James Joseph Ghelfi

date of birth October 14 1944

date of death April 7 2020

James was born on October 14, 1944 in San Francisco, California to John Louis Ghelfi, Jr. and Dolores Ghelfi. He lived in the Sacramento area until 1961. He then moved with his family to Beaverton, Oregon. Jim graduated from Sunset High School, Beaverton in 1962. 

After graduating from high school he returned to San Francisco where he attended San Francisco City College. While he was there he met JoAnn, his future wife. They married on July 4th, 1964, in San Francisco, California. Four years later they returned to Oregon.

While living in Oregon Jim decided to go back to school and in 1972 he graduated from the Oregon Police Academy and was class president along with other numerous career advancement courses.

Jim started in Insurance investigation. He joined the Beaverton Police Department in 1972 and advanced from Officer to Homicide Detective. He earned the "Officer of the Year" award in 1977. He joined the private sector in 1985 and retired as Regional VP of Corporate Security from the US Bank in 2011.

Jim loved sports! He was a baseball player, then football and track though out high school. He played semi-pro baseball in Francisco. He also enjoyed golf later in life. Jim was an avid San Francisco Forty-Niner fan (understatement), watching his first game at 5 years old. He also stayed true to his San Francisco Giants.

Jim and JoAnn were active members of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Canby, Oregon, where Jim was in the Knights of Columbus.

Jim was preceded in death by his father John Louis Ghelfi, Jr. and his mother Dolores Ghelfi. He is survived by his wife JoAnn of Canby, Oregon; sons, David Ghelfi of Cottage Grove, Oregon and Steven Ghelfi of Canby, Oregon; brothers; John L. Ghelfi III of San Jose, California, Dennis Ghelfi of Welches, Oregon and Daniel Ghelfi of San Jose, California.

A private Rosary and Funeral Mass will be held for Jim at St. Patrick Catholic Church, in Canby, Oregon. Jim will be laid to rest at St. Patrick's Catholic Cemetery, Canby, Oregon.