Jim LeGuilloux

Our wonderful Jim passed away on Sept. 28, 2018 at the age of 59 years, following a brave fight with a rare form of cancer.

Jim was born in Calgary to parents Andre and Marg. He attended St. Jean Brebeuf and St. Francis High, graduating with Fine Arts Honours in 1977. Many of his closest friends today were his buddies back in high school. He then earned his Architectural Technologies diploma at SAIT in 1979.

Jim’s talents and interests led him through a number of interesting workplaces.

A first job was as Operations Manager for North American Air Training College, which his dad Andre founded and led. Another of his early interesting jobs was as an architectural designer for modular housing, living in Inuvik, where he grew an impressive beard for warmth.

He worked for Western Living Magazine, as Advertising Art Director and Illustrator, and the Calgary Herald from 1989-97, as Art Director and Creative Manager. Jim then moved into the world of communications and marketing with Calgary companies such as Beyond Compliance and Axia NetMedia.

Through it all, he helped support his growing family with his own freelance design studio, which he began in 1994 doing graphic design, branding and corporate identity work.

Most recently, Jim found a true work family with DIRTT Environmental Solutions, which he joined 10 years ago. He worked there in a product development and marketing role until his final working days in January 2018. Affectionately called DIRTTbags, his colleagues and many friends there have been a huge support to Jim and tenderly lowered their outdoor corporate flags to half-mast this week, upon his passing.

Jim created a beautiful life with and for his family and friends, and made it even more special through his kindness, gentleness with everyone, and artist’s touch to all things.

He had many loves – his three sons (Sam, Chris, and Joey), his sweetie and best friend for 33 years, Sandi, and Ford Mustangs (babying three of them over the years). Jim was an advanced black-diamond skier, loved his jumps and moguls, and was a very impressive golfer. He enjoyed challenging his sons out on the links. He earned his Private Pilot’s License. An experienced hockey player, Jim played recreational hockey right up to his diagnosis in January 2018. He was a Certified Minor Hockey coach from 1997-2009, cheering on his sons’ teams from behind the bench.

Our “Jim-Bob” was an artist. He saw the world through an artist’s eyes, and he wove his artist’s touch throughout all of our worlds, through oil painting and pen-and-ink drawings and beautifully told stories. In recent years, Jim’s passion turned to photography.

Through his pictures, Jim never let us forget that the world was a fascinating place. He would point out photographs that moved him – the way light and shadow interacted, or the interesting way an image was framed. He loved originality. He loved quirkiness.

He hiked hours through outdoor areas in search of the perfect wildlife shot, and with his artist’s eye, his captures were truly breathtaking. His many photography fans online waited eagerly for the next post of his most recent Nose Hill photo-safari, or birds or a sunrise that caught his eye over the Calgary skyline.

And laugh – wow, did Jim love to laugh and make us chuckle. He was always looking for a good-natured poke, a cute pun, the perfect punch-line. A smile was never, ever far from his face.

Jim was so proud of the fine young men Sam, Chris and Joey have become, and immensely enjoyed celebrating Sam’s marriage to Keltie last year. He wrapped his boys in the nest of love he built with Sandi. Throughout their 33 years together, their gentleness towards each other, and caring and true friendship was evident always, in good times and in bad. He called her “sweetie” as often as he called her “Sandi”.

Jim is deeply missed by Sandi, his sons Sam (Keltie), Chris and Joey, brother Terry LeGuilloux, sisters Teresa Lebsack (Dan), Marie Sondergaard (Cam) Marg LeGuilloux (Suzi), and many dear cousins, nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his father Andre and mother Marg.

The world has lost a good, good man.

 “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Jim LeGuilloux, please visit our floral store.