James N. Kimball, 69, travel consultant, University of Utah instructor, businessman, actor and former Deseret News travel columnist, died May 16, 2004, after a long illness.
He was a great-grand-nephew of J. Golden Kimball, a colorful member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and was well-known for his portrayal of "Remembering Uncle Golden" in one-man performances.
Mr. Kimball had also taught an honors class at the U. for the past several years.
"Jim was a much-beloved professor for a class in political science," said Martha Bradley, director of the honors program at the U., who knew him for some 30 years. "As he did with everything, he brought a unique sense of humor. . . . He didn't take life too seriously. He had a warmth about him that was always respectful."
Bradley said Mr. Kimball had a curiosity that led to extraordinary research, which spanned decades, on his ancestor J. Golden Kimball.
Mr. Kimball also taught government, American history, writing and other subjects at various other colleges, including Brigham Young University, the University of Tampa and Salt Lake Community College.
Beginning in January 1983, he chronicled his adventures abroad in a weekly column called "Traveling Light," which ran on the front page of the Deseret News' Travel Section. He described his travels and the people he met along the way. His writing was often humorous but occasionally poignant.
He had a self-described weakness for small cargo ships and exotic trains, where he encountered many of the people who became characters in his column. The column was published for eight years and numbered over 400 installments.
Mr. Kimball also served as the deputy director of the Department of Development Services and as a commissioner of the Public Service Commission during the Gov. Calvin L. Rampton administration. Gov. Scott M. Matheson also appointed him as a member of the State Committee on Executive Reorganization.
He entered private industry in 1970 as a vice president of Terracor, a real estate investment firm. He also was a managing partner of the Boyer Company. His travel businesses included Kimball Travel Consultants and Hurricane Development Corporation.
He was vice president of Morris Travel and worked as director of communications for the Huntsman Corporation.
In civic and community service, he was on the Dixie College Institutional Council and had been on the advisory board for the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the U.
Born on a ranch in La Verkin, he graduated from the U. in political science and history, and received a military commission as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force.
Mr. Kimball served an LDS mission to Northern Australia and New Guinea.
He was a mountain climber, scuba diver, marathon runner and above-average boomerang thrower.
A private funeral service will be held Friday, followed by burial. A public funeral will be held Saturday, May 22, 1 p.m., at the Federal Heights LDS Ward, 1300 E. Fairfax Road. There will not be a public viewing.