It is with the saddest of hearts that I am informing you of the passing of Jim LaPrairie. Jim waged a valiant effort against his cancer but lost that battle Tuesday evening surrounded by his family.
Anyone that has spent even a moment or two with him already knows Jim was an upstanding person. I first met him in 1979 working for AB Dick, he had just completed his term of service with the Navy where he was working on presses aboard an aircraft carrier. I’ve had the pleasure and good fortune to have spent the last thirty-one years working very closely with Jim. I realize now what a blessing every single one of those days was. There is not enough time or room to list all that I have learned from him about being a good human being. I will always remember him as the most kind, honest and caring person that I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Everyone else always came first with Jim, right to the very end.
All of us at Mid-State Litho will miss him dearly, he treated everyone here the same way he treated his customers, with respect and dignity. I will follow with funeral service arrangemets as we are given them. Thank you to all of you, he loved the work he did and you, the customers he served. He was very touched by the outpouring of caring and well wishes many of you had for him over this last year. He wanted nothing more than to retire calling on all of you. We have all suffered a great loss. Please honor Jim with hard work, dedication to your family, honesty and true caring for your fellow man, the same way he did.
Douglas Barrett