James Earnest Tollefson, born in Inglewood, California, December 15, 1941, eight days after Pearl Harbor was bombed. He died in Huntington Beach, California, August 11, 2022, in the I C U after a long fight with C O P D.

He had a very good life, growing up in Inglewood near Centinela Park where he spent so much of his childhood. He went to Centinela School, Crozier Jr. High and then Inglewood High School. He served in the U S Coast Guard as a boiler tender and was stationed most of his career in Honolulu, Hawaii. After his service he worked for the City of Inglewood in the Park Department and then the Los Angeles County Fire Department for 31 years.

In 1971, working as a Fireman at the Lennox Station, 18s, the Paramedic Program was training at nearby Daniel Freeman Hospital. He was one of the first Paramedics, #30, and continued as a paramedic until his retirement in 1999. He transferred to the Paramount Station in 1974 and served on Squad 31 for about 28 years.

He was an avid sportsman and loved playing basketball and softball. The Firemans Olympics started up in 1972 and he was on the first Softball team…he continued that and was on the 2000 team after retirement, too. He has many good memories of his time as a Firefighter and made so many good friends.

In our neighborhood, he was a baseball coach, a Cub Master, the neighborhood fix it guy, the band aid guy, the fireworks guy on the 4th of July; in in our family, he was the photographer, and the best croquet player. He was a great Dodger and Lakers fan and went to many games but always watched on the television. When he was 12, he rode the streetcar downtown L A to see Robby the Robot and the movie Forbidden Planet; he loved Sci Fi movies and when Star Wars came out in 1977, he took his son, Jared, to see it 31 times…and then had the video and watched it after a long shift at the station…falling asleep before Darth Vadar boarded Princess Leah’s space ship….which is at the beginning.

Jim and Diane had a little RV and they took a long trip in 2007 with Jims Sister June and her husband Dave, all across the land on Route 66. It was the trip of a lifetime, 37 days on the road and enjoying it so much….taking hundreds of photos. We have enjoyed the last few years, also, even though he has been on oxygen and taking lots of pills. We played Cribbage every weekday on Skype with Jared and he and Jared had a great competition going. He watched a lot of television commercials for food he liked and wanted me to get for him…his favorite was the chili cheese hot dogs from Der Weinerschnitzel. We knew he would not have too many years, and so we did enjoy our time together. He loved his Bluegoose and he and Jared drove it in the last Fourth of July Parade on Abbey Drive. Rest in Peace JET, we will all be together again in the afterlife, praise Yahweh.

Son of Stanley E. Tollefson and Florence H. MoonBrother of June (David) Sheets and the late Jerald (Mary Stroda) Tollefson

Father of Jared Tollefson

Uncle of Travis, Debbie, Jeff, Chris, Joshua, Emily, James

Great Uncle of Caitlyn, Matthew, Michael Healy, Alex and Erik Sheets, Audrey and Gretchen Deal,

Maylee, Jefferson,Hadley and Finley Tollefson, Jack, Avery and Indy Mann, and Krista Tollefson

Great Great Uncle of Zena Morris and August Healy

Jims's father was 100% Norwegian and Jim had 7 uncles and 2 aunts and over 20 cousins in that family Jim's mother was English and French and he had one Aunt and 3 cousins in that family.

We have some genealogists in our family, and it was recently shown that Jim is the 11th descendant from William Bradford, the second and longtime governor of the Plymouth Colony and came to America on the Mayflower. That family is also related to Benjamin Franklin's family. The Norwegian side of the family came from Hallingdal, Norway and the Sondreal farm is still owned by the family there.

Diane’s Norwegian family came from the same district in Norway and the Berg family farm is about 20 miles away from the Sondreal farm. Both of our families came out to California before WW2 and settled in Inglewood. Jim's father had a patio furniture store, where the Deal family bought their patio furniture…and the Tollefson’s bought their furniture from the Deal family’s Inglewood Maple Shop. We went to the same high school and had friends in common, but never knew each other until we met at a party in the summer of 1963 after Jim got out of the Coast Guard.

We were married November 28, 1964, in Manhattan Beach, California and spent a few days of our Honeymoon at the Tollefson family cabin in Crestline, California. We still have that cabin and are restoring it…. many of the family members spend honeymoon days there... it seems to being good luck to the marriage.

We have a group of friends called “The Damn Inglewood Crowd” that has been getting together through the years, mostly high school friends. Jim and I have also been very involved in our Inglewood High School reunions through the years. Jim had a full and rewarding life and he really lived.



Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.westminstermemorial.net for the Tollefson family.