Mr. James (Jim) Noble, 72, of Galesburg, passed away peacefully at 9:38 p.m. on Monday, August 10, at OSF St. Mary Medical Center following a long illness.
He was born in St. Paul, MN on November 21, 1953, to William and Dolores Noble. He married Karen (Lauver) Jones of Galesburg in 1978 and they had three children.
Surviving are his wife Karen (div. 2025), his daughter Samantha Carr of Galesburg, Joni (Chris) Liljedahl of Bethalto, IL, and Bryant (Jamie) Noble of Morgantown, WV. He had 7 grandchildren, Seth Carr (deceased), Kayliss Carr, Trevor Carr, Adelaide Liljedahl, William Liljedahl, Phineas Noble, and Naomi Noble. He was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Kathy and brother Tom.
Jim grew up in the St. Anthony Park area of St. Paul and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Art Education. He worked briefly as a salesman for a small art paint company in Minneapolis before being hired by Blick Art Materials in Galesburg in 1977. That’s where he met and married Karen, who also worked at Blick. He wore multiple hats for the company before retiring in 2015: retail store clerk, buyer, merchandiser, bidder, and product information specialist. But the position he most enjoyed was as representative of the company at trade shows and teacher conferences where he met and talked shop with artists, art teachers, and competitors all across the country. While not being a practicing artist himself, he dabbled in just about everything and learned how “stuff works”. He could fix things around the house and build them, too, as long as there were two-by-fours involved!
He was a Boy Scout in his youth and later became a leader of Troop 226 during the years that Bryant was a member, and they went on many campouts together. Bryant is an outdoorsman to this day, largely due to his dad’s encouragement. The whole family enjoyed trips to Minnesota in the summer and at Christmastime.
Most notably, Jim was a collector of many things: antique radios and music players from the earliest Edison models to cassette, CD and digital — “Alexa! Play Hank Williams”. Country Western was his favorite genre. Other hobbies included tinkering with his 1966 Mercuries and later 1980s model Oldsmobile station wagons. New cars did not interest him in the least.
He was an active member of the First Church of the Open Bible (Radiant Worship Center) for 40 years and currently of the Galesburg Covenant Church.
As Jim requested, cremation will be accorded. A private memorial service will be held at a later date. Jim’s ashes are being sent to his family’s burial plot in St. Paul, MN. For those who would wish to remember him in a special way, donations may be sent to: Galesburg Rescue Mission and Women’s Shelter 547 N. Farnham St. Galesburg, IL 61401. Hinchliff-Pearson-West Funeral Directors and Cremation Services Galesburg Chapel is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences may be shared at www.h-p-w.com.
