Roger Jump
1942-2009
Roger Jump, the former mill worker who became a successful restaurateur, youth baseball leader and mayor of Hoquiam, died Monday morning. He was 69.
Jump, the owner of the Casa Mia restaurant chain that started in Hoquiam, died in his sleep, according to his son, Steve Jump. He had been experiencing heart problems during the past six months, his son said.
Funeral arrangements, under the direction of Coleman Mortuary, are pending. A barbecue memorial and celebration of life service is planned for Olympic Stadium at a date and time to be announced.
Jump served two terms as Hoquiam mayor from 1996-2004. He did not seek re-election following his second term, but later ran unsuccessfully for Grays Harbor County commissioner.
He spent eight years in a very, very difficult time financially when the cities were just getting beaten up because of loss of revenue, said current Hoquiam Mayor Jack Durney. He was at the helm when tough decisions needed to be made. He made decisions in the best interest of the community and some people weren’t happy because of the decisions, but he was there and made those decisions.
Despite the tough financial times, city employees remained loyal to him, recalled former Hoquiam Parks & Recreation director Tanya Bowers-Anderson. The morale was wonderful, she said. When we went into the budget process, his goal was to keep all the employees.
The president of the Hoquiam Babe Ruth Baseball League for the past 31 years, Jumps main priority, even as mayor, was in maintaining youth programs.
He funded, personally, a lot of activities for kids uniforms, sponsorships and the like, said Durney. He did a lot of things unknown to the public supporting the youth of Hoquiam.
When times were tough, he kept his focus on youth activities and baseball at Olympic Stadium, Durney added. He moved heaven and earth to make sure kids could play baseball and Olympic Stadium was in good condition.
A native of Hoquiam, but a graduate of Aberdeen High School, Jump attended Grays Harbor College and Tacoma Vocational Institute.
Returning to Hoquiam in 1964, he worked for Grays Harbor Paper for nine years and joined the Hoquiam City Council in 1968. He also owned his own construction company for five years.
During a mill strike in 1974, he borrowed money from his parents and purchased the Casa Mia Restaurant on Simpson Avenue from Phil Bellafatto.
He could not afford, with five kids and another on the way, to go through a strike, Steve Jump recalled. He put in long days, 16-hour days, to get the business going and provide a lot better life for the kids. In doing so, he was able to get into baseball and other things.
Under Jump’s ownership, Casa Mia became successful enough that a second restaurant that he co-owned with former Hoquiam Parks & Recreation director Bob Knudson opened in Lacey in 1982. There are now nine Casa Mia franchises, from Puyallup to Richland, operating in the state.
He was a real bright guy and understood the numbers. To him, it was kind of a math problem, said Knudson, a partner with Jump in all the Casa Mias except for the Hoquiam restaurant. I dont think we changed much over the years. We were always kind of in it together, It was all a collaborative effort.
The Casa Mia has won several national awards for its pizza, including a first place in the Pizza Across America contest.
Jump was first elected president of the Hoquiam Babe Ruth League in 1978 and maintained that position since. He also served several terms as district Babe Ruth commissioner.
He was inducted into the Southern Washington Babe Ruth Hall of Fame in 2000. Four years later, the youth baseball field at Olympic Stadium was named Jump Field in honor of him and his wife of 46 years, Yvonne, herself a longtime Babe Ruth volunteer.
Under Jumps leadership, Hoquiam hosted several state Babe Ruth tournaments and United States Amateur Baseball Association World Series. He managed Hoquiam to the USABA 13 and under World Series title in 2004.
He loved it, he loved baseball, said Knudson. It was an absolute and true commitment.
He wanted to make sure all kids participated and that the program was fair (for all kids), said Bowers-Anderson, who was also involved in the Babe Ruth program in several capacities. Thats why he had a hard time giving it up because he wanted to make sure (the program) was fair.
Plain-spoken, often laconic, Jump was remembered as a man who put action ahead of words.
He was a hard-get-to-know person, but he had a great heart, said Bowers-Anderson.
He was a quality man, good family man, very caring about his community and just an outstanding human being, said Durney. Hell be greatly missed. He was a very unique and very good man.
The family is planning to open an account at Timberland Bank in Hoquiam that would be used to allow disadvantaged youth the opportunity to play youth baseball.
In addition to his wife, Yvonne, at the family home, survivors include four sons, Jim of Puyallup and Steve, David and Matt of Hoquiam; three daughters, Theresa Jump and Jennifer Winkelman of Hoquiam and Melinda Bogdanovich of Aberdeen; a brother, Mike Jump, who lives in Georgia; and a sister, Virginia Lind of Oregon.
Note: All obituaries listed here are copied in their entirety from their original source. Since those sources do not make these available in their archives, we have re-posted them here. Some information may be outdated.
