James A. Leach, R.I.P.

This past week, my shop clerk (now retired) suffered the loss of her ex-husband, Jim. James A. Leach passed away in the hospital last week while being treated for pneumonia. Though they were more than twenty years divorced, Jim had been living with Toni and helping her care for her aging mother for the past few years.

In preparation for the memorial service, she and her daughter, both of whom I have known since I was in the second grade, asked if I would help them put together a framed photograph of Jim. They presented me with a very old, very damaged, wallet sized black and white high school senior picture. I had a limited amount of time before the service, and even more limited photoshop skills to draw upon, but I was thankfully able to enlarge the photo to 8x10 and make sufficient repairs as to make it presentable. Above is the retouched photo that was used for the memorial service (reduced in size for bandwidth purposes). Below is the original.

As there would be no viewing of the deceased (the remains were cremated) this photo was the centerpiece of the service. I don't do a lot of photoshopping, but I think it came out fairly descent.

Rest in peace, Jim. You will be remembered.