On September 28, 2024, James Richard Gault passed away quietly in his home in Overland Park. Jim was born on the Rayl farm south of Grinnell, Iowa, on March 20, 1932, the son of Richard and Thelma Rayl Gault, approximately two months after his father died. The family later moved into Grinnell. Jim attended elementary school there and graduated from Grinnell High School with the class of 1950. Shortly after, Jim enlisted in the Air Force during the Korean Conflict. He was stationed most of the time in Wichita, KS, serving primarily in the photo lab. After being honorably discharged from the Air Force, he went to work for Boeing for several years. He then went to the University of Wichita where he received a BA in Economics and Business. During the summers of college, he worked as a brakeman for the Santa Fe Railway. After a while, Jim worked in Texas and overseas in Libya for an oil exploration company. When he returned to the states, Jim became interested in water quality and engineering and went to work for Black and Veatch, where he worked for nearly ten years. At that time, he received a Master’s Degree from the University of Utah in Human Resource Management. This degree led him into a career of lecturing in Economics and Business classes as a "freeway professor," lecturing all across the Kansas City metropolitan area at Junior Colleges and Universities. Jim had many hobbies as well as a lifelong interest in learning. He was a natural born problem-solver. Jim worked with the Boy Scouts from when his son was a scout, and continued as an adult-leader advisor with Troop 257 as well. He worked for many years with S.N.A.W.S. (Sharing Native American Ways), teaching hide tanning methods to young people. He was a member of the Sports Car Club of America for more than 25 years. He was also a member of Bethany Lutheran Church for many years. Jim is survived by Marilyn, his wife of 55 years, and their son Tom, as well as several cousins and their families, nieces and nephews and their families. He was preceded in death by his father and mother, brother, several aunts and uncles, and several of his cousins.