James “Jim” Kay Hightower, a longtime Claremont resident, died on October 3, 2016 at the age of 79. Causes of death were advanced prostate cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
He was born March 22, 1937 in Kalamazoo, Michigan to Raymond Lee Hightower and Jeanne Matthews Hightower. His father was a professor of sociology at Kalamazoo College and his mother was an elementary school teacher and reading specialist. Academics were central in his family of three boys.
