James Arthur Hinman,56, passed away on April 17, 2020 in Casper, Wyoming. A Wyoming native, Jim was born in Shell. His playground growing up was the Big Horn Mountains, where he learned to ranch, ride, snowmobile, camp, hunt, and fish. His family moved to Riverton while he was in grade school, where he made lifelong friends. Jim was a patriot, and joined the Navy after high school, serving for eight years. He had a deep abiding love for this country his entire life, and the freedoms given to us by God and the Constitution.
After his discharge from the Navy, Jim settled in Minnesota, working as a stainless-steel welder all over the country and abroad. He married and had a son, Cody, teaching him to raise cattle and ranch. His love of the West never left his heart, and after his divorce, Jim returned to the snowy mountains of Wyoming and his hometown of Riverton. He resumed his love of fly fishing and backcountry snowmobiling as if he had never left.
Jim’s sarcasm and sharp wit, combined with his blunt honesty, endeared him to many people and raised the hackles on some. Jim’s sense of humor was always at the forefront of his personality, and he was legendary at bestowing nick names on people, all of them funny and some of them naughty. When Jim and Kathy met, she was enthralled with his humor, sarcasm, and his sharp wit. They met over the installation of a doggie door, and when she saw how good he was with her dogs, fate took it from there. It wasn’t long before he also became an advocate of rescuing dogs, seeing firsthand the emotional and physical trauma that they often suffered. It was obvious to all that every dog he met loved him.
He was probably one of the fastest foster “failures” ever recorded when Lucius, a senior Boxer mix, came home as his first foster experience. He was there for an hour when Jim said, “We aren’t fostering this dog, we are keeping him. We have to adopt him.” Lucius was a great dog and was dearly loved by Jim every remaining day of his life.
In 2019, Jim proudly started his own seamless gutter company in Riverton and was looking forward to producing a quality product and improving on his success. Jim was also looking forward to start offering discounts to veterans and seniors, it was his way of saying thank you for their contributions. He was also hoping to see his daughter April this year, after having been separated from her for many years.
He is survived by; his parents George and Donna Hinman of Roswell, New Mexico, his brother David Hinman (Kelly) of Riverton, his son, Cody Hinman of Atwater, Minnesota, and his daughter April Allen of Moncks Corner, NC, and his partner/spouse, Kathy Kavanagh of Riverton, their two dogs Duchess and Rocket, as well as many cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and friends who will miss him.
A memorial celebrating his life will be held in the Wind River Canyon on Saturday, July 11th at 10 a.m., at the campgrounds just below the dam, before you enter the tunnels going from Shoshoni to Thermopolis. Family and friends are invited. Except for the “Christian woman” from the Bighorn Mountains who used to call herself a friend to Donna Hinman and her mother, who sent that viciously cruel note to Donna. You know who you are. You should go to church instead and learn humility and compassion. And confess to your priest or pastor, or Jimmy will come back and haunt you.
In lieu of cards or flowers, please make a donation to the warriordogfoundation.org in his name or your favorite local pet shelter.