Jim Juday

Jim Juday aboard his sailboat.

Jim A. Juday, 54, of Mackinac Island, formerly of Florida, died unexpectedly Monday, September 19, 2005, at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City, following a September 7 bicycle accident on Mackinac Island.

Mr. Juday was the pool manager at Grand Hotel and formerly worked for Star Line Mackinac Island Ferry.

He was born April 30, 1951, in South Bend, Indiana to Richard and Julianne (nee Wunderlich) Juday and grew up in Pompano Beach, Florida, where he found a love for the water and, in high school, excelled as a record-setting quarterback, a pole-vaulter, and a second baseman. He also played baseball in college and was graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in recreation. He was asked to try out for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Mr. Juday enjoyed sailing, fishing, and watching sunsets. In Denver, Steamboat Springs, and Salt lake City, he was employed as a ski lift operator, ski instructor, retail shop manager, and equipment buyer for a sporting goods company. In Florida, he worked on charter fishing boats, and as a long line fisherman, dockmaster, and beach operations manager at a Boca Raton hotel.

He came to northern Michigan in the mid-1990s, said his friend, Steve Bernard, and he liked working here in the summers and returning to Florida and his sailboat in the winters.

“He will be remembered as a Jimmy Buffet lover and as one who dreamed and lived the beach life,” wrote Mr. Bernard in a memorial tribute.

He is survived by his mother, Julianne Juday of Cashiers, North Carolina, a brother and his family, Rick and Marsha Juday, and their children, Matt and Kelly, of Jacksonville, Florida, a sister and her family, Janet and John Peck, and their children, Cindy and Lori, of Hartsville, South Carolina, and special friends Randy Kassal, Angie Oliveri, and Steve Bernard.

Mr. Juday is preceded in death by his father, Richard E. Juday Sr.

In accordance with his wishes, cremation has taken place and private family services was to take place on the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Boca Raton, Florida.

On Mackinac Island, the Reverend Vincent Carroll, pastor of Little Stone Church on Mackinac Island, led a memorial service at the Pool House at Grand Hotel Wednesday evening, September 28, with about 45 people in attendance. Star Line stopped a ferry en route to St. Ignace, signaled a salute with its horn, and crew members threw a wreath into Lake Huron in memory of Mr. Juday.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to the University of Florida Foundation / Health and Human Performance, P.O. Box 14425, Gainesville, Florida, 32604-2425.