James Morrow House

James Morrow House IV died on December 7, 2025, at his residence on Bainbridge Island, Washington. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Susan, his son, James Morrow House V, his daughter, Allison Emily Elliott, and five grandchildren, Chloe and Aidan House, Lenora, Lydian and Rylynn Elliott, his sister, Molly Jorgeson, his brother-in-law, Rust Tippett, and his son-in-law, Chris Elliott.

Jim was born in St. Louis, MO, on November 24, 1939, the son of James Morrow House III and Catherine Rita House. He spent most of his childhood in Wichita, Kansas. He obtained both his undergraduate BS degrees in Physics/Math and his MD at the University of Kansas. After an internship in Upstate New York, he completed his general surgery residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and his ENT residency at The Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary in Boston, MA.

Jim and Susan were married in August of 1971 and immediately moved from Boston to Pasadena, California, where Jim practiced ENT for almost 30 years. Much to the dismay of his patients, he retired from the practice of medicine in 2000, and not long after, he became a Visiting Associate doing atmospheric aerosol research in the Chemical Engineering Department at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He continued there until 2012, and shortly thereafter, he and Susan sold their Pasadena home and bought a home on Bainbridge Island in Washington.

Over the years, Jim had many interests: golf, skiing, classical music, playing the piano, mountain climbing, hiking, aviation, sailing, woodworking, and attempting to play the bagpipes. Throughout his life, he was an avid reader of everything from technical publications to biography to adventure to science fiction to literary fiction and poetry. Nonetheless, without hesitation, he would tell you that his favorite book was Moby Dick. With a prodigious memory, his ability for medical recall and diagnosis was rivaled only by his recall of his favorite poems (admittedly, some more socially acceptable than others).

Jim began both skiing and technical mountain climbing in Colorado, and he fondly recounted his exploits in his early college years during a summer in Europe, climbing the Matterhorn and skiing in the Alps. His hiking adventures took him as far west as Kauai and as far east as the Pyrenees.

A scratch golfer for most of his golfing years, Jim had many successes on the golf course, including multiple holes-in-one and the opportunity to compete to qualify for the USGA Jr Amateur as a young teenager. An avid pilot, he owned a Cessna 182 for a number of years, and he cherished the many trips he and his closest friend took while in Boston piloting their respective planes all over New England and traversing the country as far north as Quebec, as far south as Puerto Rico and as far west as California. He loved to recall leaving with Susan in the Cessna from their wedding reception, getting into his plane and heading west on the first leg of their move to California.

In the 1980s, he realized a life-long dream of going ocean cruising when he and Susan had a boat built in Maine and then spent 18 months sailing Scrimshaw from Maine to Boston to Bermuda, through the Eastern Caribbean islands to Venezuela, through the Panama Canal, to Costa Rica and past Central America to Mexico and up to California.

Over the years he always made sure his house had a workshop. There he built a wide variety of items, among which were a refectory dining room table, a desk for Susan as she started law school, cherry jewelry boxes for his wife, sisters and daughter, a wooden sailing/rowing dinghy and his last big project, a large bookshelf and cabinet system for his Bainbridge Island residence.

Jim found great joy in the many successes of his two children, and he greeted each new grandchild with delight. Plagued by macular degeneration and Parkinsons in his final years, he was blessed with the unwavering support of his family up to his final breath. Jim lived his life to the fullest, and he leaves behind the memory of a smart, adventurous, dryly funny and accomplished modern Renaissance Man. He will be missed by all who knew him.

There will be a private family celebration of his life. Donations made in his memory can be made to Doctors Without Borders or USGA Foundation for the support of Junior Golf programs.

Arrangements entrusted to Cook Family Funeral Home of Bainbridge Island, WA.