James Stuart Dewey

On August 23, 2022, Jim Dewey was called home at the age of 85 from complications following open heart surgery. We have lost, and heaven has gained a great husband, father, grand-father, great-grandfather, friend, and Catholic Deacon.

Jim was born in Oakland, California on September 18, 1936. He grew up in Piedmont, California  and attended Piedmont High School where he played baseball. He found his sweetheart of 64 years, Sharon Lynn Ulm, and they were married on June 7, 1958 at St. Leo the Great Catholic Church in Oakland California. They relocated to Southern California to join the aerospace boom and to raise a family.

Jim worked full time for Autonetics in Anaheim as a software and hardware engineer while attending school to complete his bachelor’s degree at Cal State Fullerton in Mathematics.  In 1967, Jim and Sharon moved their family of five young children to Goleta, California, after taking a job with AC Delco Electronics. Their sixth child was added to their number in 1968.  Later, Jim was offered a job with Burroughs Corporation in Goleta, and worked as a manager there until the Goleta facility closed in 1981. 

With a servant leader’s heart, Jim was very involved with every community he lived in. He was a part of the Boy Scouts of America program for 15 years with his boys, where two of them became Eagle Scouts. He was most proud of receiving the St. George award which recognizes the recipient’s outstanding contribution to the spiritual development of the Catholic youth in the program of the Boy Scouts of America.

Jim helped lead a youth drug abuse resistance program called “Operation Reach” in Goleta. In March of 1972, Jim Dewey was honored for that effort with the Goleta Valley Golden Deed Award.

In 1981, Jim began working for Xerox Corporation in El Segundo, California. This meant relocating to Lomita, California. While living in Lomita, Jim became an advocate for the underprivileged – especially senior citizens. In 1989, the mobile home park where they lived was being sold to developers, displacing many of the seniors who lived there. Jim and Sharon went door to door to rally support from the community and made multiple visits to the city council to represent the interest of the park residents. The park became a senior resident mobile home park through Jim and Sharon’s efforts. The residents were able to move back into their homes in the Grandview Senior Mobile Home Park (Los Angeles Times, 1989).

After Jim’s retirement from Xerox Corporation, Jim and Sharon built their mountain home in Caliente, California—the Piutes. He and Sharon joined St. Jude’s Catholic Church in Wofford Heights, California, where he served as an ordained Catholic Deacon. He dove into the work of serving others. He and Sharon began ministering at the Kern County Juvenile Camp Erwin Owen, bringing hope and encouragement to the boys there for over 20 years.  Jim never missed an opportunity to be of service to others.

In 2021 Jim and Sharon took a 3-month cross-country trip in their motorhome. They visited many beautiful places and saw friends and family along the way.

Jim became a Deacon in January of 2003 and served until his passing. Jim was predeceased in death by his parents, Tom and Marcella, his older brother Tom, and his younger brother, John.

He is survived by his loving wife, Sharon; 6 children, 16 grandchildren, and 19 great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to St. Jude Catholic Church toward the Deacon James Dewey Fund.

The Funeral Mass will be held on Saturday, September 24, 2022 at 11:00 am at St. Jude Catholic Church, 86 Nellie Dent Dr., Wofford Heights, CA 93285. The Rosary starts at 10:30 am, Mass at 11 am, and the reception at noon in Mercy Hall.

Burial will be at a later date in Potter Valley, California.