Jimmie Godsey

Many knew him as Jimmie, others knew him as Jim but in my family, he was known as Papa.

Papa was born in Indiana as Jimmie Lee Walace and shortly thereafter moved to Colorado. When Papa was around 8 years old his father had moved on and his mother and baby brother were very poor, so Papa was moved to large horse ranch. Originally, he was given a dollar a week for collecting the eggs and milking the cow which he gave to his mother. This habit continued well into his adult life. While at the ranch he learned to ride, rope and break horses. This is where Papa became the cowboy many of us knew him as.

When he turned 18, he joined the army as Jimie Lee Godsey. He fought in the Philippines during WW2, then to Japan and eventually to Lowry Air Base where he was honorably discharged. During that whole time in the service, he kept one dollar and the rest was sent to his mother. That's the kind of guy he always was.

For the next 18 years I have not known a lot about his life, because he never wanted to talk about it. I do know he married twice, had a daughter and they are all estranged from him.

When I was 14 years old, he started to date my mother who had been widowed 4 years earlier. Papa had known my mother when he was a kid and secretly had a crush on her when they were both kids. I do have a memory of him giving me a 22 caliber rifle which I loved and my mother disapproved of, but it did help us to bond.

In 1965 Papa and my mother got married. She was the woman of his dreams. Later in life after my mother passed, I heard him say many times when you have had the best you don't need the rest.

My mother was a receptionist at a doctor's office when they were married. We did not have a lot of money, so when Papa joined the family I felt like we were rich. All a sudden we were eating steak and had bacon for breakfast and less tuna casseroles.

I do want to tell you one story. When I was 15, Papa helped me buy a 55 Chevy for $135. The help he gave was spending hours negotiating with the guy to get the price down from $175 to the $135 I had. I think it cost Papa a 6-pack.

Anyway, when I got home with the car he said, "I think you need to rebuild the engine so you will know how it works." Of course, I knew nothing about an engine but, he said he would supervise. Whenever I needed help, he would come out to the garage and say hand me a screwdriver. He then would use the screwdriver to point at what needed to come apart next. Once I handed it to him and it was covered in grease. He looked at me in an angry way, raised his voice and said this if filthy. You need to take better care of your tools. From that day and for the rest of my life, he had impressed me to take care of my stuff.

My mother passed away in 2005 and five years later he moved into Legacy apartments. He lived there for 15 years. His smile, good nature, and sense of humor helped him to make lots of friends. He loved all his friends. And they loved him.

We are having a memorial celebration at 10AM on Memorial Day (Monday, May 25th, 2026) at Legacy Senior Apartments, because that is where all his friends live. Also, the celebration will start off with a biscuit and gravy breakfast, Papa's favorite.