Saratoga News

James Sheldon

Obituary

James Sheldon

Longtime Saratoga resident James H. "Jim" Sheldon died suddenly June 28 in his home. He was 62.

Born April 12, 1935, in Iowa, Sheldon came to California in the 1950s. He began his nearly 30-year career in the electronics business working alongside David Packard and Bill Hewlett at Hewlett-Packard in Palo Alto.

In later years, he held marketing positions with various electronics firms in the Silicon Valley. In the mid-1980s, Sheldon started up Outlook Technology, which he headed as president until the company was bought by venture capitalists. Afterward, he worked as an independent consultant.

When his two sons played on Saratoga High School's football team, Sheldon began filming all junior varsity and varsity games. Benny Pierce, SHS's former football coach, named Sheldon the team's "Official Film Crew" and at the annual football dinner awarded Sheldon a red satin football jacket with a video logo and "Film Crew" printed on the back.

At the end of each football season, Sheldon edited and set to music a videotape with highlights from that season's games. He donated all proceeds from videotape sales to the SHS football program. He also helped arrange for the placement of ads in the football game programs, going so far as to arrange a two-page ad featuring an F-14 fighter at Moffett Field, around which the football players posed for a picture.

Not limited to sports, Sheldon co-chaired the 1987 and 1990 decoration committees for SHS's Grad Night. In 1987, he built a 10- by 25-foot alligator mouth with blinking yellow eyes for students to walk through, in keeping with the party's "Southern Nights" theme. Three years later, he built a 25- by 25-foot castle complete with turrets and drawbridge for the "Once Upon a Time" theme.

In his spare time, he enjoyed gardening and entertaining with his guitar and banjo.

"He loved to be in the back yard; that was his favorite 'vacation spot.' He loved gardening, especially the flowers and rose trees," wife Lucy recalls, adding that her husband also loved spending time with children, especially his sons and nieces and nephews.

"He left such an impression with little kids because he was so young at heart," she says.

Survivors are wife Lucy Sheldon of Saratoga; sons David Friedman of Newport Beach and Donny Friedman of Saratoga; brother Joe Sheldon of Fort Walton Beach, Fla.; sisters Mary Havlak of Arlington, Tex., and Molly Lyons of Golden Valley, Minn.; mother Melva Sheldon of Prairie City, Iowa; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Private memorial services have been held. Donations may be made to the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross, for whose blood bank Sheldon was recently awarded "Gallon Plus" recognition for his frequent donations of blood.

Obituaries

The Saratoga News publishes obituaries as a community service. There is no charge, but we do require that information about the deceased be provided to us on our official Obituary Notice form. The forms are available at the Saratoga News office, 14375 Saratoga Ave., Ste. E-2, Saratoga.

We are interested in obituaries about local residents or those people who have had strong ties to Saratoga.

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