Obituary – James ‘Hoppy’ Harrower
March 6, 2024
On 22 February 2024 the dogs were called and the fire extinguished when Wyoming native and longtime Alaskan Jim Harrower passed away at an assisted living facility in Harrison, Nebraska.
James "Hoppy" King Harrower was born in 1933 in Gillette, Wyoming to James King and Alice Harrower of Pinedale, Wyoming. Jim’s first home was the Willow Creek Ranger Station near Cora, Wyoming where he lived for several years as a child while his father worked as a Forest Ranger. His family moved into Pinedale, then a very small depression era town bisected by a single dirt highway, once his older sister Jean reached school age. With Jim’s father working as a Forest Ranger, Game Warden, and local historian, the family enjoyed plentiful outdoor activities with Jim growing up hunting, camping, skiing, and mountain climbing. Jim graduated Pinedale High School and then attended the University of Wyoming for premedical studies where he continued to enjoy the outdoors with his younger brother Bob and with several other Pinedale friends such as the Skinner brothers. He subsequently graduated the University of Oregon Health Sciences, School of Dentistry where he then worked within the Public Health System serving Native American populations in Wyoming, Montana, and Alaska. Never breaking from his passion for the outdoors during this time, Jim and his younger brother Bob climbed the Tetons and many of the Wind River peaks that set the stage for their invitation to climb Devils Tower National Monument within the 50th anniversary celebration. This allowed them to be among the earlier technical climbs of the monument.
While in dental school, Jim met what would become a lifelong friend and sharer of adventures in Tony Oney and the two moved to Anchorage, AK in the early 1950s to establish a dental practice on the main street of the town prior to its major development. This allowed Jim to pursue his true passions of hunting and flying. Jim became an accomplished aerobatic pilot, placing in the top three nationally flying a Great Lakes biplane and performing at such locations as the Reno Air Races. Jim was an accomplished hunter and completed the sheep "Grand Slam" early in his career with several of his sheep and other animals being among some of the biggest ever recorded. Jim also put together a career as one of Alaska’s most experienced bush pilots. As a professional hunter, Jim served as a guide for more than 50 years, initially guiding sheep and polar bear hunts before establishing the Stony River Lodge in the Alaska Mountain Range with his wife Dolores from which he operated his flying and guiding service, Northward Bound. As a Master Guide, Jim was able to train and certify other guides and is where he made other lifelong friends, such as Kenny Sailors, Wyoming’s own basketball icon.
Jim lived a true life of adventure that witnessed him detained in a Cuban prison with his friend Tony, tagging Crocodiles in Australia, being stranded on a glacier in Alaska with only his Swiss Army Knife and a few simple tools to fix his airplane, riding rough stock in rodeo events, and serving as longtime member of Los Rancheros Visitadores. Once his flying and hunting career ended, he briefly moved to Northern California with his wife Denise where he again performed dentistry supporting the Native American population before moving closer to his younger brother and sister for the final years of his life in Harrison, Nebraska.
Jim is survived by his daughters Kary and Kathy, his son Robert, his younger brother Bob of Pinedale, his younger sister Ruth of Cheyenne, and numerous nieces and nephews. A small memorial will be planned for the summer in Pinedale.
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