Talking Old School: Guest, Jim Sursley.

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

In his 73 years, Jim Sursely personally touched the lives of thousands of veterans, their family members and survivors. And through his dedicated service, he inspired millions.

A native of Rochester, Minnesota, Jim enlisted in the Army in 1966. He volunteered for duty in Vietnam and served with the Americal Division’s 17th Armored Cavalry. During a combat mission in January 1969, his life was forever changed when an enemy landmine claimed his legs above the knee and left arm above his elbow. Following emergency helicopter evacuation to the 95th Evacuation Hospital at Da Nang, hospitalization in Japan, and extensive recuperation at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Colorado, he was medically retired.

Jim returned to Rochester and attended college before moving to Florida where he earned his Associate of Science degree from Seminole Community College. In 1977, he began his career in real estate. At the time of his passing, he was one of that industry’s most successful professionals in his community in Florida. In 1982, he connected with the love of his life, Jeannie Thompson. They married in 1985. He was a father of five and a grandfather of 12, two of whom, Brianna and Clara, he was helping to raise at the time of his passing.

The same year he started his real estate career, Jim began a new mission when he joined DAV (Disabled American Veterans). He rose through both the chapter and department ranks. He was named DAV’s 1993 Disabled Veteran of the Year and the 2001 DAV Freedom Award recipient at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass, Colorado.

In 2004, at the DAV & Auxiliary National Convention in Reno, Nevada, Jim was unanimously elected national commander by his fellow veterans.

A close friend of actor and veterans advocate Gary Sinise, Jim helped establish DAV’s partnership with Boulder Crest Retreats and the Gary Sinise Foundation’s RISE Program in 2015. Through this initiative and outdoor sports, Jim and many others have mentored and touched the lives of hundreds of veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That same year, Sursely was elected to the board of directors of the Disabled Veterans for Life Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C. He has been featured prominently in DAV public service announcements and through other outreach initiatives.

Jim was a proud life member of Chapter 16 and Auxiliary Unit 16 in Orlando, Florida. He was preceded in death by his son, Jimi, infant daughter Mary, mother Genevieve Hellen Sursely and father Edward James Sursely, a WWII veteran of the Army Air Corps. In addition to his loving wife Jeannie, he is survived by sons Dax (Marcia) of Billings, Montana, and Ryan of Apopka; daughter Mary (Robert) Sharkey, an Army spouse; sisters Sandy (Dave) Gordon of Gig Harbor, Washington and Diana (Ron) Hollihan of Rochester, Minnesota; and brother Richard (Michele) Sursely of Rochester.