District 8 bridge players lost a good friend and devoted volunteer with the recent death of Jim Pelletier of Fort Wayne IN. Jim, age 60, passed away on Saturday, July 26 at Lutheran Hospital.

Jim was born on Jan. 23, 1948 in Salem MA and was retired from a long career with General Electric Company in Fort Wayne. He was active in many community organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America, the Fort Wayne Youth Hockey program and the Ice Skating Club.

His volunteer work for bridge is especially notable. Jim was the long-time chairman of the Fort Wayne Fall Festival Regional and was recently elected as president of the Northern Indiana Bridge Association. He served as treasurer of the Fort Wayne Duplicate Club and reporter for the Midwest Monitor and District 8 Advocate bridge newsletters. He was named to the ACBL Goodwill Committee in 1997.

Jim was also an accomplished player with more than 2100 career masterpoints. He won the Flight B championship of the District 8 Grand National Teams in 1996 and won more than 230 masterpoints in 2007.

Our sympathies go out to Jim's wife, Donna, and their three children and two grandchildren. Two of Jim's regular partners in Fort Wayne were Bob Carteaux and Joe Shull. Bob writes: "Jim was much more than a partner who sometimes played bridge with me. More important, he was a great friend, and he will be greatly missed by us all."

We were saddened by the death of former District 8 member Paul Womack of Bella Vista, Arkansas. Paul, who was 72, died on June 7, 2008 at the Health South Rehabilitation Hospital in Fayetteville AR.

Paul was born July 13, 1935 in Danville IL and earned a degree in business management and education from Illinois University at Macomb in 1957. He worked for the International Logistics Directorate for the U.S. Military for many years.

Paul lived in the Illinois Quad Cities area and St. Louis during the 1970s and 1980s and was an active and successful player in District 8 clubs and tournaments during those years. In 1993, he moved to Bella Vista AR, where he enjoyed golf, poker and playing at the local duplicate bridge club. Paul was a sports enthusiast and longtime fan of the Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bears.

He is survived by his wife, Diane, a son and daughter, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.