James "Jim" Plienis, 76, Beulah, ND formerly of Linton, ND died July 6, 2022 at his home in Beulah surrounded by his loving family and under the care of hospice.  Funeral services will be held at 10:30 AM on Tuesday, July 12, 2022 at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Beulah with Pastor Kent Sperry officiating.  Interment will be held at 3:00 PM on Tuesday at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan.  Visitation will be held from 5:00 PM until 7:00 PM with a prayer service at 6:00 PM on Monday at the church in Beulah.

Jim was born June 15, 1946 in Bismarck to William & Elizabeth (Heidt) Plienis as child number 11 out of 13. The family lived in Wing where he attended school. In 1958 the family moved to Linton. In the 8th grade his dad took him out of school to work for the family.

Always a hard worker Jim was a self taught, very talented mechanic. He held many different jobs including farm worker, Chevrolet mechanic and proudly served our country in the National Guard for 41 years.

In 1968 Jim went to work for his brother in law in Seattle. On the way, he stayed with his sister Viola in Missoula, MT who happened to live next door to a beautiful red head, Rusty. Jim expressed interest and while they shared a quick kiss at the bus depot, Rusty wasn't sure this was going anywhere. 5 weeks of letter writing and 3 dates later, they decided to get married. After informing Rusty's parents, Jim went back to Linton to find an apartment and 2 weeks later she rode the Greyhound bus to Bismarck. Jim picked Rusty up and she lived with his parents until they were married on October 19, 1968. From that moment on you'd never see one without the other.

His greatest joys came in 1976 & 1978 when they welcomed Travis James and Kameron Lee into their lives. From that moment on, Jim took the boys everywhere with him. Jim operated the Skelly station in Linton following this he worked for Emmons County. In 1989 he opened up Jim's Car Care and was proud to be the town mechanic who could fix anything. Owning a businesses meant many long days and at times taking parts off of the families cars to help out his customers. Due to health reasons Jim decided to close his garage and worked a few different jobs in the area until his retirement in 2008.

Jim proudly served on the Peace Lutheran Church Council, Senior Citizens & Library Boards respectively.  He was a member of the Linton American Legion, Linton Fire Department and also volunteered to help with many community events in Linton over the years.

He was extremely proud of his sons & all their activities. He loved attending each one and was excited that both of them found careers in the field of mechanics. As a family they enjoyed attending car races, demolition derbys, vacations with no set schedule & spending time together.

On March 3, 2010, Jim became a different person. His heart grew 3 times the size when he met his favorite granddaughter, Kynlee Jacalyn. As the years went on, whatever Kynlee wanted she got from her Pop-Pop, as he could never tell her no. November 9, 2011 Jim's namesake, Krosby James was born. This began a partnership between the 2 of them as Pop-Pop loved to share his mechanic knowledge with Krosby. The final piece of his heart was placed on June 17, 2013 when Kelby Jacob arrived. He quickly became his Pop-Pop's snuggle buddy and always loved curling up on his lap.

In 2016, at the STRONG urging of his children, Jim & Rusty moved to Beulah to be closer to their grandkids. The next few years were filled with some of Jim's favorite memories. He loved taking in all of their events and having family time together. Jim's favorite thing was to treat his family to a night at Kobe's Japanese Steakhouse. When we were all together, Jim's heart was full.

Although the past year has been hard on his health, Jim always enjoyed visiting, playing cards, watching game shows, westerns and seeing his grandkids. Our family would like to thank Sakakawea Hospice for all of their care and compassion this past month.

Jim is survived by his wife of almost 54 years, Rusty of Beulah, his sons Travis of Grand Junction, CO, Kameron & Cassie (his favorite daughter-in-law) and their 3 children: Kynlee, Krosby & Kelby of Beulah. He is also survived by many brothers & sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews and many loved ones he was very fond of.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents, all 12 siblings, his father & mother in law; Fred & Dorothy Gallwas, 1 grandchild, Austin & numerous loved ones.

In lieu of flowers the family prefers memorials to the Sakakawea Hospice Program.