Obituary for James "Jim" Carroll Hobbs
James (Jim) Carroll Hobbs
May 3, 1956 - January 3, 2020
James (Jim) Carroll Hobbs was born on May 3, 1956 at Ladd Airforce Base in Fairbanks, Alaska to Jim Russell and Myrna Dennis (Counts).
Jim grew up and went to school in Hudson and Lufkin, Texas.
He joined the Army in 1974 and per his request was transferred to Anchorage after Boot Camp. , Texas and entered the military at 17 years old. He later became a flight attendant and made his way to Maui, Hawaii and got his first job at Robaire's where he met his best friend, Gordon Jim who unbeknownst to him would become his future father in law. He was going through life changing events which GODS path lead him and had fell in love at first sight with his wife Suzanne (Suzi).
They married in 1984 (35 years) in Wailuku, Maui. Their family includes three married children, and nine grand kids.
Jim Hobbs was a lifelong adventurer, entrepreneur, waterman, utility helicopter pilot, boat captain, cowboy, artist and protector of his family. Watching Jim fly was like watching a hurricane with him as the center, man vs machine, controlled chaos in its most beautiful form. He was never afraid of hard work where he had accomplished very successful multifaceted careers. Jim always loved to help others; he would give the shirt off his back for anyone.
He visited Hawaii while working as a flight attendant with Wein Air Alaska and after a few trips and finding Maui, he never left again. He lived with Filipino families in Kahului and Kihei where he discovered local food and learned how to fight chickens.
He waited tables in the best restaurants in Maui at night so that during the day he could surf, windsurf and commercial fish.
One day his wife Suzi said she wanted to be a EMT and he said he wanted to fly helicopters so they did and their professional careers carried their family.
He became the principal investor of The Limo Company in 2004 that has become a successful business.
After years of commuting back and forth from Hawaii to the mainland as a contract helicopter pilot for logging, seismic, search and rescue, heli-rappel crew flying, and fire suppression, Jim decided to lease his own helicopter and in 2009 he started his own helicopter company called Airborne Aviation when The Nature Conservatory on Kauai hired him for a 3 month contract. That was the start of relationships with multiple private, state and federal agencies. Airborne successfully grew in a elite competitive market in the specialty of helicopter utility work. Airborne Aviation was the first company to be awarded the contract for Kauai County's first and only search and rescue helicopter service. To this day the company holds the contract and business continues to grow in the hands of new owners that took over the business in 2017.
As the company and relationships grew in Kauai, Jim was reintroduced to his love of horses and when his friend put a rope in his hand and showed him how fun it would be to catch a cow with a rope, in true Jim fashion he put all he had into learning this new team sport and ended up with 4-6 horses and 60 head of cattle.
Jim was the fun "OPA" as he was lovingly called, a nod to his first helicopter N520PA. With him there was adventure. He didn't embrace the technological world of computer games and social media but
instead took his children and grandchildren to the outdoors where real life lessons presented themselves. They surfed, camped, hunted, on and off shore fished, rode horses, and flew in helicopters. His most recent adventure with the grandchildren and nephews was to bury a carcass of a small critter and call it an "archeological dig".
In the last chapter of his life his passion for art was reignited and he spent many of his days perfecting his painting and drawing, by studying the greats and challenging himself. His art reflected a lifetime of memories that he related to, as he could not spend time at the canvas without feeling an emotional connection.
He is survived by his beloved wife Suzi Hobbs, children Ikaika (Dori) Hobbs, Sasha (Cody) Nakamura and Niko (Chante) Hobbs. The grandkids, in order of age are Koa, Ke'Oli, Noah, Evalyn, Harper, Keao, Isabella, Kaleo and Knox. His Father James Russell (Donna) and mother Myrna Dennis. Siblings are Carol (Ray) Preston, Jeff (Suzanne) Hobbs, Nancy (Randy) Smith, Robert Russell, Catherine Henry, and Michael Russell, and numerous extended family members.
A celebration of his life will be at Hope Chapel Kihei on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020: visitation 9:30am-10:15am; service 10:15am - 11:00am; lunch 11:30am-12:30pm
In lieu of flowers, Jim's family has requested that donations be made to Maui Youth Rodeo, P.O. Box 119, Kula, HI 96790 and Hawaii High School Rodeo Association Kauai District, P.O. Box 6736, Kamuela, HI 96743.
May 3, 1956 - January 3, 2020
James (Jim) Carroll Hobbs was born on May 3, 1956 at Ladd Airforce Base in Fairbanks, Alaska to Jim Russell and Myrna Dennis (Counts).
Jim grew up and went to school in Hudson and Lufkin, Texas.
He joined the Army in 1974 and per his request was transferred to Anchorage after Boot Camp. , Texas and entered the military at 17 years old. He later became a flight attendant and made his way to Maui, Hawaii and got his first job at Robaire's where he met his best friend, Gordon Jim who unbeknownst to him would become his future father in law. He was going through life changing events which GODS path lead him and had fell in love at first sight with his wife Suzanne (Suzi).
They married in 1984 (35 years) in Wailuku, Maui. Their family includes three married children, and nine grand kids.
Jim Hobbs was a lifelong adventurer, entrepreneur, waterman, utility helicopter pilot, boat captain, cowboy, artist and protector of his family. Watching Jim fly was like watching a hurricane with him as the center, man vs machine, controlled chaos in its most beautiful form. He was never afraid of hard work where he had accomplished very successful multifaceted careers. Jim always loved to help others; he would give the shirt off his back for anyone.
He visited Hawaii while working as a flight attendant with Wein Air Alaska and after a few trips and finding Maui, he never left again. He lived with Filipino families in Kahului and Kihei where he discovered local food and learned how to fight chickens.
He waited tables in the best restaurants in Maui at night so that during the day he could surf, windsurf and commercial fish.
One day his wife Suzi said she wanted to be a EMT and he said he wanted to fly helicopters so they did and their professional careers carried their family.
He became the principal investor of The Limo Company in 2004 that has become a successful business.
After years of commuting back and forth from Hawaii to the mainland as a contract helicopter pilot for logging, seismic, search and rescue, heli-rappel crew flying, and fire suppression, Jim decided to lease his own helicopter and in 2009 he started his own helicopter company called Airborne Aviation when The Nature Conservatory on Kauai hired him for a 3 month contract. That was the start of relationships with multiple private, state and federal agencies. Airborne successfully grew in a elite competitive market in the specialty of helicopter utility work. Airborne Aviation was the first company to be awarded the contract for Kauai County's first and only search and rescue helicopter service. To this day the company holds the contract and business continues to grow in the hands of new owners that took over the business in 2017.
As the company and relationships grew in Kauai, Jim was reintroduced to his love of horses and when his friend put a rope in his hand and showed him how fun it would be to catch a cow with a rope, in true Jim fashion he put all he had into learning this new team sport and ended up with 4-6 horses and 60 head of cattle.
Jim was the fun "OPA" as he was lovingly called, a nod to his first helicopter N520PA. With him there was adventure. He didn't embrace the technological world of computer games and social media but
instead took his children and grandchildren to the outdoors where real life lessons presented themselves. They surfed, camped, hunted, on and off shore fished, rode horses, and flew in helicopters. His most recent adventure with the grandchildren and nephews was to bury a carcass of a small critter and call it an "archeological dig".
In the last chapter of his life his passion for art was reignited and he spent many of his days perfecting his painting and drawing, by studying the greats and challenging himself. His art reflected a lifetime of memories that he related to, as he could not spend time at the canvas without feeling an emotional connection.
He is survived by his beloved wife Suzi Hobbs, children Ikaika (Dori) Hobbs, Sasha (Cody) Nakamura and Niko (Chante) Hobbs. The grandkids, in order of age are Koa, Ke'Oli, Noah, Evalyn, Harper, Keao, Isabella, Kaleo and Knox. His Father James Russell (Donna) and mother Myrna Dennis. Siblings are Carol (Ray) Preston, Jeff (Suzanne) Hobbs, Nancy (Randy) Smith, Robert Russell, Catherine Henry, and Michael Russell, and numerous extended family members.
A celebration of his life will be at Hope Chapel Kihei on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020: visitation 9:30am-10:15am; service 10:15am - 11:00am; lunch 11:30am-12:30pm
In lieu of flowers, Jim's family has requested that donations be made to Maui Youth Rodeo, P.O. Box 119, Kula, HI 96790 and Hawaii High School Rodeo Association Kauai District, P.O. Box 6736, Kamuela, HI 96743.