James”Jim” A. Wiese
James”Jim” A. Wiese
Iowa City
James A. “Jim” Wiese died peacefully at home in Iowa City on November 5, 2024, surrounded by family after a brave battle with cancer.
His remains will be cremated and interred in the family plot in Schaller, Iowa.
Services will be held at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Iowa City on Saturday, November 16th. Visitation at 9:30am. Funeral at 11am, followed by lunch in the church.
Jim Wiese was born in Manning, Iowa, on November 11, 1936, to George and Wilma (Popp) Wiese.
Hard work, faith and a “can do” attitude shaped his childhood in Schaller, Iowa, known ‘far and wide’ as “the Popcorn Capitol of the World.”
He worked morning milk and paper routes. He doted on his two brothers and two sisters. He was a three-sport athlete in high school, but his special love was baseball, especially his beloved “Schaller Red Caps,” and the 1948 Cardinals. He graduated valedictorian of his high school class and received a scholarship to the University of Iowa for paper carriers of the Des Moines Register.
Jim came to the University of Iowa as a freshman in 1954 with two golf clubs and a pool cue, and he began a lifelong love affair with the institution that shaped his life. He pledged the Delta Upsilon fraternity, forging lasting friendships, and starting a tradition of UI Homecoming attendance that lasted 70 years.
He met the love of his life, Nancy, a “big city girl” from Davenport, at a fraternity mixer, and they were together for 69 years. She loved him from that first night because he made her laugh.
Jim graduated from UI in 1958 with a degree in accounting and joined Arthur Andersen and Company in Chicago. He became one of the firm’s youngest partners in 1969, building a 34-year career as an audit partner in Chicago and Cleveland specializing in the manufacturing industry. The firm’s informal motto: “Think straight, talk straight,” matched his values.
Jim lived by the precept “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” He spent his life looking for opportunities to help other people, and he took them when he found them. It was his “ministry.”
He assumed leadership of numerous civic, church and community affairs in every chapter of his life. He had a special interest in disability services based on his love for his sister who had Down Syndrome. He served on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Mental Health Association, the Illinois Mental Health Association, and Youth Enrichment Services and Neighborhood Community Association of Cleveland. He served as President of Valley Lutheran Church in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and he and his wife Nancy were strong supporters of Chagrin Falls Park Community Center.
Jim’s special mission was the University of Iowa. Not long after graduation, he began recruiting Iowa graduates to work for Arthur Anderson. For twenty years he organized annual giving by the firm’s Hawkeye Alumni, increasing their philanthropy by 1000% in that period. He served on the Professional Accounting Council of the Henry B. Tippie College of Business, and the Steering Committee for the Pappajohn Business Building.
Also in Iowa City, he founded and led the Hawkeye Track Club, supported the Afro American Cultural Center, and Women’s Athletics, and he served Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in many capacities.
He proudly served on the Board of Directors of the University of Iowa Alumni Association, serving as President in 1993.
Jim was named the UI Outstanding Accounting Alumnus in 1991, and just a week before his passing, he received the University of Iowa’s Hickerson Distinguished Alumni Award, which was among the proudest moments of his life.
Jim’s three children, niece, nephew and grandson carry on his legacy as Hawkeye alumni.
Jim Wiese loved people. He expected – and he found – the best in them. He loved to laugh and to make others laugh with him. He built friendships across the aisle and across the spectrum. He had an encyclopedic memory for limericks – appropriate for almost every subject or occasion – although almost none fit for print. Jim cried at weddings. He hugged people and he could set up a punchline that would bring a room to its knees, his wife Nancy sitting beside him with a sly smile. Late into life, he and Nancy were still the last to leave a party, and people were sad to see them go.
Jim Wiese lived life richly and he was richly blessed. “Onward Ever, Backward Never.”
Jim is survived by his wife Nancy, daughter Kate (John) Gluba of Iowa City, sons Andy Wiese of San Diego, California, and Edward (Suzanne) Wiese of Crownsville, Maryland, plus five grandchildren, nieces and a nephew and cousins.
Online condolences may be sent to Jim’s family through Gay and Ciha Funeral and Cremation Services at www.gayandciha.com.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in support of the Ted Wheeler Scholarship Fund or the Dan and Mary Collins, Accounting PhD Fellowship fund, to the University of Iowa Center for Advancement, P.O. Box 4550, Iowa City, IA 52244-4550. On the memo line or on a note attached, please indicate “Gift in memory of James A. Wiese.” Credit card gifts may be made at givetoiowa.org.
