James R. Kair

April 1, 1958 - March 19, 2022

James R. Kair, 63, of Camanche passed away Saturday, March 19, 2022 at Westwing Place in DeWitt, IA. Funeral Services will be 10:30 a.m., Friday, March 25, 2022 at the Camanche Chapel Snell Zornig Funeral Homes & Crematory, with inurnment at Rose Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be Thursday evening from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. and from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Friday prior to the funeral. James Ronald Kair was born on April 1, 1958 in Clinton, IA, the son of Ronald and Donna (Nissen) Kair. He graduated from Central Community High School in 1976 and worked for 38 years at Dairypak/Evergreen Packaging until it closed. He then worked at the Clinton County Recycling Center for 8 years until present. He married Lora Koehn in Clinton in 1987. Their daughter, Emily, was born June 9, 1990. He later married Pamela Weller Thomas on May 3, 2003 after meeting at Camanche Days. He and his daughter Emily and Pam and her two daughters Sarah and Emily then became a new blended family along with many dogs. Jim loved vintage cars and was the proud owner of a 1967 Bel-Air and a 1967 GMC pickup truck. He loved fishing, scrapping, watching the Cubs, Bears, Hawkeyes, and the History Channel. He also loved gardening and sharing the wealth of produce with everyone. He canned and freeze-packed vegetables that everyone enjoyed. He took pride in keeping his yard beautiful -- his love of growing flowers came from his mother. He would ride his bicycle around Camanche in earlier years, not so much for exercise as for stopping often to converse with those he saw along the way. Jim loved life and enjoyed a good joke. He had many life-long friends and newer ones, and hardly ever met anyone he didn’t befriend. His work ethic was exemplary, and he always helped anyone who needed his assistance. His real pride and joy was his two grandsons, Gunner James Hingtgen and Jack Thomas Jungen. Left to honor his memory are his wife Pamela, daughter Emily (Ben) Hingtgen of Bellevue, IA, step-daughters Sarah Thomas of Clinton, IA, and Emily (Joe Jungen) Thomas of Clinton, IA, grandsons Gunner J. Hingtgen and Jack T. Jungen, sister Debra Kair of Camanche, mother-in-law Myrna Weller of Camanche, sister-in-law Teresa (James) Claeys of Marengo, IA, aunts, uncles, cousins and his canine kids, Sadie and Cooper. He was preceded in death by his parents, an infant brother, niece Jenni Bopes, and father-in-law Dale Weller. Memorials may be made to the family.