Search online for “Jim Baldwin†and you’ll find guys with that name in just about every English-speaking corner of the globe. All over the place are Jim Baldwin doctors, lawyers, carpet-installers, writers, plumbers, professors, accountants, barbers, carpenters and taxi drivers. And probably some Jim Baldwin criminals, too.
Jim Baldwin, playing bagpipes at the wedding of Jeff and Cricket Mainden in Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø in 2010. Baldwin, a former naturalist at Explore Park co-founded the Celtic band Second Wynde. He died of congestive heart failure at Carilion Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø Memorial Hospital July 14. Sunday, hundreds of friends and admirers turned out for a party in his honor at Kamzim Shriners Temple in Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø.
Could any of those Jim Baldwins hold a candle to Jimmy Gordon Baldwin of southeast Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø, born March 26, 1953? That’s doubtful, according to those who knew him well. He died July 14 and they gathered Sunday in downtown Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø to celebrate his life.
Southeast Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø’s Jim Baldwin died of congestive heart failure at Carilion Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø Memorial Hospital. Over his 72 years, the twice married father of three and grandfather of five pursued a wide variety of passions and interests. And that’s putting it mildly.
Among them: Playing bagpipes, fishing, designing and building outdoor trails, pranking friends, sailing, and playing Celtic music. There’s more: He was a Highland Games champion, downhill skier, choral performer, rugby and soccer player, too.
According to an obituary published by , Baldwin was a “generous host of memorable parties†and “one of his last accomplishments was founding Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø’s St. Patrick’s Day Festival.â€
“He served in a wide range of roles including work at the Department of Social Services in Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø City, director of music at Belmont Christian Church, chief naturalist at Virginia’s Explore Park, owner and operator of Wild Things LLC, where he focused on native garden design, director of environmental education and trail architect at Apple Ridge Farm, and facilities manager at the National D-Day Memorial,†the obituary reads.
Hundreds of friends and admirers of Jimmy Gordon Baldwin gathered Sunday afternoon at the Kazim Shriners Temple in Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø to celebrate memories of a man many called "larger than life." On stage was Second Wynde, a Celtic band Baldwin co-founded years ago with are musician and music teacher.
Sunday afternoon, hundreds of family, friends and folks whose lives Baldwin touched turned out for the “Big Party for Big Jim†at Kazim Shriners Temple in Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø.
Though Baldwin was not a member, Aubrey Rosser, a former Kazim potentate and Baldwin’s best friend going to back to elementary school, booked the room. They first met after Rosser’s father was appointed pastor at Belmont Baptist Church, which Baldwin’s family attended. (Baldwin invited Rosser over to his house one day after Sunday services.)
“He said he didn’t want us to have a religious service,†recalled Rosser, who today lives and practices law in Alta Vista. “He just wanted us to have a party, so I offered the temple as a place to meet.â€
Second Wynde, the Celtic band Baldwin co-founded (with David Lipps) played on a large stage as the crowd mingled, ate, drank beer and told Jim Baldwin stories.
Jimmie Wilson (from left), David Lipps and Jim Baldwin perform as part of Second Wynde during the 2017 Celtic Festival in downtown Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø. Wilson took over as the band’s front man after Baldwin’s health declined.
The common phrases I heard about him were “force of nature,†“larger than life character†and “Renaissance man.†One Baldwin fan described him as a kind of “Renaissance Viking.â€
“Jim did nothing by half measures,†said Anne Sampson, who got to know Baldwin when she joined Second Wynde as a Celtic dancer. “He was expansive, visionary … hugely generous with knowledge and experience, a risk-taker. His anger was big but short-lived, his love was intense.â€
Peter Lewis, the founder of Apple Ridge Farm, which gives rural experiences to inner-city children, was the first person of many who cited Baldwin as “a Renaissance man.â€
“He could write, he could use a compass in the field, he could read gradient lines on a map,†said Lewis, who employed Baldwin as coordinator of environmental education. Baldwin was architect of Apple Ridge’s 4.5-mile trail system and helped install its ropes course.
“He was a real character,†Lewis added. “I’m going to miss him greatly.â€
Former mayor David Bowers was another admirer and friend. Bowers credited Baldwin and the late Ray Donnelly, with creating/reinvigorating Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø’s Saint Patrick Day Parade and Festival. Bowers said it later was listed as among the 10 best in the United States in a national publication.
Music was a dominating force in Jim Baldwin's life, and that was exemplified by photos on display Sunday at a celebration of life event to honor him. Baldwin played guitar, bagpipes and most brass instruments. With David Lipps, Baldwin co-founded Second Wynde, perhaps the best-known Celtic music band in Western Virginia.
“Jim Baldwin was one of a kind,†Bowers said. “He lived life to the fullest … Jimmy lived life more than anyone I’ve met, and I’ve met presidents, paupers and everyone in between. He was a big guy, a great dad, a great grandad, a creative force and a Renaissance man.â€
Pat Eby, a local registered nurse, met Baldwin, who sang bass, and his second wife (Lisa Myer), who sang alto, when they were all members of the Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø Valley Choral Society.
“His joy was bringing people together,†said Eby, who was just one of the readers who requested this column. “He had that gift. He brought people into his world joyfully. There was something about the Jim Baldwin magic.â€
David Lipps, a professional musician and longtime Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø Valley music teacher, was in two Celtic bands with Baldwin. The first was named MacQuichemerde, which Baldwin named by mixing Scottish (“Macâ€) and the French terms “quiche†and “merde.â€
“We had quite a long friendship-relationship,†said Lipps, who’s still teaching music after 55 years. “We broke up several times, butting heads.â€
Second Wynde was the next band and became far better known in this region, including as headliners at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival. It had an inauspicious beginning, however.
“Our first gig was at Grand Home Furniture’s opening on Electric Road, across from Tanglewood. Jimmy and I named (the band) that night.â€
Sampson, the Celtic dancer with Second Wynde, said another of Baldwin’s pastimes was explosives. He liked to make them and set them off.
Among the photos on display at a celebration of life Sunday for the late Jim Baldwin was this shot of Baldwin with his eldest grandchild, Marygann (pronouned "Merrigan") Argyle Jenkins of Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø.
That included building massive potato guns and exploding pumpkins, she recalled. At one point, when Baldwin lived near Explore Park, he also began building a trebuchet, a medieval weapon for hurling large projectiles. He abandoned the project after moving back to southeast Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø, she said.
“I’d walk through his kitchen and he’d be building explosives, packing gunpowder into cut open half pingpong balls,†she recalled.
The other reader who requested this column was Zeke Barlow of Blacksburg. Many years ago, when he was a reporter for this newspaper, I was his editor. Now Zeke’s a high-ranking muckety-muck at Virginia Tech.
Barlow got to know Baldwin before his newspaper days, by working with him at Explore Park.
“He was just this absolutely larger than life figure. I think a Viking perfectly describes him, um, a ‘Renaissance Viking’ is how you could describe him, because he just knew absolutely so many things about everything.â€
One of the adventures he experienced with Baldwin was on Smith Mountain Lake, where one friend group was on two sailboats. Baldwin brought fireworks, and attacked the boat Barlow was on.
Barlow recalled another time when he and a friend, Jeff Maiden, turned the tables on Baldwin at a party.
“Jeff comes over to me and says, ‘See Jim Baldwin? He has a bunch of Roman candles sticking out of his back pocket, and the wick is exposed.’
“So we go over and light it — sneak up on him and light it. And all of a sudden, there’s like balls of fire shooting out of his (backside). And Baldwin’s like, ‘What’s going on?’ — and he’s turning around.
“Then he grabs (the Roman candle) and then points it at us because he wants to get us back … but he absolutely loved it, he thought it was the funniest thing in the world.â€
Baldwin is survived by his brother, M. Winston Baldwin Jr.; former first wife, Jenny Miles Baldwin; daughter Sarah Baldwin; sons Jacob Baldwin and Isaac Baldwin; and grandchildren: Marygann Jenkins; Jainna Rose Jenkins; Ceiliann Baldwin; Isla-Beth Baldwin; and Calla Baldwin.
