In the early morning of May 1, 2024, James "Jim" Steven Christoferson was called home by his Heavenly Father and at First Light, awoke to his beloved wife, Pam, in Heaven.Always exceptionally affectionate, generous, and loving, Jim was born the definition of a Friday's Child in Duluth, Minnesota, on July 16, 1948. He was the youngest of three boys born to William and Angeline Christoferson. Raised in Duluth, Jim began his career in radio at age 14, operating a pirate radio station from a 2-transistor radio in his bedroom and swapping 10-inch tapes of religious shows every Sunday morning on KAOH AM in Duluth.
In high school at Duluth Central, Jim was active in journalism and worked as a waiter at the Pickwick Restaurant & Pub while dreaming of becoming a full-time Disc Jockey in college. Even though they grew up just miles apart, it was not until college at the University of Minnesota Duluth when A Guy Like Jim noticed the Girl in the Pink Sweater. This was when the Story of Jim and Pamela Anne Christoferson began to unfold. On June 27, 1970, their first beautiful chapters began when Jim married Pam and embarked on their faithful and Christ-filled lifetime adventure.
Continuously driven, Jim was a major market DJ in California by the time he was 25, a radio manager at 30, and a radio station owner by 40. His strong entrepreneurial spirit led to many broadcasting endeavors, awards, and accolades. While those things fulfilled him professionally, his true passion was building a strong family with his wife and raising his five children.
Throughout their 47-year marriage, Jim's career in radio took the couple from Duluth to Ft. Worth, to Los Angeles, Monterey, and back to Texas. Amidst all the moves, Jim's charm and self-deprecating humor allowed him to make lifelong friends in each of those cities. Jim and Pam established roots in Abilene and built a home where they raised their family for the last 38 years.
Whether it was managing a radio station, establishing one of his own, serving on countless non-profit boards across Abilene, reading the voice of God at Easter Mass, acting as Eucharistic minister at Holy Family Catholic Church, or attending countless baseball, football, volleyball, debates, concerts, or plays for all those he loved, Jim was the true embodiment of a businessman, family man and servant leader.
Jim's hobbies included reading, walking Maggie endless miles, talking creative with his kids, working on his podcasts, Radio…What Happened? and The Fumbling C's, fantasy football, continuing his work at the Delta Group, helping to plan his high school reunions with friends and fellow Trojans, and endless hours of Beatles Trivia. Jim worked tirelessly to serve his clients, friends, and family. A devoted father, Jim would humbly boast his proudest accomplishment was raising his five children alongside Pam.
He left this earth after a day of laughter, hope, and contentment. Jim is survived and forever missed by his daughter Jennifer Christoferson and partner Robert Olson; son James and wife Lee-Douglass Christoferson; daughter Melissa and husband Christopher Hawn; daughter Patricia and husband Jeff Dressen; son William and wife Laura Christoferson; and grandchildren Jacob and Allie Zindler, Joshua, Lucy, and Samuel Hawn, Kelton Tobin, JR and Kate Dressen, and Brooks Christoferson. He is also survived by his brothers Ole and Bill, their spouses Maureen and Kathy, and in-laws Peter, Kit, Debbie, Mary, and Judy. He was preceded in death by his parents, William and Angeline, and his loving and faithful spouse, Pamela.
The family wishes to extend a heartfelt thank you for the gentle support and love so many have generously offered these last four months. A very special thank you is expressed to Jim's friends at the Delta Group, Townsquare Media, Cumulus Broadcasting, and the amazing care and direction received from Carl, Leticia, and Deanna at Lincare, as well as Shandra Oden and the excellent staff and friends at Kinder Hearts Home Health and Hospice.
A funeral mass will be held at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 8, at Holy Family Catholic Church in Abilene with Rev. Msgr. Frederick Nawarskas co-officiating, directed by Elliot-Hamil Family Funeral Home, 5701 Highway 277 South, Abilene.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Jim's name may be made to The Abilene Arts Alliance, 1101 North 1st Street, Abilene, TX, 79601, The Salvation Army, 1726 Butternut, Abilene, TX 79602, or the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation.
While Jim's passing was unexpected and devastating for all who loved him, he would encourage us not to grieve; but instead to say a prayer, put on a favorite record and sing along or simply call a loved one to check-in. Thanks for listening; we’re signing off for now till we see him again.
It is with a great deal of sadness that I share the news of the passing of one of our classmates. This morning Jim Christoferson passed away due to the affects of an untreatable lung disease.
Even though Jim lived in Texas, he was actively involved in many of our reunions, whether it was creating a video of class memories, or compiling music playlists, or creating the Chugging Along logo for our 50th, or just providing his very dry sense of humor.
He loved our school and he was devoted to our reunions. Interestingly, although Jim was extremely shy, he was a beloved disk jockey for many many years. Without knowing it, we were probably listening to him even when we were in high school.
Over the last 14 years Jim and I have maintained and supported this website. It was a project that we both felt strongly about ... a way for all of us to connect and share memories, pictures and reunion information. After the last reunion he was determined to create music from the 60's that would play in the background whenever someone visited the website. Unfortunately, he started feeling the affects of his disease and lost so much of his energy.
Jim was a devoted family man. He loved his wife, Pam, so very much, but lost her to cancer in 2014. His 5 children will find solace in knowing that they are together once again.
We don't usually devote this space to a eulogy, but this website wouldn't have happened without him. He will be very sadly missed.
Duluth Central relics find a home for all to see
An auction of school memorabilia last summer galvanized alumni of the now defunct school in the center of Duluth.
By Jana Hollingsworth Star Tribune
JUNE 16, 2023 — 9:23AM
DULUTH — Duluth Central High School alumni, clad in letter jackets and sweaters, Trojan red and white and even a marching band uniform, unveiled the new home this week of more than a century of memorabilia from the now defunct school.
A free summer exhibit opened at the Duluth Depot on June 12, the answer to a problem that arose last summer when contents of a school museum were put up for auction.
Alumni of both downtown's Historic Old Central High School and the "new" Central school that replaced it on the hillside gathered to mark the opening, including two former Duluth mayors, Don Ness and Gary Doty.
"For 120 years, Duluth Central was the cornerstone of our community," Ness said, with roughly 40,000 graduates who have "done amazing things within our community, our nation and across the world. … Our goal is to protect, cultivate and celebrate the proud history and ongoing legacy of Duluth Central."
The exhibit is the culmination of efforts begun when news of the auction of items from the historic school's 1890s museum was announced. The original Central, more than 130 years old and on the National Register of Historic Places, is being converted into apartments. There was no longer space for the museum contents, and the Duluth school district said it didn't own the items and did not have space in its new administrative building under construction. It vacated the building, most recently used for administration, in recent years.
A new alumni association formed last summer to collect and preserve items from the schools.
The exhibit in the Depot's Fesler Gallery consists of mostly memorabilia from the original Central, but some important pieces from the now demolished new Central are included, such as a slice of the gym floor, letters spelling out the name that were once affixed to the building and the cornerstone engraved with 1971, the year the school opened. Its last class graduated in 2011, as part of the Duluth school district's massive building consolidation and construction plan, known as the Red Plan.
There was much controversy surrounding the decision to close Central, considered by many as the heart of the city, both for its longevity and its geographic location.
"There is probably nothing more historic in the city than Old Duluth Central," said Doty, a 1966 graduate of the school. "Everybody knows somebody who went to Central."
Notable graduates include Michael Baker, drummer and musical director for Whitney Houston, Minnesota politician Sam Solon, civil rights activist Ethel Ray Nance and Don LaFontaine, a voice actor who recorded film trailers.
The collection will go back into storage at the end of the season, but the Duluth Central Alumni Association hopes to have the exhibit shown annually during the summer, when reunions are largely held. Only about 20% of the collection, which continues to grow as alumni donate to it, is represented at the Depot, Ness said.
Alumnus Gary Lundstrom, who designed the exhibit, said it's full of ways for visitors to make personal connections to the past.
"Despite the recent blows that our school had in these last years, [the association] is committed to making sure the memories of our school aren't fading," he said.
Jana Hollingsworth is a reporter covering a range of topics in Duluth and northeastern Minnesota for the Star Tribune. Sign up to receive the new North Report newsletter.
Many of you may not know this, but our dear old Central building is being converted to apartments and the "new" Central has been demolished. The vesitges of our high school life are being somewhat erased from Duluth.
Former Duluth Mayor, Don Ness, has formed a group called the "Duluth Central Alumni Association". He has a Facebook site with that name. If you are on Facebook, please visit the site and follow along. We need to keep our high school legacy strong!
Creation of the Duluth Central Alumni Association
A small group of Duluth Central Alumni have been meeting over the course of the past six months to establish a new alumni focused non-profit organization focused on preserving and promoting the legacy of Duluth Central High School and its alumni.
There are no shortage of exciting ideas for how Central alumni can work together to ensure that the Trojan spirit lives on. We will need your help to bring these ideas (and others) to life.
We are heartbroken to see the Old Central Building sold and the New Central Building demolished. So while we are still in the very early stages of creating this organization, we felt it important to start bringing fellow Central Trojans together for this purpose.
Please help us spread the word and to encourage as many Central Alumni to sign up for this group - in the coming months we will share more details on how folks can get involved and support these efforts.
Please visit his site on Facebook:
Duluth Central Alumni Association
We have updated the "In Memory" pages with the names of all classmates who have passed away, that we are aware of. If you know of any other classmates who should be added to our "In Memory" section, please let us know. Thank you!
Also, if you want to log in and have forgotten your password, just send us a quick note on the "ContactUs" link on the left and we will resend it to you.
