James Paul Iaquinta was born to eternal life on Friday, February 18, at Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa, WI, after hospitalization on Christmas Eve.\u00a0 Born May 20, 1947, to James (\u201cJay\u201d) and Shirley (Weyrauch) Iaquinta, Jim attended Bain Elementary, McKinley Jr. High, and Tremper High School, graduating in 1965.\u00a0 He earned a B.A. from Carthage College in 1969, as a math and theater arts major.<\/p>\n
Jim devoted his life to his acting career, performing in many productions by many theater companies in the southeastern WI area and founding the Wisconsin Actors Ensemble.\u00a0 He later earned an accounting degree from Gateway Technical College to expand his theater administration skills. Before pursuing his acting career, he taught drama and English in the early 1970s at Tremper High School.<\/p>\n
Jim, a committed stage actor, was well known for his many character roles, especially in A Dickens of a Christmas Carol<\/em> and An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe\u2014Tales from the Dark Side<\/em>.\u00a0 Over the years, Jim performed at theaters and venues in Minneapolis, MN, and in southeastern WI, including Broadway Baby Dinner Theatre, Memories Dinner Theater, M &W Productions Classic Children\u2019s Theatre, Apple Holler Dinner Theater, Uncorkt, and Hobnob.\u00a0 Jim also acted in both feature and industrial training films.<\/p>\n For years at Christmastime Jim relished his role as Santa Claus at the mall.\u00a0 In later years Jim worked for Lad Lake of Milwaukee as a youth counselor, where he helped many young people and was highly respected for his success.\u00a0 Jim was an avid and knowledgeable sports fan, devoted to the Packers, Bucks, and Brewers.\u00a0 He was proud to be a Packer stockholder since 1991 and often watched games with his close friends. \u00a0In retirement, Jim was employed at Wernimont Park Golf Course clubhouse in Cudahy.<\/p>\n Jim was preceded in death by his mother, father, and brother Timothy.\u00a0 He is survived by his sister, Alice Iaquinta, West Bend, WI; brothers, David (Pam) Iaquinta, Lincoln, NE, and Peter (Annie) Iaquinta, Madison, WI; and many nieces, nephews, and loving extended family.\u00a0 Additionally, he is survived by his \u201cfamily\u201d of close friends.<\/p>\n These are the \u201cfacts\u201d of Jim\u2019s life, but they only outline the Jim\/Jimmy that we knew.\u00a0 Hear the voices of his family of friends, those who knew Jim best as his emotional companions in life\u2019s journey:<\/p>\n Director\u2019s Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n Cousin Leonard Iaquinta has known Jim throughout his life from a special vantage point.\u00a0 Len was part of the Iaquinta clan, one bound together by the bonds among the parents\u2019 generation of siblings.\u00a0 Len was drawn into Jim\u2019s orbit in a special way being just a couple of years older and an only child.\u00a0 As Len says, To me Jim was a brother.\u00a0 Jim was the only male cousin who was nearly my age.\u00a0 We developed a bond that transcended time and place.\u00a0 We could count on each other.\u00a0 His faith inspired me.<\/em><\/p>\n Thus, over the years, Jim and Len formed a friendship that transcended simply familial bonds, one born out of respect, reciprocity, and love.\u00a0 It is likely that no one had as complete a picture of Jim and the meaning of his life than Len, and this showed clearly as he stepped forward to shepherd Jim and his affairs through the final scene of his third act.\u00a0 It is not possible to convey the deep respect and appreciation that all of us\u2014family and friends\u2014share for the care, professionalism, and clear-eyed love that Len provided for Jim while he was with us.\u00a0 In Len\u2019s own words we see the measure of Jim.<\/p>\n Len Iaquinta:<\/strong> Jim believed it was possible to live out and teach the words of Jesus in the contemporary world.\u00a0 His faith was profoundly solid and faithfully childlike.\u00a0 Much of his theatrical work was overtly or covertly hopeful, empathic, evangelical.<\/em><\/p>\n Jim believed in the power of theatre.\u00a0 Living to perform and engage an audience animated him.\u00a0 Working in theatre and video, he remained true to his dream of centering his life on performing whenever he could.<\/em><\/p>\n Jim loved to give presents as Jim, not just as in his magnificent portrayals of Santa with that convincing costume and beard.\u00a0 It was important to him to express his love in words and deeds.\u00a0 The last items he intended to purchase were Packers Yearbooks for a brother and for a nephew.\u00a0 Jim wanted to share and celebrate the Packers passion the three shared.<\/em><\/p>\n In the years Jim worked for Lad Lake (Milwaukee) as a youth counselor, he helped many young people. The executive director highly regarded Jim’s work. I learned this at a national professional conference when the executive director buttonholed me over my surname and proceeded to rave about Jim’s effectiveness<\/em>\u2014o<\/em>r was it, ministry?<\/em><\/p>\n Whether kaleidoscope or faceted jewel, Jim\u2019s life had various interwoven dimensions.\u00a0 Len has outlined them, and in three acts Jim\u2019s family and friends speak to these varied dimensions of Jim\u2019s life.<\/p>\n ACT 1:\u00a0 Growing up in Kenosha with the family, immediate and extended<\/p>\n The Scene \u2013 Kenosha, Wisconsin, circa 1950\u2013<\/em>1965<\/p>\n As siblings, Alice, Peter, and David each have their own closet full of memories, yet many of these are lodged in a long ago past when we shared the daily rhythms of life with Jimmy on 22nd<\/sup> Avenue and later 38th<\/sup> Avenue.\u00a0 Jimmy, that\u2019s how we knew him.\u00a0 As David recounts, He was always Jimmy to me, and in truth I was always Davey to him.\u00a0 In fact, from Jim\u2019s college years and into my adulthood, Jimmy\u2019s friends were the only people sanctioned to call me Davey.\u00a0 This is a testimony to the love Jimmy shared, his spirit could penetrate even your identity.<\/em>\u00a0 <\/em>These were the days of Jim\u2019s First Act\u2014his early years with us.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thinking about early years with Jim, so many images come to mind growing up:<\/p>\n It is a rich tapestry of memories, and clearly the warp and woof of Jim\u2019s life was already set on the loom of life in these early years: his love of acting, his capacity to imagine, his skill at shape-shifting his identity into a multitude of characters. This is where I learned how to imagine and its importance in a balanced life.\u00a0 Jimmy was an instrumental guide in helping me develop this capacity,<\/em> says David.\u00a0 With all the normal sibling rivalries, Jimmy was always my older brother, guide, friend and\u2014when needed\u2014protector.\u00a0 Later in college we would transition to equals and become even better friends.\u00a0 Friends that shared their friendships with others, extending the network of confidants, creativity, and abundant living.<\/em><\/p>\n ACT 2:\u00a0 Jim\u2019s Carthage college days and the lifelong friendships he made there<\/p>\n The Scene \u2013 Carthage College and Xanadu Days, circa 1965\u2013<\/em>1972<\/p>\n This is where Jim refined the platform of his life as an actor and performer.\u00a0 It was here that he met many of his lifelong friends.\u00a0 Some became a part of the house Jim owned after college.\u00a0 They were the members of his tribe in the home they called Xanadu: Chris, Billy, Darryl (Uncle Sleezy), Linda Alice, Billy, and others.\u00a0 A zany collection of friends living unconventional lives in an unconventional era.\u00a0 Now Jimmy shares the Xanadu of afterlife with two of these dear friends, Chris and Darryl.<\/p>\n Peter Shuttleworth<\/strong>:\u00a0 Jimmy and I have been friends for over forty years. From Kenosha and Carthage (I learned to play cribbage and euchre!) thru the eighties and shows and his community commitments. Many shared friends.\u00a0 And some very aggressive bridge games over the years. <\/em><\/p>\n We enjoyed his art and love of community arts. There were many wonderful shows, and his talents and love of the stage always showed through. Milwaukee funded the arts then, and Jim helped bring them into the neighborhoods joining with other artists.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n Jerry Shawl<\/strong> shares the following humorous story.\u00a0 There was the time I paid Jimmy to take a required math course for me, Statistics. I got an \u201cA\u201d first semester, then the\u00a0second semester happened. \u201cI\u201d registered, but to our surprise the professor for second semester knew me.\u00a0 So, Jimmie lost his job, and I didn\u2019t get an \u201cA.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n And Jerry goes on to elaborate how this formative period persisted through Jim\u2019s life in ever-expanding ripples of association and care.\u00a0 I came back from Oregon to visit my mother every year for a week or so.\u00a0 I would fly into Milwaukee, and Jimmie would pick me up at the airport and take me to Woodstock to see my mother.\u00a0 Everyone in my family loved him and would ask about him frequently when I would call.\u00a0 Jimmie and I would meet with our old friends from college and Kenosha.\u00a0 Jimmie had many friends.\u00a0 When he came to Oregon we even found he had four friends living here from Carthage that he hadn\u2019t seen for many years.\u00a0 So every summer was a homecoming for us all.<\/em><\/p>\n Ted Tyson<\/strong> did not meet Jim until years later, yet Jim\u2019s college years affected him through their common passions for theater and sports.\u00a0 An avid sports fan and a proud owner of stock in the Green Bay Packers, Jimmy even managed to squeeze in a year as a college football player for Carthage around 1970. That’s right. Jimmy played college football. How cool is THAT?<\/em><\/p>\n ACT 3:\u00a0 Jim\u2019s craft; Jim\u2019s passions; Jim\u2019s \u201cministry\u201d<\/p>\n Scene 1<\/u> \u2013 The Theatre<\/strong><\/p>\n Lori Minnetti: <\/strong>I met Jimmy at an audition for a role in <\/em>STUD, a production for his theatre company Wisconsin Actors Ensemble.\u00a0 Fortunately, I was cast, and that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.\u00a0 He changed my life. Jimmy was already an accomplished professional actor and director with credits in Wisconsin and Minneapolis.\u00a0 I learned so much from him and always trusted his insight.\u00a0 We became lifelong friends and fellow thespians, performing in many productions for almost 40 years.\u00a0 He was blessed with amazing talent, energy, intelligence, and compassion.\u00a0 Jimmy could do it all\u2014act, direct, write, produce, promote, and create and build sets.\u00a0 Jimmy will always be a favorite actor of mine, so diverse and magnetic!<\/em><\/p>\n Highlights of productions we collaborated on include: <\/em>LOVE LETTERS, <\/em>THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF, <\/em>THE REAL STORY OF SANTA CLAUS (written by Jimmy), <\/em>LAST OF THE RED HOT LOVERS, <\/em>THE STAR-SPANGLED GIRL (amazing direction by Jimmy!), <\/em>SWING DANCE, <\/em>THE MAN WITH THE PLASTIC SANDWICH (fantastic performance by Jimmy), and <\/em>NOT NOW, DARLING.\u00a0 The theaters and venues we worked at together include: Broadway Baby Dinner Theatre, Memories Dinner Theater, M &W Children\u2019s Theater, Apple Holler Dinner Theater, Uncorkt, and Hobnob.\u00a0 Jimmy had already been in a Bill Rebane film, <\/em>RANA: THE LEGEND OF SHADOW LAKE, and brought me to a film audition, and we both were cast in <\/em>THE COLD.\u00a0 Jimmy was always supportive and generous with other performers.\u00a0 He would let us know of auditions, as well as have the time to work on lines or character development. <\/em><\/p>\n I will always cherish the process and result of creating <\/em>AN EVENING WITH EDGAR ALLAN POE\u2013TALES FROM THE DARK SIDE and our interactive version of <\/em>A CHRISTMAS CAROL.\u00a0 I am so proud of those shows, and they will always have a special place in my heart.\u00a0 We got to perform the Edgar Allan Poe show as part of the Big Read Event sponsored by the Kenosha Public Library at the Kemper Center.\u00a0 What a magical event, and Jimmy was of course spectacular!<\/em><\/p>\n Amanda Hull:\u00a0 <\/strong>Jim was a beloved member of our theatre community.\u00a0 His contagious laugh and great creative talent will be remembered vividly and fondly.\u00a0 He was one of the first people I acted with out of college and was always there when needed.\u00a0 I will miss him very much.<\/em><\/p>\n Ted Tyson:<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/em>Back in 1989 I landed a gig doing an industrial film for GE, and I was told I’d be one of a pair of cavemen. When I arrived at 4 a.m. for the shoot, I was greeted by a man in bare feet with his hair tangled up, dirt all over his face, wearing some kind of animal skin costume and holding a giant raw turkey leg. It was Jimmy.\u00a0 We spent the next five hours under bright lights jumping around and singing songs in caveman gibberish and generally behaving like a couple of men out of their gourds. It was a blast. \u00a0Jimmy spent a good bit of time filling me in on details of what had already been a very interesting life and successful acting career\u2014sharing stories, offering advice, acting silly, joking around. And thus, began a friendship that lasted over 30 years.<\/em><\/p>\n The past 15 years I grew closer to Jimmy, as I had the tremendous fortune of working with him and with our dear friend Lori Minnetti as part of their company the Wisconsin Actors Ensemble, our signature play being <\/em>A Dickens of a Christmas Carol, a unique adaptation, which we performed in various venues over the years. <\/em><\/p>\n Jimmy chose a cutting that Dickens himself had used when touring the United States in the 19th century, and his reading of the story would have made the author truly proud. It was special.<\/em><\/p>\n There’s no footage of the Dickens show, but there IS a digital copy of <\/em>The Domino Heart, by Morning Star Productions, in which Jimmy does some of his absolute best work. I haven’t seen the video yet but am hopeful it does justice to the live performance. It’s a poignant piece, and Jimmy was never stronger.<\/em><\/p>\n Scene 2<\/u> \u2013 The Passions: His Craft, Sports, the Oregon Country Fair<\/strong><\/p>\n Ted Tyson:<\/strong>\u00a0 Jimmy had a fun life and a full life. He performed in hundreds of plays across a career that spanned over a half century, he taught high school in Kenosha for a stretch, was a valued mentor for young people, and once lived in London for an entire theater season in 1975.<\/em><\/p>\n More recently, during the pandemic, I spent a good deal of time on Jimmy’s porch, trips to his house being my main social life during the lockdown. Once out of quarantine, we got to celebrate at MY house together with my brother Terry by watching the Milwaukee Bucks win their first championship in 50 years. There were hugs all around. Jubilation and joy.<\/em><\/p>\n Whether we were working on a theater project or talking politics or cheering on the Packers, Jimmy was passionate and committed to excellence rooted in ethical standards. He wanted to win in sports and in the theater and in our country, and he wanted to do it the right way, with honesty and with integrity and with kindness.<\/em><\/p>\n Jerry Shawl:\u00a0 <\/strong>Four decades and some more years ago, Jimmie packed me up and I moved to Oregon.\u00a0 At some point the Grateful Dead were going to play a benefit at the OREGON COUNTRY FAIR. Darryl Sink was going to sell ice there, and Jimmie was invited to come and help sell ice, a noble endeavor indeed.\u00a0 Dr. Leary, Andrew Weil, Ken Kesey, and Baba Ram Dass were there.\u00a0 Jimmie arrived, and Jerry Garcia had heart problems, probably the shock of being able to meet Jimmie.\u00a0 The benefit did not happen, but Jimmie was here, saw the fairgrounds, and got hooked.\u00a0 The next year and for thirty some years he came to the fair every summer and worked and partied at the pizza booth.\u00a0 He would come a week or two before the fair, and he would help me set up the water, electrical, and propane systems and get all the equipment working.\u00a0 When the fair started we mostly enjoyed the food, music, and vaudeville acts.\u00a0 If we did our job well with the equipment before the fair, we could party for most of the fair.\u00a0 But something always broke down, and we would swing into action.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n Later I would go to town, usually around sunup, to sleep in a real bed, leaving Jimmie in charge of engineering until I returned.\u00a0 Jimmie would go to the fair and camp for close to a week, not coming into town until the fair was over, where he experienced reality shock after being insulated from \u201cnormal\u201d reality.\u00a0 Darryl Sink, Uncle Sleezy, referred to the fair as the \u201cPatchouli Scented Brigadoon.\u201d\u00a0 Eventually Jimmie and I became fair elders.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n Scene 3<\/u> \u2013 \u201cThe Ministry\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Joe Burton:<\/strong>\u00a0 It is with considerable sadness that I say goodbye to my colleague and personal friend James P. Iaquinta, AKA Jimmy the Progressive Christian as he was known on my podcast, <\/em>The Liberal Redneck Show. I am not a religious person but was always amazed with the insights Jimmy provided on the show. His true biblical knowledge was incredible. My favorite story was his explanation of the parable “It’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter heaven.” According to Jimmy, the Needle was a legendary, very narrow street in Jerusalem, regularly used by merchants and their heavily loaded camels. It was extremely difficult for a camel packed with trade goods to squeeze through the narrow street to get from one area to another. His explanation made the story real to me, and I will cherish his sharing of it for the rest of my life.<\/em><\/p>\n Jimmy lived a humble life. His home was in a largely Black section of Milwaukee, and he took pride in being the only white person who lived there. He made it his goal to help his fellow neighbors any way he could. A young man in his neighborhood was struggling to put together enough money for school clothes by shoveling the snow from sidewalks and driveways with a badly overused shovel. Jimmy, who was not a wealthy man, took pity and gave the young man his snowblower, of which he was very proud, so he could reach his goal. That is the kind of man he was.<\/em><\/p>\n Lori Minnetti:<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Jimmy was a true-blue friend.\u00a0 My sister Lisa and I many times would have car trouble or need a ride, and Jimmy would be there to help and sometimes even fix the problem with just a moment\u2019s notice.\u00a0 He would be under the car with a coat hanger or a special fluid he had in his well-stocked trunk.\u00a0 I will also always cherish the great fun we had golfing with our mutual friend Jeff. They both were always so positive and encouraging of my game, if you could even call it that.\u00a0 Last summer Jimmy was playing some of the best golf of his life!<\/em><\/p>\n Ted Tyson:<\/strong>\u00a0 The first word that comes to mind when I think of Jimmy is “indefatigable.” <\/em>Webster offers a number of synonyms: assiduous, conscientious, diligent, meticulous, determined, dogged, persevering, persistent, relentless, steady, stubborn, tenacious…all apt descriptions of my friend Jim Iaquinta.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n Jimmy always tried to be there for friends and strangers alike. He was always working on solutions to problems all around, always thinking of ways he could help out the people that he knew and the ones that he didn’t. Which basically covers everybody. He would never have given up until every single person on the planet was happy and doing OK. He was indefatigable.\u00a0 He had a fun life and a full life.<\/em><\/p>\n Jerry Shawl:\u00a0 <\/strong>Jim would help anyone that needed help at the fair, sometimes entertaining young children.\u00a0 When he was not at the fair he would spend hours on his computer mentoring people back in Milwaukee.\u00a0 He would spend hours with Eve <\/em>[Jerry\u2019s partner] reciting her poetry and performing for her.\u00a0 They developed a bond and had many hours of creative times.\u00a0 Eve said sometimes he would recite her poems and get the words wrong but that it didn\u2019t matter because of the passion in the delivery.\u00a0 He could make her laugh better than I.<\/em><\/p>\n ENCORE\/CURTAIN CALL<\/p>\n Len Iaquinta:\u00a0 <\/strong>Jim also believed in family.\u00a0 His last wish was to live to take a cross-country Amtrak trip from Chicago to Oregon via San Francisco, traveling along with and picking up on the way cousins and siblings.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t about him. \u00a0Rather, bringing us together.<\/em><\/p>\n Jim is already on board waiting to welcome us with his other friends and kin that he has joined in the beyond. Let\u2019s all jump on the train of reunion and shared joy by celebrating his life.\u00a0 The Celebration of Life will take place on Friday of Memorial Day weekend, May 27, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. at Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, 7104 39th Avenue, Kenosha, WI, with Inurnment to follow in St. George Cemetery.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jim is already on board waiting to welcome us with his other friends and kin that he has joined in the beyond. Let\u2019s all jump on the train of reunion and shared joy by celebrating his life.<\/p>\n The Celebration of Life will take place on Friday of Memorial Day weekend, May 27, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. at Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, 7104 39th Avenue, Kenosha, WI, with Inurnment to follow in St. George Cemetery.<\/p>\n Jim\u2019s wish was that memorials be made to the World Wildlife fund www.worldwildlife.org<\/a> and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals www.aspca.org<\/a> in his memory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" James Paul Iaquinta was born to eternal life on Friday, February 18, at Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa, WI, after hospitalization on Christmas Eve.\u00a0 Born May 20, 1947, to James (\u201cJay\u201d) and Shirley (Weyrauch) Iaquinta, Jim attended Bain Elementary, McKinley Jr. High, and Tremper High School,<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":12038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"service-location":[],"class_list":["post-12037","obituary","type-obituary","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenoshafuneralhome.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/obituary\/12037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenoshafuneralhome.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/obituary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenoshafuneralhome.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/obituary"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenoshafuneralhome.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenoshafuneralhome.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenoshafuneralhome.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"service-location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenoshafuneralhome.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/service-location?post=12037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A CAST OF CHARACTERS:<\/h1>\n
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