the stars along the way. •Loving animals, his family had dogs growing up and when he started his family with Janice they raised crows, squirrels cats and several dogs. •Developing his artistic skills: in elementary school he won an art contest and had his drawing in the local newspaper it was a picture of a WWII bomber. He dabbled in woodworking and painted animal clocks and made his family belts and wallets with his unique leather stamping and painting. •Learning to play golf in his 50s with a used set of clubs from Deseret Industries. He even got TWO holes in one. He loved golf so much he volunteered to be a golf marshal every Wednesday at Antelope Greens in Sacramento so he could get free golf passes for his friends and family. He kept with the game well into his 80s, even though Mema was so good, and would usually win the round! •Seeking adventure at every stage of life: Jim finally sold his Suzuki 175 when he turned 80. He kept on riding 4-wheelers into his mid-80s and then moved to being a passenger in a side-by-side riding the trails in Moab and Warner Valley with along with Janice and Darrell. Last year he had an adventure riding in Darrell’s street legal Yamaha YXZ 1000 in St. George Utah. It was his walker mounted to the roof rack – that caught the attention of the police since it was blocking the license plate. The officer loved seeing an 89 year old having some fun!” •Exploring the World: Jim loved to travel, be in nature and learn more about history. He and Janice took trips together and with their friends the Turley’s, Nardoni’s. They went to places like Alaska, Hawaii, Yellowstone and Las Vegas. An especially memorable experience was their trip to the Holy Land in the early 80s with other members of their Church. Seeing Israel, Egypt and other biblical locations served to strengthen their friendships and testimonies of the Savior. • Being a Master Storyteller: Jim loved reading and enriching his vocabulary with the Reader’s Digest “Word Power” section. These traits combined with his deep voice and a commanding phrase “Now listen up” made for good stories around the campfire and fond memories. He was the originator Fire Wheel – and rode around the family campground after dark on his PE with lighted wheels at Sand Mountain to the amazement of his grandkids and great grandkids. To this day the chant of Fire Wheel lives on at Draper family campouts. Most importantly Jim will always be remembered for the family he built. Even though Jim didn’t have an idyllic childhood, he and Janice invested their time and energy to build the family they wanted. Jim missed his wife terribly and in a conversation a week before he passed, he told his friend as much, adding that he knew she was all right, and he’d be all right since he knew where he came from, and where he was going.