One of daddy's greatest loves was his love for music - he was a music man! He listened to everything from Frank Sinatra to The Beatles and George Strait to The Rolling Stones... He was in a band before I was born that I didn't know much about, but he did sing to me a lot when I was a little girl and he had a beautiful voice! Most nights, he sang "More" by Andy Williams to get me to go to sleep.

He enjoyed sharing his love of music with Rhett, Temple and I, and he took us to see some of the "greats!" He surprised me on my 14th birthday by taking me to see Brooks & Dunn, it was my first concert, and there we would "dance in and out of the beams of a Neon Moon." He took my brother, sister and I to see the Stones on their Voodoo Lounge Tour in 94, and dad and I snuck into ZZ Top (we did not have tickets!) and rocked out to Gibbons, Beard, and Hill in 1997. Throughout our teens and into adulthood, we spent many nights blasting the television to classic rock bands with dad, and he would charm us with stories of his past music experiences.

Daddy and Missy met my now husband, Whitney, for the first time at Tom Petty at the Gorge. It was one of the few times I camped with him. Whitney said he was "a little intimidated to meet the great Jim Hightower," he said I always "built him up to be this steady conservative with traditional style, who always wore a suit and tie." We all had a wonderful time together jammin' to Tom Petty. At the end of the weekend dad said, "we are all lucky you found Whitney," and Whitney said, "your dad is a real cool guy!"

Recently, daddy was trying to get tickets for us to all go to see Paul McCartney on April 28th in Spokane, WA. He didn't end up getting them because they sold out very quickly. One of the last text messages my sister and I got from him, he was super excited about the new Tears for Fears song "The Tipping Point - the first song they wrote together in 17 years!" Of course, he had already checked to see if they were coming anywhere near the NW, but they weren't. We were talking about music (as per usual) and he sent Temple and I this message that we will always cherish...

“The top 10:

1) The Eagles - 11 times

2) The Stones - 9

3) Led Zeppelin - 1

4) Cream 1/The Who 1 (tie)

5) Traffic - 1

6) Tom Petty & the boys - 9 times

7) Simon & Garfunkel - 1

8) Chicago Transit Authority - 1 + Chicago - 2

9) McCartney - 1

10) Tears for Fears - 2

Santana/The Band/Fogerty/Merle Haggard/3Dog Night/Fleetwood Mac/Crosby Stills Nash/Joe Cocker/The Allman Bros/Lionel Ritchie/Charlie Rich/Miss McBride (best female voice)/Dwight Yoakum/And too many to remember or list. They are playing “Mad World”, my third favorite T4F song (“Everybody wants to rule the world” is my second). Gotta go-sure sorry about Paul’s show—I screwed up-I underestimated the demand.

Listening to the words to "Everybody wants to rule the world” makes me cry! I’m seeing you 3 kids as you were in 1984. You are so beautiful! Still are!"

Daddy, I love you "more than the greatest love the world has known..."

~Olivia

My condolences to Jim's family. I first met Jim in 2014 at my first Dominos worldwide rally in Las Vegas. Jim was also our area supervisor in the Billings area for a few years after that. Jim was a great motivator and always greeted me with a war m smile and a handshake.  Jim was a mentor and a confidant, always willing to take the time to share his knowledge and wisdom on life and Dominos Pizza! I had the pleasure of golfing a few times with Jim and Missy in Idaho and cherish the times we spent together. Jim you will be missed dearly and never forgotten. It’s with sadness and love I say goodbye to you my friend. Love and prayers to you and your family Jim.

Until we meet again…

Jason Lunder and family❤️❤️❤️