Henderson, NV – James “Jim” Curtis Naugle, 78, passed away peacefully on Saturday, May 17, 2025, following a battle with dementia.

Born on Dec. 2, 1946, in Lynwood, California, Jim grew up on Hood Avenue in Huntington Park, a small city near Los Angeles. He loved his scruffy dog, Tippy, and spent his early years helping at his father’s store, Tommy’s Market. In the days before barcode scanners, Jim was known for punching in plenty of “10-cent discounts” for neighbors—no questions asked.

He and his longtime buddy (and later his brother-in-law), Tim VanBuskirk, were active in Huntington Park Community Church youth programs and played baseball well into adulthood. They enjoyed driving Jim’s first car, “The Green Thing,” a 1950s-era Ford. Jim graduated from Huntington Park High School in 1965. He attended California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), until he was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, where he was stationed in Germany.

A lifelong Los Angeles Angels fan, Jim followed the team through every heartbreak and thankfully lived to see them win the World Series. He played in school baseball leagues and adult rec softball, and loved backyard games of catch with his son, Matt—known to Jim as “Moose Matt”—and daughter, Sara—his “Saradara.”

Jim spent most of his life in Southern California before retiring in Henderson, Nevada. He was a man of simple pleasures: watching reruns of The West Wing, enjoying pistachio ice cream, sipping Stater Bros. light beer, playing ping-pong, and forever almost finishing his copy of Hermann Hesse’s Narcissus and Goldmund. A relentless purveyor of puns, wordplay, and pranks—barely office-appropriate at times—Jim had a mind wired for wit.

He loved the language of humor and the rhythm of radio, from the suspenseful crackle of The Shadow, the 1930s mystery drama about a crime-fighting vigilante, to the hilarious LA freeway drivetime show Mark and Brian on 95.5 KLOS. His musical favorites included singing along to soulful gospel harmonies from Joe & Eddie, the sunny surf sounds of The Beach Boys, and the doo-wop classic “Blue Moon” by The Marcels.

Family trips to Yosemite, skiing in Big Bear Lake, and long drives with his impeccable directions (mixed with the scents of Old Spice aftershave and Marlboro smoke) were all part of the Naugle tradition. Many of his cars bore a telltale burn mark in the driver’s seat.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents, Thomas Jefferson and Zelda Irene (née Petersen) Naugle. He is survived by his sister, Janice Medeiros of Henderson, Nevada; his son, Matthew Curtis Naugle of Washington, D.C.; his daughter, Sara Anne (née Naugle) Anderson, her husband, William, and their son, Thomas, of Cleveland, Ohio; his former wife and the mother of his children, Louise P. Spanos of Sheffield Lake, Ohio; his niece, Jessica Moinichen, and grandniece, Emily Pearl, of Las Vegas, Nevada; and the godparents of Jim’s children, Tim and Joni (née Spanos) VanBuskirk of San Juan Capistrano, California. He is also remembered by friends, former colleagues, and extended family across California, Ohio, Oklahoma, and beyond. He was equal parts stubborn and sweet, witty and wise.

In keeping with his wishes, Jim’s ashes will be interred alongside his loving parents at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California. And as a self-proclaimed outer space geek, a portion of his ashes will be launched into space—fittingly rocketed to join Carl Sagan’s “star stuff.”