James Page Blaisdell Jr. ’60
James Page Blaisdell Jr. ’60 passed away at home in Gardnerville, California, May 24 due to complications from a brain bleed. He was born February 12, 1938, in Oakland, California. Jim was the 1956 valedictorian at Carson Valley High School and at Dartmouth was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon. He graduated with honors with a major in history in 1960. After three years of military service he earned a master’s in history from the University of Wyoming, where he met his future wife, Iris. They shared a mutual interest in Western history and were married August 17, 1964. He attended the University of California, Davis, where he earned a master’s in agricultural economics in 1969 and a degree in international business administration from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona. Various jobs with Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, and Farm Credit Services followed. These assignments allowed him to travel abroad, including working for USAID in Kazakhstan and Paraguay and living two years in Quito, Ecuador, advising in agriculture and becoming fluent in Spanish. Adventures in travel, photography, reading, horseback riding, and mountain and rock climbing were his passions. He was always interested in youth and spent a year after retirement as a kindergarten teacher for bilingual students in Mecca, California. Jim was devoted to sons James and Kevin and his grandchildren. He will be missed for his zest for life, humanitarian interests, and connections to the people of Latin America.
