James P. Van Dyke of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin passed away on March 7, 2026, after a 10-year battle with a recurring cancer that ultimately claimed his liver but not his spirit. He went far too soon but left this world with a full head of hair and an impressively bushy beard, both of which he took great care and was very proud.

He was husband to Joyce Wolburg, father to Sarah Larsen (husband Jared), stepfather to Leslie (husband Dave) and Eric (wife Felicia) Wolburg, and grandfather to Taliesin, Shadrach, Kieran, and Alric Larsen, Aubrea Nelligan, Brendan and Charli Wolburg, and Kyla and Ayden Morgan, who called him Jimpa.

Jim grew up in Cairo, NY, with his parents George and Anna and brothers Bill and Pieter. He graduated from Cairo-Durham High School and attended community college, studying radio broadcasting. He later attended Murray State University in Kentucky where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Geology and later earned a master’s degree in Journalism. In Hattiesburg, Mississippi, he worked in news radio where his smooth voice and nondescript accent were an asset.

In 1990, he moved to Knoxville and earned a PhD in Communications from the University of Tennessee, where he met Joyce. Upon graduation, he moved to Maryville, Missouri to teach Film Studies at Northwest Missouri State University for four years until he got a job teaching Journalism and Communications at Marian College in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin in 1997 and was finally able to join Joyce, who was teaching at Marquette University in Milwaukee. When Marian College became Marian University, he became the first Dean of the School of Arts, Humanities and Letters. In 2014, he retired as the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. While he enjoyed teaching, what he especially loved was advising and mentoring students, and he became fond of many of them.

He was a master level cat owner, some say a cat-whisperer, and is greatly missed by his adopted kitty, Niko, with whom Jim spent many enjoyable hours playing a game where Niko sometimes chased and sometimes mostly observed the antics of his stuffed bunny (named Bunny) tied to a stick.

Jim read broadly, from history to Scandinavian noir and had a wide range of interests, including classic cars, British mysteries, and 1950’s monster movies-the weirder the better. When he developed an interest in a topic, he devoted considerable time and energy to it until he had an encyclopedic knowledge of it, sometimes creating Wikipedia pages. This along with his incredible memory made him exceptionally good at trivia. He was the kind of person who could always find a topic of conversation, if he felt inclined to conversation, that is, though, as someone with anxiety and introverted tendencies, this was not always the case. But rest assured, if he wasn’t in the mood for a chat, it probably wasn’t you. Probably.

In accordance with the family’s wishes, no formal services will be held, and a private remembrance will be held for the family at a later date. Memorial donations may be made to the Falls Area Food Pantry or the Wisconsin Humane Society.