James Robert Ludlam, Jim, was born September 21st, 1946 in Chicago, Illinois. He proudly served his country as an ARMY Ranger during the Vietnam era, and there also discovered his voice as a disc jockey for Armed Services Radio. When his duty was satisfied, he continued a career in radio in the Orlando, North Carolina, New England, Minnesota, Houston, and Atlanta markets before finishing out his radio career in Northeast Georgia where he made Toccoa his home. His voice was usually recognized before his face and 'Big Jim Casey', as he was known on-air, accumulated quite a fan base and many followers through his career travels and adventures. Besides being a radio personality, he also did voice work for multiple corporations, most notably Disney. He was the creator of the nationally syndicated race show, Raceweek, which also aired in parts of Europe. He gave many hopeful disc jockeys their first break and gave numerous rookie drivers the exposure they needed to gain notice. After he retired from radio he decided to nurture his creative side and soon became an artist, with stained and leaded glass his favorite medium and woodwork, a lifelong hobby, a close second. For years he donated his time, energy, and wisdom to teaching Sunday School and his culinary skills to cooking Wednesday family night suppers at Fairburn United Methodist Church, still the favorite church family to which he and his family ever belonged. He helped start one of the first Christian churches for the Native Americans of the Ojibwa Nation in Duluth, Minnesota, a church founded to share the teachings of Christ without demeaning the legacy of their heritage or their identity. Jim and his wife have rescued Newfoundland Hounds for the past 20 years, their most recent “Newfie” family members, Abby and Goliath. Sharp witted and ceaselessly clever, Jim was never at a loss for words or humor. A gifted storyteller, the twinkle in his eye was usually the only giveaway of a well planned tease. Beloved husband of Quinette Lowder Ludlam, his high school sweetheart whom he married 43 years ago, beloved father and father-in-law to daughter Brandi Ayn Patten and husband Richard Patten, beloved father to daughter Buffie Kai Ludlam, beloved 'Poppy' and best buddy of grandson Cooper Atticus Blackburn, beloved family member of Myrtle Lowder; Michael, Susan, Aly, Molly, Torey and Abby Lowder; Claudia and Bill Bergquist; Evelyn Breed; Bill, Diane, Tricia and Jennifer Breed; Bob Fox; Kasie Copeland; and beloved best friend of Jeff Phillips. Jim succumbed to a short but vicious battle with an aggressive esophageal cancer on August 7th, 2010.
