November 11, 1946 – October 14, 2025

James William Wilson Ryder, born in Boise, Idaho in 1946, died peacefully in his Eastsound home.

He was a man of many talents: a builder of interesting structures, a VW mechanic, a dive tender, a musician, an artist, a lover of children and of peace, and a thinker.

James, his partner Margaret Alic, and their daughter Annie Louise, aged 2, moved to Orcas Island in 1997 when their drain field failed in suburban Portland.

They were eventually joined on Orcas — for both shorter stays and permanent homes — by the five other children: April Schumacher, Vanessa Jayne Vandament, Ash Ryder, Lilly Ryder, and Natasha Ryder, and grandkids Benjamin, Samantha, Autumn, and Madrona.