James Snowden Salm

James Snowden Salm, lifelong advocate for children, world-class father and grandfather, and master storyteller passed away, following a five-year battle with cancer. Jim was born in San Francisco and raised in Noe Valley by his mother, Lois Salm (1918-2004), and grandfather, James Harvey Snowden (1894-1967), with help from his three older sisters, Sharon Sargent (Phil), Nancy Brazis, and Barbara Warren.

A talented baseball pitcher, Jim graduated valedictorian from San Francisco Polytechnic High School in 1969. He went on to play semi-professional baseball. He graduated with honors and distinction from the Robert Hutchins School at Sonoma State University in 1977. Profoundly impacted by his childhood encounters with the juvenile justice system, Jim attended San Francisco Law School, graduating in 1987.

Jim made it his life’s work to see young people thrive. He did this through his work representing institutionalized youth, as a counselor, and patient advocate. In law school, he co-authored critical case law that was litigated all the way to the CA Supreme Court, that expanded due process rights for minors. Jim mentored countless children and young adults over the years, from coaching little league to striking up relationships at the local shops, where he’d offer generous counsel on college applications, job interviews, and life skills. There was no child he loved to see thrive more than his own, his prize, Casey Kellogg. When chronic illness forced him into early retirement, he relished the extra time together. As a young girl, he told her bedtime stories from his own childhood. He learned to braid her long hair, and he used his own love of science to expand her world, creating a vast universe on her bedroom ceiling, complete with a retractable solar system. For a person raised without a father of his own, he excelled in the role. He loved her husband Walker like he were his own son, and brimmed with joy when Wyatt and Charleigh made him a grandpa.

Jim loved to talk about big ideas. A conversation with him could traverse the Big Bang Theory, World War II, the magic of Steph Curry, only to be interrupted to ponder the concept of infinity. Jim also loved to tell stories, and he was good at it. He’d hold court for family and friends, for nurses and doctors, or even store clerks. He could really spin a yarn, telling colorful tales from his youth, with his audience often on the edge of their seats! From the midnight police chase through the SF Zoo to go kart racing down 22nd Street to “borrowing” cars for joyrides, one did wonder if he was telling stretchers, as he called them. “Uncle Jimmy” to his adoring nieces (Janet, Sherry, Katie) and nephews (Mike, Steven, David, Paul, Joshua), he is survived by them all. Jim is also survived by his wife, Grace D’Anca; his consummate friend, fierce advocate, loving partner, and most gracious audience. He was so very lucky to have her by his side for 46 years.

If you’d like to honor Jim, please write to your representatives demanding the closure of San Francisco’s Juvenile Hall, consider a donation to a child advocacy organization of your choosing, or simply toast him at Noe Courts.