James Bruce Dorey
James Bruce Dorey was born in Carmel, CA, on October 6, 1952, the third son of Glen and Thelma Dorey. He was mostly known as Jim but was called ‘The Boater’ by family and some close friends. He is survived by his wife Nancy, their son Scott and his two brothers, Bill and John.
When Jim was four, his family moved from Monterey to Watsonville, CA. He graduated from Watsonville High School and attended community college. Jim met Nancy Lauer on a trip to Santa Barbara on August 6,1976, and they were married on July 1, 1978. They made Santa Barbara their home in 1985. Their son, Scott, was born in 1988.
Jim’s childhood included fishing and hunting and getting into mischief with his best friend to this day, Antone Cernokus. He was always very clever. At 14, Jim converted the family lawn mower into a go-cart to race around the neighborhood. When his mother said she needed more storage, Jim built her cabinets on three walls of the family garage. At age 18, Jim moved into a quaint house on nearby Kelly Lake where he salvaged an old boat hull. He bought fiberglass fabric and restored the boat for water skiing. Unfortunately, the old hull was not as strong as he anticipated, and upon crossing over a wake on its initial voyage, the boat hull cracked and sank to the bottom of the lake. Hence, his nickname became, ‘The Boater’. Jim continued to water ski behind more seaworthy Boston Whalers. He was also an excellent snow skier, and taught his wife, son, nieces, friends and friend’s children, to water and snow ski.
Jim was very industrious, constantly engaged in home projects. He and Nancy built a house in Prunedale, CA and meticulously landscaped more than an acre of the property. Nancy recalls that he came home from work one Friday, with his pickup full of material and built the greenhouse of her dreams, with pure love. It was exactly what she would have designed had she ever thought of asking for a greenhouse.
Jim loved to tinker, working in his shop in the evenings to decompress from the day’s work. He saw a junked brand new Toyota Land Cruiser that had rolled, and bought it. The top was totaled, but the rest of the car not in bad shape. He turned it into a custom convertible with a fancy roll bar wrapped with rope. He painted it bright yellow and named it the ‘Hula Cruiser’. It became a perfect weekend cruiser. The amazing thing about his projects is he would get an idea, get what he needed, and complete the project in less time than the normal person would spend researching how to go about doing such a task.
He was a caring and attentive father, raising his son to adopt the morals and values he was raised with and teaching many lessons along the way — a firm hand shake, honesty, tenacity, respect, and to “never lose your golden ball,” a euphemism for staying young at heart and to enjoy the time you have. Enjoy he did. As an avid outdoorsman he took his son on countless trips up and down California and beyond, instilling a love for the outdoors and exploration that will remain with Scott forever. When Scott was in preschool, Jim took his little bike and put a 3-speed hub on it, so he could keep up with his mom and dad on bike rides. He guided his son to build his own pinewood derby race car for Cub Scouts. It was not the best looking, but it was the fastest! On a camping trip to Morro Bay during Easter vacation, Jim brought 2 big bags of candy, hid it all around their campsite, and invited all the kids in the campground to come for an Easter egg hunt. He was full of compassion until the very end, ensuring that he provided for his family and always reminding his son that “Mom and Dad are always here, to love and support you.”
Besides home and car projects, Jim loved the outdoors. He liked camping, bicycling and road trips to national parks and other special destinations. His travels took him to Tahiti, Patagonia, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and many US states. He liked to fish, especially fly fishing, and was always thoroughly prepared. If a traveling companion forgot something, Jim had a spare. If the weather changed or different fish were biting, Jim always had what was necessary. He may not have been a world class angler, but he had great fish stories – most of them true! There are more than one witness to the time he cast out a line with a few hooks with worms, snagged another line, which had snagged a third line, yielding thirteen trout in one cast. Years later, when rafting down the Truckee River, he saw a large fish. He leaned out of the boat and caught the eighteen-inch trout with his bare hands! Life was fun with Jim around. His wonderful sense of humor and funny stories will be missed by all who knew him.
For a profession Jim was an estimator & project manager, building driveways for the rich and famous, and other custom work for well-known residents in Montecito, Hope Ranch, and the Santa Ynez Valley. He sought out samples of what he called ‘Exotic Rock’ and would educate owners and landscape architects on how the different rocks would compact and drain, and match the color scheme and project design. His clients wanted perfection and he delivered perfection, developing many loyal customers who would recommend Jim to their friends. He earned a reputation that led to jobs as far south as the Western White House in San Clemente.
With courage, grace and dignity, Jim slowly declined from a rare autoimmune disease, and after a long battle, passed away on September 27th.
Donations can be made in Jim’s honor, to the Autoimmune Encephalitis Alliance, Alzheimer’s Association, or the Parkinson’s Association.
Jim’s family will host a Celebration of Life in Jim’s honor at a time and place to be announced later.