James Alan Czaplewski
James Alan Czaplewski (Zap), 79, died September 12, 2022 in Mesquite, NV. He had suffered from respiratory issues the past several years.
Jim was born April 6, 1943 in Milwaukee, WI to Alois and Veronica Czaplewski. He graduated high school in Milwaukee and then left directly to join the United States Air Force. He later earned an associate degree in Food and Business Management from Southern Nevada Community College.
After a four-year enlistment working in Air Force security, Jim was able to muster out of the service at Nellis AFB. He chose Nellis because he had a childhood friend, Gus Piepenburg, living in Las Vegas.
Jim had vowed not to return to Milwaukee and work in a factory. Because of his Air Force experience, he was able to get a security position at the Stardust Casino and Hotel. He later went to work for Wackenhut Services, a government contractor in charge of security at the Nevada Test Site north of Las Vegas near Indian Springs.
Jim retired a Lieutenant at the site in 1992 after 27 years. During his time at the Test Site, he also helped with some security management at the Rocky Flats operation near Denver. He went to work there as a manager after his retirement from NTS and retired a second time in 1996.
He met his wife, Chris, in Las Vegas and married in 1967. When he took the job at Rocky Flats, Chris transferred to Denver with United Airlines. By the time he retired, they had a house built for them in Mesquite.
Jim and Chris spent summers at their cabin in the Cedar Mountains near Duck Creek, UT and later had a summer home in Ely, NV, Chris’s hometown.
Jim loved to garden and raised fresh vegetables every year. He had some very prolific pistachio trees, the harvest of which he enjoyed sharing with his friends and neighbors. He waged an annual war against desert chipmunks, gophers and any other garden eating critters that wondered over from his neighbor’s vacant field.
Jim is survived by his wife, Chris; his son, Byron ( Dianna) Tilby, Kansas City, MO; a brother, Charles (Sue), Waukesha, WI; his cousin, Diane Chase and her children: Kathleen, Sue, Jeffrey and Leslie; and many more cousins in the Milwaukee area. He and Chris were fondly known by all as Grandpa Jim–Bob and Granny Kiss.
No services are planned. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.
