Born: July 22, 1928

Died: May 12, 2013

James (Jim) Melvin Hunziker was born at South Bend, Ind., to Alexander and Dorothy Hunziker, of Niles, Mich.

He was preceded in death by his father, mother and sister Mary McCoy of Dowagiac. He is survived by his brother Jerry (Pamela) Hunziker of Niles, Mich., and brother in law, Craig McCoy of Dowagiac.

Jim was a two-time veteran: WWII and Korea. He was cremated with his remains going to the National Veterans Cemetery in West Palm Beach, Fla.

After graduating from Niles High School, he attended Michigan State University and New York University Farmingdale.

As a construction manager; specialties in site landscaping and golf course construction. He worked primarily in semi tropic and tropical zones, with the focus on utilizing plant materials indigenous with the areas he was developing. Projects included in the Bahamas, Caribbean, Puerto Rico, Australia, Tahiti, Egypt, Romania to name a few.

Jim’s knowledge of plants, assisted in water resource management, rather than bring in outside plant materials, he would develop a nursery, with the goal to use local grown plant materials for his projects. As manager of his site developments, he focused his energies on using local labor as well as any other local facilities, to encourage growth and common good.

He enjoyed a healthy lifestyle, by eating fresh local grown foods, and running every morning before beginning his heavy work load and managing his ever growing plant materials.

For many years he lived in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, making his final home in Belize.

Contributions can be made to the Hospice of West Palm Beach and Broward County, 5300 Avenue, West Palm Beach, Florida, 33407.