Jim Balcum Family Fund

Loving Father, Husband, Employer, Friend and Fearless Leader James Balcum passed away on December 30th, 2017.
He passed away after a very short battle with stage three lung cancer. He leaves behind his immediate family loving wife Sue, his Son Zachory and his daughter-in-law Elizabeth. Other family members left behind are: Brothers: Richard (Gary), Gene(Amy Kay), Frank, Matt (Michelle) - Sisters: MaryEllen and Amy Sue. Both his mother Sue and father Richard are deceased.

Jim's death was as much of a shock to his family as it was to those who knew and loved him. We did not know that his death would come so soon. We had just weathered the closing of our family business (Balcum Appliance), a major car accident (which thankfully his wife survived). Then his wife fell out of a birch tree and was out of commission for thirteen months. Sue had just become mobile in time to begin bringing Jim to his chemotherapy appointments. Jim worked right up until the day that he passed. We were in the process of expecting the very best, but preparing for the very worst. Jim never had the opportunity to lay out instructions for his family in the event of his death.

We are now scrambling to put out the financial fires and to be able to remain in our home of twenty eight years. Shortly before his passing, Jim did finally file for corporate bankruptcy after three long years of trying to pay back his creditors and vendors. Thankfully the bankruptcy was finalized before his passing, which left Jim and Sue with nothing and a struggle to meet their monthly bills.
At this point, Sue specifically needs financial help for the following reasons:

1. Jim was the brains behind his business operation, Sue will not be able to continue in that business model without him. As a result, she literally has no income at this time. (Furthermore, due to her young age, Sue is not eligible to receive Jim's SSI benefits until she's at least 60, and she is only 57).

2. Although the bankruptcy was finalized before Jims death, Sue and Jim still have a mortgage on their home that needs to get paid monthly.

3. Cremation fees. 

Jim's faith in G-d was always an integral part of his life and how he conducted his business. His strong desire was to recover from the cancer besetting him with the hopes that his testimony could bring great glory to the Kingdom of G-d. He continued to fight the good fight up until his last breath. Jim always told his family "Whether we live or whether we die 'WE BELONG TO THE LORD!!!'"

Thank you for taking the time to read our story.
Thank you for your prayers and thoughts for our family, they mean everything to us at this time.

There will be no funeral service for Jim at this time as costs are exorbitant. We will, however be throwing a Celebration of Jim's Life sometime this summer when we get our heads screwed on straight!

Please bear with us if you contact us and do not receive a response right away. We are still very grief stricken at this time and are trying to process this turn of events.