James J. Hart, 29, died suddenly on March 30, 2014. He is survived by his mother, Donna Lynn (Holmes) Hart, father James J. Hart, Sr (Dona); Dear brother of Brooke Lynn Hart and Donald Charles Hart; also survived by grandmother Ann Holmes and many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends and his dog Braddock. He is preceded in death by his maternal grandfather Donald Holmes and paternal grandparents James A and Lucille M. Hart. Jimmy, for those who new him and those who would come to know him was a wonderful, kind, caring person. From his early days when he first moved to Mantua and only wanted to fit in as the "newcomer" to his later days as a standout soccer and football player at Clearview High School, Jimmy just liked people and they gravitated to him. When he moved on to college at Widener University and Arizona State, his look on the world around him and how he was going to fit into it started to change. The idea of a 9 to 5 job, fancy cars and high paying jobs was starting to clash with his new found love of adventure, something that had taken hold of him and would not let go. Jimmy was an avid reader of Jack Kerouac (On the Road) and Ernest Hemmingway (The Sun also Rises) and other great authors and poet's alike. From his readings, Jimmy was hooked and his adventure began. He left Arizona State a changed person who was out to leave a footprint of his own on the world. He moved to Los Angeles with friends to study art and photography at the Art Institute. This was a time where Jimmy's love for the world around him really blossomed. He began to see the world as a place of adventure and journeys and he was not going to be left behind. Once again with his brother Donnie by his side, he packed up what few things he had along with his faithful dog, Braddock and they drove cross country meeting new friends and starting the adventure that would be his life and legacy. Once home, he worked to be able to finance his dream of travel, rejoined old friends, made new ones and started to investigate where he would go on his journey. In March, 2013, he sold whatever belongings he did not need and with a backpack full of necessities, he left for Europe where his ultimate journey would be the Camino de Santiago de Compostella, a 500 mile religious pilgrimage from the border of France to Northern Spain. He traveled thru Iceland and Barcelona, working on farms and meeting people whose life he would forever touch and change. On his journey on the Camino de Santiago, he would meet a friend, Mark Gamson. Though they didn't know it they were to be come best of friends. Jimmy returned to the states in mid summer and started to plan his next great adventure. Southeast Asia to Jimmy was a very interesting place to go. Mysterious places and people and new adventures at every turn. So on January 17, 2014, after spending the previous day with his sister Brooke, brother Donald and his mother Donna for her birthday celebration, Jimmy was off with his childhood friend Derek Miller to explore the country of Southeast Asia. They traveled thru Bangkok, Thailand to Laos then motor biked down thru Vietnam into Cambodia by the end of March, 2014. They visited Tiger and Elephant sanctuaries, traveled to remote islands to sleep in tree houses (something Jimmy loved from the TV show). Jimmy's love for people and children was never more evident then here where he befriended school children with gifts of toy dinosaurs which were his favorite. He had a love for Tyrannosaurus Rex that followed him everywhere. They stayed at guest houses and were invited into villager’s homes for meals as if they were long lost family members. As one well wished wrote "Everyone needs a Jimmy Hart in their life"
As they were preparing their last leg of their trip which was to conclude around the end of May in time for a trip home to attend another close friends wedding in June, and no doubt another plan for another adventure, they headed off to a town in Northwest Cambodia. Here they traveled and stayed on a remote island in huts where Jimmy stated "I have found paradise". Jimmy would want to be remembered by his family and friends as someone who enjoyed life to its fullest. Someone who saw something not as an obstacle, but as an adventure. As his favorite author wrote and Jimmy lived by: "The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a common place thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars. -Jack Kerouac "MAD TO LIVE". In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the fund, "www.gofundme.com/JamesHart or to TD Bank where checks can be made out to the "Jimmy Hart Memorial Fund" and mailed to TD Bank P.O. Box 729 Mullica Hill, NJ 08062.
All monies received that exceed the expenses will be retained and a scholarship fund will be established in Jimmy's name at Clearview Regional High School. Family and Friends are invited to visit Saturday April 12th from 9:30am to 12pm at Church of the Incarnation 240 Main St. Mantua, NJ 08051. Mass of Christian Burial to be held at 12 Noon. Memories and condolences can be shared at www.smithfhmantua.com