James Hiatt
James (Jim) Leroy Hiatt was born in Roseburg, Oregon on February 21, 1937 to Leroy and Cleo (Weddle) Hiatt who were long time Roseburg residents. He grew up in what is now the Floed-Lane House, a Douglas County museum. Jim had lived in the Walnut Creek, CA area since 1965.
Jim graduated from Roseburg High School in 1955, and went on to earn bachelor’s (1961) and master’s (1964) degrees in natural resources from Oregon State University.
He married Betty Churchill in Roseburg in 1958. Son Steven was born in Corvallis, Oregon, and son Donald was born in Walla Walla, Washington. After the end of Jim’s first marriage, he met Linda Kammerud at the Lafayette Orinda Presbyterian Church (LOPC) Singleship Group. Jim married Linda in 1984 and became a second father to her daughters, Katrina and Jessica.
While attending Oregon State, Jim spent summers working for two county road departments, which accentuated his appreciation for the outdoors. He was employed as a reservoir ranger for the Corps of Engineers in Kennewick and Walla Walla, WA, from 1962 to 1965. Jim then worked as a recreation planner for the National Park Service in San Francisco from 1965 until his retirement in 1995, a career he truly enjoyed.
Jim’s life was enriched by many activities including travel, fishing, tennis, hiking, skiing, reading, and spending time with family and friends. His favorite activities in his youth were hiking and exploring the Umpqua National Forest and fishing on the North and main Umpqua Rivers. He had a lifelong love for his home town of Roseburg, although he hadn’t lived there since 1958. He played tennis with Pleasant Hill Tennis Club for many years, learned to ski at age 40, and got his private pilot’s license at age 42. Jim volunteered at Project Second Chance, Pleasant Hill, where he taught English as a second language. Jim was instrumental in establishing the Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) Support Group at LOPC.
Jim passed away peacefully at the age of 88 on Friday, March 28, 2025. Jim was preceded in death by his parents Roy and Cleo Hiatt, his sister Yvonne Ward, and brother-in-law Warren Ward. He is survived by his wife Linda and his sons Steve (Clare) Hiatt of Auburn, and Don (Sheryll) Hiatt of Murphys; step-daughters Katrina (Kevin) Kammerud-Brown of Galt and Jessica (Paul) Kammerud of Salt Lake City, UT; grandchildren Kristen (Riley) Hiatt of Seattle, WA, Amy Hiatt of San Luis Obispo, McKenna Brown of Galt, and Trevor Brown of Los Angeles; nephew Mark (Connie) Ward of San Diego and niece Julie Proctor of Willis, TX, and their children; sister-in-law Kennlyn (Steve) Vernier of Blanchardville, WI and their children; many cousins who live in Oregon; and his beloved cat, Pepper.
If there were a legacy Jim could leave with others, it’s to enjoy and respect the outdoors and to be a good spouse, parent, and friend.
Jim was a member of LOPC since 2011, where he served as a Deacon and a Stephen Minister. A celebration of life will be held at Lafayette Orinda Presbyterian Church at 1:00 PM on May 31, 2025 with reception to follow. The service will be live-streamed at https://lopc.org/watch. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to LOPC, Deacons Fund, 49 Knox Dr., Lafayette, CA 94549 or Meals on Wheels Diablo Region, 1300 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek, CA 94598 https://donate.mowdr.org/give/335613/#!/donation/checkout