James Richard Dueppen was the first-born son of James W. and Lettie, entering the world on August 17, 1937 in Madison, Wisconsin – the land of bratwurst and cheese spread. Jimmy enjoyed an active childhood and grew into the devout, junk-collecting, handy, gentle man Jim.

His over 30-year career as a telecommunications engineer took his family to Florida and Virginia, working for AT&T, GTE, and Sprint before retiring from Nortel in the mid-1990's.

Jim was recognized most for his Catholic faith, love of family, and steadfast volunteerism. He selflessly gave countless hours of his time to the Extension Society in Pueblo, Colorado – where he met his wife Marilyn - and every parish he joined throughout his entire life.

Being the father of three gave Jim the opportunity to learn about soccer, scouting, and dance - his children's activities - as he was always more interested in doing rather than watching. He had a lot to teach them as well: fishing for the creatures living on the ocean floor, bowling outside the lanes, digging your own swimming pool by hand shovels, using duct tape to extend the life of almost anything, and repairing cars by flashlight in hundreds of driveway repairs.

After being diagnosed with sclerosing cholangitis and waiting years for a transplant, Thanksgiving week 1993 Jim received the gift of life from the family of David Scott Pankow. He ultimately met four recipients of other organs from the same donor. Transplant advocacy was his passion for many years afterwards and he was named the Transplant Recipient International Organization (TRIO) volunteer of the year for the Washington, DC Area in 2000. (Note: If you have not yet registered as an organ donor, please take a moment to consider doing so and informing your family of your decision.)

After nearly 25 years of extended life post-transplant, Jim died at the age of 80 on August 4, 2018 in Dunedin, Florida. He had lived with his family in Largo from 1972 to 1983 and retired to Pinellas County in 2001 after 18 years in Reston, Virginia.

Jim was preceded in death by Marilyn (Guptill) after 47 years together in 2011.

He is survived by Barbara (Lewis), whom he wed in November 2012, his children, Barbara's children, and their families: son David and his daughter Marilyn; son Patrick, his wife Muri, and their children, Angela and Andrew; daughter Mary, and her husband Mark Darnell; step-daughter Amy; step-son Andrew, his wife Mihoko, and their children, Kaitlin and Ian; brother Tom and his wife Joyce; and sister Betty-Jo Dahlman, her husband Jack, and their families.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jim's memory to: TRIO National Capital Chapter ( https://www.trioweb.org , click Support TRIO on the left menu) or the Breast Cancer Research Foundation ( https://give.bcrf.org/give/31404/#!/donation/checkout ). Please include the name "James Dueppen" in the memorial donation.