MORRILTON — James K. Ettman,
77, of Petit Jean Mountain in Morrilton, Ark., passed away on June 26, 2020.
Jim is survived by his wife, Ruth Ellen White Ettman, his daughters Elizabeth Giovannini (Peter) and Aimee Mimms (John), and his grandchildren Ashleigh Giovannini, Anna Giovannini and Tyler Mimms. He is preceded in death by his first wife, Sue Ann Schwender Ettman, his parents Julia Curtis Ettman and Irving K. Ettman, and grandson Luke Mimms. He was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church.
Active in the band and student government, Jim graduated from White Station High School in Memphis (1960) and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1964). Throughout high school and college, he was a Boy Scout ultimately attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. Each summer he attended or worked as a counselor at the Kia Kima Boy Scout camp in Hardy, Ark. Years later, Jim worked with other former scouts to revitalize the camp.
Known nationally for his entertaining presentations on nature and local history, he was park interpreter at Pine Mountain State Park in Kentucky and then Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas. Jim was an expert on wildflowers, orchids, insects, butterflies, moths and Indian rock art, writing papers in both Kentucky and Arkansas on wildflowers and orchids. He was one of the first park interpreters ever to use multiple slide projectors simultaneously (as many as 24) to create shows with imagery that danced across the screens to teach others about the natural world around us.
Jim’s presentations were filled with his own photography, a skill that led him to his second career. Jim Ettman Productions produced large-scale corporate shows along with video presentations on culture, operations, management training and product sales. He was well known for pushing the limits of technology, and even developing new technology, to create mesmerizing art on the screen.
In his retirement, Jim rededicated himself to his passion of entomology. The culmination of several years of collecting and cataloging, a paper on the moths of Arkansas is the last project he completed. Still to be confirmed by Arkansas Tech University, he may have discovered as many as six previously unknown moths to the state of Arkansas.
A celebration of his life will be held later in the summer. Memorials may be made to a local scouting organization of your choice.
Service and arrangements are by Bob Neal and Sons Funeral Home #5 Bruce St. Morrilton, Ark., 72110, 501-354-1638. www. bobnealandsons.com.