# Jim Gonia passed away last night.



## Ironwood (Sep 25, 2007)

Long time professional dog trainer, Jim Gonia, passed away. Such a brief sentence tell of a person who was bigger than life in so many ways;the successes with the dogs he trained and competed with, the people who followed his training regime many,his and contribution to the field trial game was significant. I will leave it to others to write of the man, his life, the field trial game he had an influence in shaping.


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## birddogn_tc (Apr 24, 2015)

Ironwood said:


> Long time professional dog trainer, Jim Gonia, passed away. Such a brief sentence tell of a person who was bigger than life in so many ways;the successes with the dogs he trained and competed with, the people who followed his training regime many,his and contribution to the field trial game was significant. I will leave it to others to write of the man, his life, the field trial game he had an influence in shaping.


Wow. Incredibly sad to hear this news. RIP to Jim Gonia.


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## Rainmaker (Feb 27, 2005)

My condolences to his friends and family, he will be greatly missed.


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## Wayne Nutt (Jan 10, 2010)

Dang, I trained with him when I lived in WA. He was a great trainer and always nice to a novice like me. I am sorry to hear of his passing.


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## Steve Shaver (Jan 9, 2003)

Wow. Sad and shocked at this news. Didn't know him well but have talked to him a few times and he and wife Jackie were very nice people.


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## EdA (May 13, 2003)

Jimmy was the son of legendary trainer Roy Gonia. I have known him for 40 of his 68 years and I always looked forward to interacting with him. His dogs were talented and almost always reflected his style. He had a great sense of humor and dry wit and never a shortage of a funny story or joke. To my knowledge he was in good health and passed peacefully in his sleep. He will leave a huge void in the retriever world and PNW in particular. My sincere condolences to his friends and family members.


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## 2 labs (Dec 10, 2009)

I heard this yesterday. I was hoping it wasn’t true I’m still at a loss for words. Prayers for Jackie and family.


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## crackerd (Feb 21, 2003)

Wanted to thank those who've commented thus far with personal reflections on Mr. Gonia, especially Dr. EdA and Wayne. When another gentleman known here as "Buzz" passed away suddenly a couple weeks ago, one poster complained that s/he found rtf despicable because so few people came forward publicly lamenting Buzz' passing. I don't think that to have been the case, yet it has troubled me ever since I saw the charge. I never knew Buzz other than his online handle and the "word in the blind" that he had bred some terrific pups. The folks who knew him - and who knew Mr. Jimmy Gonia and (the great) Mr. A. Nelson Sills - are kindly filling in their personal reflections to help us get to know what a loss their deaths are to the retriever and FT ranks.



EdA said:


> Jimmy was the son of legendary trainer Roy Gonia. I have known him for 40 of his 68 years andI always looked forward to interacting with him. His dogs were talented and almost always reflected his style. He had a great sense of humor and dry wit and never a shortage of a funny story or joke. To my knowledge he was in good health and passed peacefully in his sleep. He will leave a huge void in the retriever world and PNW in particular. My sincere condolences to his friends and family members.


MG


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## BonMallari (Feb 7, 2008)

I did not know Mr Gonia personally but I know many of his clients, contemporaries and associates. I also am very aware of the impact the Gonia family has had on the Field Trial game as we know it. All somebody has to do is look at that orange/clear whistle on your lanyard to see the Roy Gonia name. 

DrA hit the nail on the head when he said it will leave a huge void in the NW.

My condolences to the Gonia family and all his personal friends and business associates and clients..

Mr Gonia's accomplishments speak for themselves, he will be missed by the game itself along with the people who cared and loved him


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## Renee P. (Dec 5, 2010)

Well that's just sad. What a shock. Condolences to his family, especially Jackie his wife.


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## Wayne Nutt (Jan 10, 2010)

I knew and talked to Roy Gonia. It was long after he retired. But I always felt good after talking with him. Jim passed on to me some guidance he got from his Dad. Roy said you should never have to give 
reason for a dogs poor work at a trial. Because the owner will already have one.


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## Hunt'EmUp (Sep 30, 2010)

Shocking and Sad, we have visited with Jackie and Jim several times when down in Niland. They were always fun; their grounds are beautiful. Always liked to hear how hard grass was to grow in the desert, but if that is what Jackie wanted that's what she would get. . Seems there is a plague of these type of announcements of late. They can stop now


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## MikeGriffin (Apr 14, 2011)

I have had the pleasure of training with Jim for several years. You will not find a finer man anywhere in the sport. His tireless work with his dogs and clients simply cannot be measured. My thoughts now are with his wife Jackie and his daughters. RIP my friend I and my dogs will truly miss you.


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## wetdog (May 2, 2010)

A shocker when I heard also. I always looked forward to BS'ing a bit with him at a trial. As Dr Ed mentioned, his dry humor was hilarious to me and I never got tired of hearing it. Also, he always had a truck full of great dogs. RIP Jimmy.


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## Marvin S (Nov 29, 2006)

I have known the Gonia's for over 1/2 a century. Roy while Jim was a teenager & Jim during his maturation. 
They were masters at noticing what people did that made them useful to the dog world, Jim one time commenting 
that my wife was a good bird thrower though to the best of my knowledge he had never seen her throw. A 
compliment from the Gonia's about anything related to dogs was something to be cherished. Jim set the small 
training pond up that I have on my place. I day trained with Jim for over 20 years.

Even the dogs respected him, he showed up one day on our place, our heeler was not one to let a stranger go 
unnoticed, yet she was groveling at his feet like he was a member of the family. 



EdA said:


> Jimmy was the son of legendary trainer Roy Gonia. I have known him for 40 of his 68 years and I always looked forward to interacting with him. His dogs were talented and almost always reflected his style. He had a great sense of humor and dry wit and never a shortage of a funny story or joke. To my knowledge he was in good health and passed peacefully in his sleep. He will leave a huge void in the retriever world and PNW in particular. My sincere condolences to his friends and family members.


While everything Dr. Ed says is true only those who have lived & competed with him would understand just how 
true the highlighted section is, Jim made a lot of folks into respected handlers with his training of their dogs. When 
Jim was competing you better have your "A" game attitude on or he'd wipe you out. John Luther commented many 
years ago that the Pac NW was the home to many DIYer's. The Gonia's were a big part of that with the local handlers. 
I'm not sure there are that many folks here capable of setting that standard without the example in front of them. 


I was his dog truck boy on a few trips to remote places. I knew how he took care of his dogs & you had better be 
willing to pitch into their care. While he never complained about the judges his critique of who in his string had placed 
& where was a very interesting listen. On those trips nothing interfered with how the dogs were cared for. 

During our time together I looked at a couple of older dogs to buy, when I was too late getting my bid in he gave 
me this comment: "1st, you wouldn't have liked the dog, 2nd, you've just taken a person out of the picture who 
could have afforded a good dog by hurrying him into a bad purchase". 

I had planned on congratulating him on his belated & definitely deserved election to the RHOF at a trial this spring. 
Sadly that won't be happening & I'm still not sure what to do about that. The void is huge & it's just not about his 
place in the dog world.


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## Rozet (Jul 4, 2012)

Good bye Jim, you will be missed.


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## NateB (Sep 25, 2003)

Never had the pleasure of meeting the man, but his legend will echo for a long time. God speed Jim.


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## HarryWilliams (Jan 17, 2005)

Jim was a good sized guy with a friendly confident nature. Quick witted, multi-layered. A lot of folks, in the NW, thought of &/or referred to him as "The Man". He was a great friend of Puget Sound Retriever Club. When re-establishing club grounds for our trials, he & Jackie came out with his tractor and brush-hogged and weed whacked it so we could use it. The next year they came out and weed whacked on a weekend. The following year he donated field fence so we could prevent dogs from getting on to the road. He was indeed a generous person. Last November I judged a trial on their property in Niland. One evening I was leaving and he and Jackie where monitoring the water as they were raising the level. On the quad, Jim would throw a bumper into the water and as Ford returned they'd move to another spot and repeat. That way Ford got his work in as a retiree. Fun to watch and was a lasting picture of Jim at his best.


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## Marvin S (Nov 29, 2006)

As a young man getting ready to vote he worked for a cable outfit. The new guy always got 
certain jobs. When he graduated to the next level the guy who replaced him could not do his 
old job & they moved him back to the old job. Jim quit on the spot. 

He told me he liked the job & the hours, so had he not had a stupid boss at the cable house 
he dog world might have missed out on his talent!


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## Lonny Taylor (Jun 22, 2004)

It has. Been a long time since I have posted on this site but with this news I felt compelled to chime in. Previous posters are correct that we have lost a major contributor to our sport who's impact will be felt for along time. He did not write books or make videos but the dogs he trained and people such as myself that he helped and befriended will last forever. He was my mentor and more importantly my friend. He trained my first good competition dog and indirectly trained my other one by letting me include her in our workouts. He was a patient teacher and was willing to explain what we were working on with the dogs. His wife Jackie and I were good friends and played on a softball team together. When they started dating he would come watch us at our ball games and would not hesitate to heckle us good naturedly from the stands when we goofed but was there to cheer us on when we won a championship. We had alot of good times at the trials and would always give good advice and support when things didnt go well or was there to congratulate when we would kick butt. When I got married he was best man at my wedding and after that I moved to Kansas. My biggest regrets was leaving family, Jim and Jackie and all my other good friends in the retiever sport in the PNW. But I was ready to start a family. When I turned pro years later I always was able to call and quiz Jim about any problems I was having. It was a great resource to be able to ask one of the best in the business when you were stumped. But alot of times when I called he loved hearing about my kids and the things going on with them. I always loved listening to him tell stories about some of the grwat people in our sport. He was always honest and frank about what was going on. I could spend alot more time telling some great stories maybe another time. I never got to call to congratulate him on his well deserved HOF induction but was able to do via FB. If you walk thru that hall you could go that one and that one of the people and dogs that he had a part in putting them there. My heart aches for Jackie, Hillary, Stacey and all the other people that he also befriended. Will never forget you my friend RIP.


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## Happy Gilmore (Feb 29, 2008)

Lonny Taylor said:


> It has. Been a long time since I have posted on this site but with this news I felt compelled to chime in. Previous posters are correct that we have lost a major contributor to our sport who's impact will be felt for along time. He did not write books or make videos but the dogs he trained and people such as myself that he helped and befriended will last forever. He was my mentor and more importantly my friend. He trained my first good competition dog and indirectly trained my other one by letting me include her in our workouts. He was a patient teacher and was willing to explain what we were working on with the dogs. His wife Jackie and I were good friends and played on a softball team together. When they started dating he would come watch us at our ball games and would not hesitate to heckle us good naturedly from the stands when we goofed but was there to cheer us on when we won a championship. We had alot of good times at the trials and would always give good advice and support when things didnt go well or was there to congratulate when we would kick butt. When I got married he was best man at my wedding and after that I moved to Kansas. My biggest regrets was leaving family, Jim and Jackie and all my other good friends in the retiever sport in the PNW. But I was ready to start a family. When I turned pro years later I always was able to call and quiz Jim about any problems I was having. It was a great resource to be able to ask one of the best in the business when you were stumped. But alot of times when I called he loved hearing about my kids and the things going on with them. I always loved listening to him tell stories about some of the grwat people in our sport. He was always honest and frank about what was going on. I could spend alot more time telling some great stories maybe another time. I never got to call to congratulate him on his well deserved HOF induction but was able to do via FB. If you walk thru that hall you could go that one and that one of the people and dogs that he had a part in putting them there. My heart aches for Jackie, Hillary, Stacey and all the other people that he also befriended. Will never forget you my friend RIP.


We were just talking about you and your big giant hands last week. Lots of tears down here. We back to work. Would love to see you guys. Paul aka Happy Gilmore


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## Happy Gilmore (Feb 29, 2008)

Happy Gilmore said:


> Lonny Taylor said:
> 
> 
> > It has. Been a long time since I have posted on this site but with this news I felt compelled to chime in. Previous posters are correct that we have lost a major contributor to our sport who's impact will be felt for along time. He did not write books or make videos but the dogs he trained and people such as myself that he helped and befriended will last forever. He was my mentor and more importantly my friend. He trained my first good competition dog and indirectly trained my other one by letting me include her in our workouts. He was a patient teacher and was willing to explain what we were working on with the dogs. His wife Jackie and I were good friends and played on a softball team together. When they started dating he would come watch us at our ball games and would not hesitate to heckle us good naturedly from the stands when we goofed but was there to cheer us on when we won a championship. We had alot of good times at the trials and would always give good advice and support when things didnt go well or was there to congratulate when we would kick butt. When I got married he was best man at my wedding and after that I moved to Kansas. My biggest regrets was leaving family, Jim and Jackie and all my other good friends in the retiever sport in the PNW. But I was ready to start a family. When I turned pro years later I always was able to call and quiz Jim about any problems I was having. It was a great resource to be able to ask one of the best in the business when you were stumped. But alot of times when I called he loved hearing about my kids and the things going on with them. I always loved listening to him tell stories about some of the grwat people in our sport. He was always honest and frank about what was going on. I could spend alot more time telling some great stories maybe another time. I never got to call to congratulate him on his well deserved HOF induction but was able to do via FB. If you walk thru that hall you could go that one and that one of the people and dogs that he had a part in putting them there. My heart aches for Jackie, Hillary, Stacey and all the other people that he also befriended. Will never forget you my friend RIP.
> ...


Crap.. actually I'm wrong. It was Willie from Canada Taylor we were talking about. Sorry... he has huge hands... lol..


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## Lonny Taylor (Jun 22, 2004)

You are probably thinking about Willie Taylor from BC.


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## EdA (May 13, 2003)

Marvin can probably recount this tale more accurately but I will do my best given that I only heard Jimmy tell it once. It is illustrative of Jim’s personality, he who could make light of almost anything. When Jim’s dad Roy died it was his wish to be cremated and his ashes spread over the Washington countryside were he lived. Jimmy makes arrangements for a pilot and small plane to fly him so he could scatter Roy’s ashes. As Jimmy tells it they reached altitude and him, not having done sufficient research into such matters, attempted to empty the urn containing Roy’s ashes out the window whereupon they were promptly blown back into the airplane. Back to the municipal airport they go and the following conversation between Jimmy and his Mom ensues. Jimmy calls home and his Mom answers hello! Hey Mom this is Jim. Oh hi Jim, what’s up? Mom I need you to come down to the airport and bring the little shop vacuum. OK Jim, what’s with that? Well Mom when we tried to scatter Dad’s ashes they blew back into the plane and we need to vacuum them up and put them back in the urn. As the story continued that was done and eventually Roy’s ashes were distributed over the countryside. 

My apologies for any inaccuracies in passing along a funny story about a sad time but that is much of what people who knew Jim much better than I feel, sad with a little smile. RIP big guy, you made the world a better place and left me personally with some fond memories.


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## Lonny Taylor (Jun 22, 2004)

Ed you have it pretty well correct. I beleive that Jay Walker was with him when that happened.


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## Aaron Homburg (Sep 23, 2005)

*Thoughts and Prayers to all!!

Aaron*


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