Life of James Stich

James "Jim" Joseph Stich was received into Christ's loving arms on November 8, 2023, passing away at Hillcrest Senior Living in Red Lake Falls, MN. Mass of Christian Burial will be at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Saturday, November 18, 2023, at 10:30am. Visitation will be an hour before the funeral. Jim will be laid to rest at St. Dorothy cemetery in Dorothy, MN following the luncheon after the funeral.

Jim was born in Grand Forks, ND on August 12, 1932, the third of ten children to Paul and Rose Stich. He was raised and attended school in Stephen, MN, graduating in 1950 and then went on to railroad telegraph school in Minneapolis, MN and worked for C&NW Railroad in Boone, IA. Jim married Doris Belle Long from Boone, IA. His daughter, Antonette Louise, known as Toni, was born in Council Bluffs, IA. After Jim was drafted into the Army in 1954, Toni was raised by Paul and Rose Stich as their own.

Jim married Henriette Mona (Monica) Paradis Champagne on September 18, 1993, the second marriage for both. Jim took good care of Henriette after she was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease until her death in 2018. They were married for over 24 years.

Jim spent 22 years in the Army as an infantryman, paratrooper, and sniper. He was initially stationed in Alaska (mostly in Anchorage, but also spent time in the Aleutian Islands, Kodiak Island, and Kenai Peninsula) before it was a state. He later worked in military intelligence as a part of MAC V (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam) US Army 525th Military Intelligence Brigade and was a member of the CIC (Counterintelligence Corps). He was fluent in Vietnamese, Thai (Thailand), Laotian (Laos), and Khmer (Cambodian). His last duty was in SE Asia where he achieved the rank of Chief Warrant Officer CW4 as a Green Beret in the Army Special Forces. His last 8 years of military service included 6 years of combat in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia during the Vietnam war. Jim was wounded twice (shot in the chest and also shot out of a helicopter in shoulder/back) but refused the purple heart. Jim was a part of the Bay of Pigs operation and is mentioned in the book "The Green Berets: The Amazing Story of the U.S. Army's Elite Special Forces Unit". At Jim's Army retirement ceremony in 1976 in Presidio, CA, he received the honor of a special military flyover.

After retiring from the military, Jim was hired as deputy sheriff in Pine Bluff, AR and also worked as a police investigator for many years. He then moved to and resided in Red Lake Falls, MN.

Jim loved working on the family farm with his brothers and he truly loved being with family, especially his brothers and sisters, visiting at morning coffee and teasing whoever he talked to.

Jim was preceded in death by his wife Henriette, parents Paul and Rose, brothers Leo (Jackie), Ed (Rita), sister Mary (Orval) Netzer and brother in laws Larry Wall, John Rottink, and Don Audette, and nephews Kevin Stich and Louis Stich and niece Vicki Wall.

Jim is survived by his daughter Toni (Terry) Peterson and grandsons Justin and Blake (Alanna), stepchildren David (Alice) and Robert (Mel) Champagne, Susan (Mark) Berberich and Lori (Dennis) Pendzich, sisters Barbara Wall, Polly Rottink, Cathy Stich, and Phyllis Audette, brothers John (Diana) and Peter (Kathy), and numerous nephews, nieces, and cousins.