Jim Paschal, co-owner of St. Charles, IL-based Warwick Publishing Company (asi/95280), passed away on May 30 due to health complications from diabetes. He was 62 years old.

Upon graduating from Denver University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1981, Jim joined the family business. He and his brother Rob, taking over Warwick from their father Don and uncle John Paschal, expanded the original product line of newspapers and promotional calendars to include notepads, pocket folders, greeting cards and frames/folders.

Jim was a regular presence at industry trade shows, often traveling with Phil Martin, national sales manager at Warwick. “It has been a wonderful and memorable 30-plus years of traveling and working with Jim,” Martin said in a company statement. “Hundreds of shows and a tremendous amount of time on airplanes and in hotels and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. So many memories and laughs – we could write a book. Jim always had a smile on his face and a positive attitude. He not only was a trade show and travel buddy, he was a true friend. Life on the road just won’t be the same.”

Members of the promotional products industry are mourning the loss of their colleague and friend. “Jim was a teddy bear – always with a smile or that boyish grin,” says Scott Nussinow, executive vice president at Columbia, MD-based Artwork Services USA (asi/820124). “There was no pretext or pretense with Jim. What you saw was the real person – and he was genuinely that nice. Whether playing golf together, traveling with the Principal Connection or bellied-up to a bar somewhere, we all greatly enjoyed his company and his dry wit.”

Dan Townes, president of Shelbyville, TN-based Shepenco (asi/86850), considers Jim Paschal “one of the finest men” he’s ever met. “He was very knowledgeable regarding promo products, but also the world,” Townes says. “His smile, his attitude and his willingness to help someone contributed not only to Warwick’s success, but our profession. Anyone that knew Jim is a better person for him being in their life.”

Jim is survived by his wife Kim, his brother Rob, and his nephew Alex, who is the fifth generation of the Paschal family to lead Warwick.

A private family burial was held on June 8 at Union Cemetery in St. Charles, IL. Donations in Jim’s memory can be made to the American Diabetes Association or Evans Scholars Foundation.

To leave an online condolence or remembrance to the family, please visit the funeral home’s obituary page at www.yursfuneralhomes.com.