Obituary of Jim Loshbaugh

James (Jim) Randall Loshbaugh, born July 9, 1941 made his way to one more show in heaven on March 5, 2020. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Susan, his sons Jon (Mary Kay), Chad (Nicole), and Carey (Alysia), as well as his six grandchildren, Madeline Stein, Baxter Stein, Sawyer Stein, Theodore Loshbaugh, Eva Loshbaugh, and Henry Loshbaugh. He was proceeded in death by his father Albert Loshbaugh, mother Maybelle Loshbaugh, his sister Kathy Jo, his father in law Irving Stein, and mother in law Charlotte Stein. Jim was born and raised in Kearney, Nebraska but also lived several other places after his father Albert came home from WW2. Jim attended Utah State, Northern Colorado, Colorado, and Colorado State Universities. At CSU he also earned a Master of Arts for Teachers. Through the years Jim taught college (Briar Cliff), high school (Hastings and Hershey, NE), and middle school in Denver (Hamilton, Morey, and Place Middle Schools). Jim also spent time as a football, wresting, and track coach. It was in North Platte, Nebraska where he first developed an interest and passion for entertaining. The self proclaimed “122nd Greatest Magician in the Whole Wide World”, Jim started doing magic shows for libraries and small public events. Eventually he honed his skills making balloon animals, face painting, juggling, performing puppet shows and finally caricatures, which he continued to do even after he moved to Albany, NY in the fall of 2019. Over the years he did thousands of shows throughout the Denver area. He started every show with a resounding “Hello Jim” and called every kid “George”. Jim was always at home in front of a crowd of adults or kids, but was not someone who sought attention or enjoyed socializing much outside of work. He enjoyed old movies and western TV shows, following the weather, and spending time with the family watching a Nebraska football game (or any other game that was on). Those that knew him best will all have stories about how he played a joke on them or did something to make them laugh. He would pretend to eat fake bugs to scare his wife, catch a ride with some nuns while hitchhiking with one of his sons, show up at the airport in costume to embarrass one of his sons, and once even sent a fake lottery ticket to one of his sons and cackled in delight as his son realized it was all a prank. One of everyone’s favorite stories is when Jim would retell the tale of how he bought balloons for making balloon animals from a motorcycle gang (who thought Jim was using them for smuggling narcotics instead of for children’s birthday parties). Jim was a great teacher to the kids he taught as well as his own kids, and was always willing to help anyone learn more. He simply loved teaching and learning. He brought the whole family along on his adventure into entertainment by having his wife, sons, and even grandchildren learn and perform puppets, magic, or make balloon animals. Just recently he started viola lessons and was learning the ukulele. Some might remember his giant puppet truck with the family’s phone number on it, his likeness to Santa Claus, his ridiculously loud sneezes, or the fact that he never lost a game of Trivial Pursuit, even the Pop Culture addition. Graveside, Friday, 1:45pm, Emanuel Cemetery. His family will miss Jim endlessly, but will carry the memories of him forever. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Make a Wish or the Denver Rescue Mission in Jim’s name.