James Caldwell Foster

Dr. James Caldwell Foster passed away unexpectedly at his home in Ellsworth, Wisconsin on May 12, 2024. Born on April 10, 1943, James was the eldest of three sons of Dr. Mark and Dr. Ruth Caldwell Foster of Madison, Wisconsin. Although his parents had a medical practice in downtown Madison, Jim’s dad always loved farm life and bought a farm near Madison when his sons were young. Growing up, Jim and his brothers, Mark and Tom, may have done some grumbling about the chores they had to do on the farm, but they learned the value of hard work through tasks like driving tractors, painting barns, and chopping wood-skills that Jim carried into his later years, whether repairing cars or making home improvements.
Jim’s love for the outdoors and his interest in ecology was a lifelong passion. As a boy, he hunted with his father, learning to prepare game like squirrels and rabbits. However, when he was adult, he discovered that even the family dog was not interested in eating the lynx he shot and prepared.
While in high school he earned the Eagle Scout award, the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouts of America. He also spent several years with the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps as the captain of the color guard. His adventurous spirit led him to motorcycle racing, competing at venues in Florida, New York, and beyond. Jim often said there was nothing better than riding through Wisconsin’s rolling hills and valleys. However, when he met Diane Mohn, Jim sold his bike to buy an engagement ring. They married on September 3, 1966, and shared 35 wonderful years together, raising their three sons, Jeffrey, Justin, and Joshua, until Diane’s passing in 2001. Jim was immensely proud of “the boys” and delighted in the times he could spend with them to explore bike trails, watch movies or just shoot the breeze.
Shortly after Jim and Diane were married, he enrolled in the University of Wisconsin and graduated cum laude with a degree in history. From there Jim and Diane move to Ithaca, New York where Jim enrolled in Cornell University. He earned a PhD in history with a minor in industrial and labor relations.
Jim and Diane’s next adventure took them and their young family to Fairbanks, Alaska where he taught history for three years at the University of Alaska. Jim, who was always a great believer in thrifty (cheap) modes of transportation enjoyed using his cross-country skis to get to campus, often in temperatures that were well below freezing.
After three years in Alaska, Jim decided to explore another teaching opportunity and became an Associate Professor of History at Arizona State University. While teaching at ASU, Jim became involved in the Rocky Mountain Labor School. The labor school which is held every summer, gives local leaders and members of AFL-CIO unions the opportunity to learn about how to perform their leadership roles and make their unions better for all of the members. For almost 40 years, Jim taught a week-long class each summer on the history of the labor movement and labor unions.
In addition to the story of the labor movement, Jim made sure that his Labor School students knew the songs of the labor movement. Every one of his lectures included time for singing songs that were written by labor activist such as Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and Joe Hill. There was always some moaning and groaning on the first day of class when Jim told his students that they would be singing in class every day, but as the week went on, you could hear his students humming the songs they learned as you passed by them on campus and they might even start a spontaneous chorus when Jim sat down with them in the college cafeteria.
While Jim’s first love in the field of academics was teaching, he also loved working and collaborating with faculty. He served as a college dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs at a number of colleges and universities including the University of Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State. It was during his early years serving as the Vice President of Academic Affairs at Mount Marty University in Yankton, South Dakota that he met his second wife, Mary Louise.
Like many modern love stories, their story began when they met on the internet. She didn’t think they would ever meet in person because she lived in Minnesota and he was in South Dakota, but she loved reading the emails he sent every morning – even the ones that included links to New York Times editorials which he expected her to read AND discuss. Evidently, he liked her responses and discussions because they eventually had a first date and then married on June 25, 2004 at St. Hubert’s Catholic Church in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
After a very brief retirement from Mt. Marty, Jim was anxious to get back to the academic world. He joined an organization called the Registry which provides interim senior leaders to colleges and universities through out the country. Jim thoroughly enjoyed his time serving as a provost at colleges in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. He would happily say he was working for a “rent a dean” program. An extra benefit was the fact that he could visits his sons who lived nearby and was able to visit many historic sites with Mary Louise during college holidays. In 2021 Jim and Mary Louise moved to Ellsworth, Wisconsin to be near family. He enjoyed being back in his home state and loved visits from his sons and other family members.
Jim was preceded in death by his first wife, Diane, parents Dr. Mark and Dr. Ruth Foster, his brother Mark and niece Alexendra. He is survived by his wife Mary Louise, his brother Tom (Carol), sister-in-law Kathy, sons Jeffrey (Jennifer), Justin (Michelle), and Joshua, grandchildren, Jacob, Jenna, Nichole and Alexander.
A Memorial Mass for Jim Foster will be held Monday, May 12th at 11:15AM at the Bishop Marty Chapel at St. Benedictines; 1105 W 8th Street in Yankton, South Dakota, 57078-3725. Cremation and memorial services entrusted to the O’Connell Family Funeral Home, 130 North Grant Street, Ellsworth, Wisconsin 54011.