Jim Hinkle was on call seven days a week and he loved it.
The longtime Golden volunteer firefighter, who died after an illness just days short of his 55th birthday, spent 30 years with the department, all without pay.
A service is planned at 10 a.m. Saturday at Faith Lutheran Church, 17701 W. 16th Ave., Golden. A reception will follow at the Golden Volunteer Fire Department.
Hinkle would have loved being on a professional staff but had a hearing loss and couldn’t pass the physical, said his wife, Claire Hinkle of Golden.
His day job was being a heavy-equipment operator for the Jefferson County road and bridge department.
But his love was firefighting and the rescue work that goes with it. Many times, he pulled people out of cars wrecked in Clear Creek Canyon. And more than once he tended to victims of hang-gliding accidents on a butte west of Golden.
Strong as an ox, Hinkle “left a handprint on your hands when you shook his hand,” said his cousin and lifelong friend, Frank Young of Golden.
That strength came in handy before the fire department had the “jaws of life” equipment to open car doors after an accident. Back then, rescuers had to open the doors “with chains and hooks, rather primitive tools,” Young said.
He recalled one rescue when he and other men were trying to get a vehicle door open in Clear Creek Canyon to free four men.
“Jim came over and just pulled the door open and bent it back to the fender.”
Hinkle kept in shape, partially by running more than a mile several times a week while wearing a vest that weighed 50 pounds. Hinkle started his regular work at 4 a.m. and for many years worked 60 to 80 hours a week.
“Some weeks, he never slept,” his wife said.
His daughter, Heather Schneider of Pensacola, Fla., estimated he went on more than 200 calls a year.
James Michael Hinkle was born May 21, 1952, in Amboy, Ill., and moved with his family to Golden when he was 5. He graduated from Golden High School. He married Claire Hahn on May 5, 1984.
He was named firefighter of the year in 1995 and received the Fire Chief’s Recognition of Service award in 2005. He retired in 2005 for health reasons.
In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by his son, Timothy Hinkle of Golden; two other daughters, Heidi Tymkew of St. Louis and Tami Musfeldt of Boulder; five grandchildren; his mother, Doris Hayner, and brother John Hinkle, both of Golden.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
