James D. Bristol

A joint memorial service and memory sharing time for Jim and Kelly Bristol of Waukon, IA, will be held Saturday, April 8, 2017, starting at 2:00 pm at Martin Funeral Home in Waukon. A visitation will be held one hour before services.

James D. Bristol, 97, who lived and practiced law in Waukon, Iowa, for more than 60 years, died Sunday, November 13, 2016, at his retirement home in Burbank, California.

Jim was born in Onslow, Iowa, on January 4, 1919, but grew up in the 1920's and 30's in Clinton, Iowa. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, in 1941. At the University he was a member of a fraternity, a writer and the assistant sports editor of The Daily Iowan newspaper. He also met his wife of 53 years, Jeanne (Kelly) Kellogg. They were married at the Kellogg farm in Percival, Iowa, on August 21, 1941.

Shortly thereafter came the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the commencement of America's entry into WWII.  Jim served in the Air Force as a First Lieutenant in the 482 ^nd Bomb Squadron as a radar navigator with 26 missions in B-29's. He was stationed on Tinian Island in the Marianas, flying over Japan, Iwo Jima and the occupied islands of the South Pacific, receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and the Air Medal with two bronze oak leaf clusters.

After the war Jim returned to Omaha, Nebraska, where Kelly was living and working while he was overseas. He attended Creighton University Law School while working as well, graduating with his law degree in the spring of 1948.

He desired to live again in Iowa, so after taking and passing the Iowa Bar Exam he was fortunate enough to learn of a possible job as an associate with an attorney in Allamakee County. This began the start of his career in Waukon with his legal mentor and friend, Arthur H. Jacobson.

He truly enjoyed the practice of law, his fellow attorneys, and especially working with his 60 years' worth of clients and their families. He also gave of his time and expertise to the overall Iowa legal profession, serving on the State Board of Governors of the Iowa Bar Association in the 1980's and for many years as a member and eventual Chairman of the Iowa Board of Law Examiners.

Jim was always very happy and invested in Waukon. He was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church in Waukon from his arrival in 1948, a longtime member of the Kiwanis Club and of the Waukon Golf and Country Club from 1949. All of his memberships, committees, local volunteering, and associations are too numerous to mention; but Waukon and Allamakee County and everyone in it remained close to his heart.

Jim was preceded in death by his wife Jeanne (Kelly) in 1995 and his son Larsh in 2006. He is survived by his daughter Kappy of Los Angeles, California.