James "Jim" Edward Presba

James Edward (Jim) Presba, a lifelong resident of Colorado died on January 16, 2023 at the age of 73. He was born in Nebraska in 1949 but moved to Colorado as a baby and always considered Colorado his home throughout his life. He loved Colorado's rich history and spent his childhood and adolescence camping, exploring Colorado's ghost towns and “Jeeping” on Colorado's many mountain back roads with his family and friends. Jim moved to Los Angeles in his early adulthood and was a professional musician, touring both nationally and internationally. His gifted musical talent also allowed him to pursue a career as a studio guitarist, bassist and vocalist in Los Angeles before moving back to Colorado in the mid-70's where he completed his college degree and graduated from Regis College, now Regis University, in Technical Management. He spent most of his adult life involved in business management, recruiting, teaching and sales where he received numerous awards and recognition for his accomplishments as well as earning many professional designations. His outgoing and charismatic personality afforded him a large circle of friends gained during his varied lifetime adventures. Throughout his life he remained involved in a diverse variety of volunteer activities and independent study projects. He was an elder in his church and a volunteer reader and director for Recording for The Blind & Dyslexic. Jim retired at the age of 50 and spent his retirement years in a number of what he lovingly called his hobby jobs, some of which included time dedicated to special needs passenger assistance for a Denver airline, Training Director and co-owner of a scuba shop, a Sergeant-At-Arms for the Colorado State Senate and as a firearms expert and arms appraiser at Cabelas. He additionally was actively involved in the scuba diving community where he achieved the rank as a PADI IDC Staff Instructor and was a member of a number other PADI affiliated programs, teaching and certifying divers at all skill levels as well as being a diver and educator in the predator exhibits at Denver's Ocean Journey Aquarium. Jim's joy was spending time with his family and closest friends. He was a voracious reader and lover of words and language. He also loved travel, music, theater, songwriting, discussing ideas, target-shooting, fly-fishing, baseball, animals, and his beloved dogs. He is survived by his wife and soulmate of 53 years, Linda Losasso Presba, his daughter, Kacy Presba and two grandchildren, Morgan Beach and James Vincent Presba. He was preceded in death by his son, James Tucker Presba and his parents, James Preston and Alice Williams Presba. A private celebration of Jim's life was held.