James Valov

James "Jim" Valov, 60, of Columbia Falls, passed away unexpectedly in his sleep on Aug. 8, 2011, in Seattle, Wash. Cardiac failure was suspected.

Jim was born Sept. 22, 1950, in Alhambra, Calif. to second-generation Russian parents. Jim's father, Jack, a leading industrial engineer for the state of Calif., co-authored the first CAL OSHA program, later adopted by FED OSHA.

In Orinda, Calif., Jim learned to sail large sailboats in San Francisco Bay. Upon the death of his father, his mother moved the family to Sydney, Australia. Jim completed a four-year "indentured" apprentice program in auto mechanics at the Seaforth Technical College in New South Wales in 1970.

It was in Australia that Jim fell in love with racing, beginning with motocross. On his return to America, he took passage on a frigate in 1974 to the Panama Canal, bought an inexpensive motorcycle and drove alone up through Central America. He made it across the border with 10 cents in his pocket.

In San Diego, he worked at Woody's shop on imports and exotics, but spent all of his spare time racing motocross and desert racing. He was probably most proud of entering and finishing the Baha 1,000 on a motorcycle and the three years he entered and finished the grueling Tecate 500 Enduro, finishing 11th in the open class in 1980.

Jim met his wife of 33 years, Natalie McRae, in San Diego, while she was at UCSD. They married in 1986 and had two daughters, Michelle and Jamie. They owned and ran Sun Performance, an import repair shop, for seven years. The family moved to Montana in 1994 to Whitefish and eventually settled in Columbia Falls. Jim worked and opened CA Automotive and Exhaust in Whitefish for more than 10 years.

Jim loved to ski and before long became an active volunteer for the last 15 years in most all of Big Mountain Ski Resort's racing events. Jim also loved to camp, fish and hunt and never missed a season. He also volunteered as a youth soccer referee for the USSF for three years, coached for Columbia Falls Youth Soccer and was an active father in all of his daughter's 4H, Band Club and varsity soccer events.

Jim loved life and was a kind and loving person. He loved to talk to almost anyone. He was always going out of his way to help someone in need. Jim was very fortunate to see both of his daughters happily married in his last year.

He is predeceased by his father Jack and his brother Greg Valov.

Jim is survived by his spouse Natalie; daughters Michelle Kropp and husband Kevin, and Jamie Nedved and husband Casey; mother Francis Valov; sisters Anne Sloan and Debra Valov; brother Chris Valov; and seven nephews and nieces. He will be missed greatly by his family, his friends, his customers, his co-volunteers and his devoted dog Bode.

Memorial services will be held at Fairview Cemetery in Columbia Falls at noon on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2011, followed by a celebration of his life at 1 p.m. at Glacier River Ranch, on U.S. 2 in Coram. For directions, contact Natalie Valov at 471-3953. Everyone is welcome to attend. People are asked to come as they are, as Jim would have appreciated that.