Jim Nave
Interim Board Chair
Jim was raised in the suburbs of Detroit, MI as the youngest of three siblings whose mother was a LCSW and father managed a group of engineers at Ford Motor Company. It was the 70s, Motown and dreams of playing hockey were all that filled Jim’s head. In the fall of 1987 he made his way to Denison University where he met Peg Rodgers and started on the path to the rest of his life. They moved to Montana in 1991 and spent 5 years learning the ways of living in a small western town. By 1996, they were ready to begin their dream of opening a bakery in Joseph, OR. They owned and operated WildFlour Bakery for almost 15 years and started a family along the way. Their son Flynn was born in 2003 and their daughter Cooper was born in 2006.
If Jim was to define his life in one word, then family is everything to him. In 2011, he graduated from Portland State University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and took a job with Devco Engineering as a structural engineer designing cold formed steel framing for large commercial and private projects throughout the western states. His free time is spent with family and friends at Fergi and ice skating in the winter, while enjoying the lake, hiking and hunting during the warmer months.
In addition to his board position at Wallowa Valley Center for Wellness, he is the treasurer of the Ferguson Ridge Ski Patrol and the Safety Officer of the Wallowa Valley Little League. He also serves on the Wallowa County Planning Commission and recently started the non-profit Wallowa County Athletic Network (WCAN) to build community through sports and physical activity. He is honored to be a part of the Wallowa Valley Center for Wellness team and firmly believes the work performed in this organization makes Wallowa County a better place. Developing the Hearts for Health project has been his main focus as a board member and is very excited to be a part of this nationally renowned project.