Chandler, Arizona - Jim was born on July 10th, 1953 in Phoenix, AZ. He was the 5th child and 3rd son of Donald J. Baumann and Imogene Etter. He passed away on September 17th, 2021 in Chandler, Arizona. He will be remembered as a friend, husband, father, brother, and uncle who was generous to a fault and made every effort to follow his passions and intuitions.

To his friends and family: he was the one you called when you were at your lowest and needed a light to guide you out of the darkness. He was a man of unwavering conviction and his trust and faith in God, his beliefs, his friends, and his loving wife Kathy guided him through his life.

Jim grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was a devout Catholic man spending most of his primary and secondary education at Catholic schools and was in fact the first in his family to graduate from Brophy Catholic High School. He eventually became a certified catechist and taught religious education at St. Andrew the Apostle in Chandler Arizona. When it came time for college, he decided to follow his innate analytical side and earned a Bachelors of Science from Arizona State University in 1977. Though he thought he would stay in the sciences, he found a natural talent and passion for business and sales and had a vast career selling a variety of goods such as coins, cars, and art in the 1970's and 1980's.

In 1987, he met his future wife Kathy while commuting between Arizona and California for work, but soon made the leap of faith and moved to LA full time. They started their relationship working multiple jobs to build their future together. In March of 1991, Kathy and Jim married and soon after started their own investment company: JKB and Associates, named after their love, passion, and investment in each other. Jim was an incredibly successful founder and CEO/COO with the support of ingenious wife and CFO Kathy - at the height of their success they had over 50 employees and had a company worth millions of dollars. Their priorities began to change when they welcomed their first child, Samantha, into the world in 1996. Kathy became a work from home mom and CFO, while Jim started another company named after his daughter: SGB Enterprises.

However, family soon became their primary focus as in 1999, they sold their companies and moved to Chandler, Arizona to be closer to Jim's ageing parents and to raise their daughter. Within the same year of this large change, they had an amazing surprise: they were about to welcome their second child into the world. Jim was a dutiful husband and father caring for his young daughter and driving his very pregnant wife to every doctor's visit from Chandler, AZ to Los Angeles, California. Their son, Joseph, was born in 2000 and both Kathy and Jim decided to retire early to raise their children. Jim was a very involved father and was at every soccer game, tee ball practice, band recital, and every birthday party. He taught them everything that dad is expected to and more, including: how to pray, how to draw, how to throw a ball, how to ride a bike, and how to play Gin Rummy. One of his favorite things to do was travel with his family. He took his family on dozens of vacations and his kids were well traveled, making it to 13 states and two countries by the time they were 12 years old.

Jim continued to invest his time and money in what and who he believed in - not only in his wife and children, but in business ventures such as Aflac and Prepaid Legal. He enjoyed watching his kids grow up. However, in 2010, he did what he had to do for his family and returned to the car business. For over ten years, Jim was consistently the number one salesman in his division and came home with dozens of employee of the month awards and prizes. His coworkers, managers, and customers all saw him as the best in the business and the go to guy and routinely sought his advice and expertise.

Though Jim's time on this Earth was cut short, he accomplished a lot: he founded and lead companies, a 30 year marriage full of laughs and love, raised two strong children, and walked his daughter down the aisle. He will be deeply missed and not easily forgotten.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his brothers, Donn, Bob, and John. He is survived by his lifelong partner, Kathy Baumann; his beloved daughter Samantha Burg and her husband Michael Burg; his dutiful son Joseph Baumann; his sister-in-law Deb; his sister Maureen McLaughlin, her husband Jack; his sister Susan Turner and her husband Richard; his sister-in-law Joan and her children Max and Alyssa; his nephews Scott and Brian Curit, Mike Ries and their families; his nieces Jessica Loyd, Elizabeth and Rebecca Baumann, Kelsey Gordillo and their families.