James "Jim" Vallion

James (Jim) Vallion, 87, passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early morning of September 16 at his longtime home in Oklahoma City. Jim was born on December 9, 1930 as the eldest of seven children in Panama, Oklahoma, where his father was a coal miner. Jim's childhood was spent at the family's home helping to tend the animals, looking after his younger siblings, participating in the local 4-H club, and attending the public school in Panama. After graduating as the valedictorian of his class, Jim was accepted to Oklahoma A&M University (now Oklahoma State University) on a $50 4-H scholarship and was the first in his family to attend college. He graduated from Oklahoma A&M in 1951 and 1954 with bachelor's and master's degrees in political science but maintained a life-long relationship with OSU. To support himself during his college studies, Jim took a job with the University food services department as a cashier. This was the start of a long and storied career in the restaurant industry. In Stillwater he met his long-time business partner Gene Smelser, who was an assistant coach for the men's basketball team. Together, Vallion and Smelser would go on to found the ValGenes Associates restaurant group in Oklahoma City. ValGenes owned and operated some of the most iconic restaurants in OKC for decades, including the original ValGenes in Penn Square Mall with its famous Red Eagle Room, Herman's Seafood, the Hungry Peddler, the Eagles Nest, and Harry Bear's. Jim and many members of his family worked in all these restaurants not only at the front of the house, but in the kitchens, at the registers, and the dish washing stations. Many of OKC's chefs and future restaurateurs started in the business at a ValGenes restaurant under Jim's tutelage and on-going support. In 1980, Jim bought Trochta's Flowers from the Trochta family. The business thrived as one of the premier florists in the OKC area. The Trochta's greenhouses on Broadway Extension are well known for supplying many of the poinsettias that adorn houses and churches all across the city during the Christmas season. During this time, Jim also combined his experience in the restaurant industry with his florist business to provide catering and decorations at many of OKC's biggest social events. Jim continued to be a fixture at Trochta's until his passing. Jim was devoted to OSU for his whole life, with a wardrobe heavily skewed to orange. Jim endowed two scholarships at OSU - the Smelser-Vallion Basketball Scholarship and the Smelser-Vallion Doel Reed Art Scholarship. Jim and his family were heavily involved in the University's establishment and refurbishment of the Doel Reed Center for the Arts in Taos, NM and he served as a member of its Advisory Council. Jim has also been a generous donor of works of art to the OSU Museum of Art. In 2017, the Oklahoma State University Alumni Association inducted Jim into the OSU Hall of Fame in honor of his transformational service to the state of Oklahoma. In addition to his support of OSU, Jim directly supported the educations of numerous family members and employees to help them gain the same advantage that he felt his education had offered him. Jim was a strong supporter of the arts and charities in Oklahoma City. He served on numerous boards, including the American Heart Association, Allied Arts of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Zoological Society, and Red Earth Inc. Jim has also received several awards including the Oklahoma Living Treasure Award from the University of Oklahoma and the Red Earth Spirit Award. The Oklahoma AIDS Care Fund (OACF) created the Jim Vallion Philanthropy Award to honor his service and presented him with the inaugural award in 2018. Jim was also a strong supporter of Native American arts as a collector and patron of Native artists. Jim served in the US Army after college. His tour of duty included being stationed abroad in Germany. Jim Vallion was preceded in death by his father, Albert (Jack), mother, Gladys, brothers, Jackie and John, and sister Nellie, as well as Jim's long-time partner Gene Smelser. Jim is survived by his sister Margaret (Maggie), who was his stalwart companion his whole life, and his brothers Robert and Clyde. Jim's nieces, Genea Vallion and Jamie Hunt will carry on Jim's work at Trochta's. Jim was the proud and loving father of Ann Sutherland and her husband David, of Dallas, TX. Jim's grandchildren are grandson Chad Cox and wife Abby of Brookline, MA and granddaughter Erin Moore and husband Blake Beeler. Jim's great-grandchildren are Nathaniel Cox, Annabel Cox, and namesake James Beeler. However, the list of loving family and dear friends is never ending due to Jim's generous and giving heart.