Deacon Jim was born on September 12,1949 in Troy NY. Lived and raised in Cohoes NY. He entered the US Air Force in 1969 and served his country for 26 years as a Transportation Specialist and a Special Agent assigned to the AF Office of Special Investigations; specializing in fraud, and counterintelligence investigations. He retired from the AF in 1995. He married his bride Kathleen in 1973 and he has three daughters and two grandchildren. He was ordained a Permanent Deacon for the Dioceses of Pensacola-Tallahassee by Bishop John Ricard in May 2000 and subsequently assigned to the Parish of Christ Our Redeemer, Niceville and as Associate Director of Diocese Office of Liturgy.