Jim Thrall
George Donart
160 Posts

It's with great sadness that I have to report that Jim Thrall passed away Tuesday night. Jim probably started (and lead) more chapters of CCL than anyone I know. Anchorage - where he mentored me - three chapters in Illinois, and even Rapid City through his sister, Mary Diebert. Jim was a soft spoken, but determined advocate for climate action. He had an almost magical way of setting up a chapter, finding the right person or people to hand off to, then mentoring their leadership. I can't fill you in on all of Jim's life, but I know he changed my life in ways I never could have imagined. And I'm sure that's true for many others of you. We'll miss you, Jim.

4 Replies
Dick Smith
190 Posts

@George Donart I'm so sorry to hear of Jim Thrall's passing. It brought back some personal connections to Jim that I'd long forgotten.

In the early years of CCL (before Zoom and other tech) Mark Reynolds ran around the country doing what was, then, a 3-hour CCL “Group Start Workshop" to train local chapters with a deep dive into CCL's history, philosophy and goals. Around 2012, thanks to the organizing work of volunteers like Jim, wanna-be chapters were coming together faster than Mark could personally train them. So, Mark trained a dozen or so volunteers from around the country on how to do these 3-hour marathon seminars. I was one of those volunteers.

You mentioned Mary Diebert's chapter (Jim's sister) in Rapid City, South Dakota. I flew from Madison, WI to Rapid City to do my very first Group Start Workshop in Mary's living room. Fortunately, Mary was a natural leader who smoothed over the many rough spots and a new chapter was born. A few years later, I did another Group Start for one of several groups Jim organized in northern Illinois. Jim was a great guy to work with.

T Todd Elvins
3006 Posts

@George Donart
Thank you sharing this sad news.

We've updated the forum location so that it is listed in the “In Memorium” forum in the Sitewide Forums.

Mindy Ahler
191 Posts

@George Donart I know Jim will be greatly missed by many, but he certainly left a great legacy in CCL.

Here's a link to his obituary:


Theresa Quain
1289 Posts

@George Donart I only met Jim Thrall in person a couple of times, but I know he was a wonderful person - kind, generous, calm, modest, wise. I remember traveling on the DC Metro with him to Capitol Hill at my first conference in 2017. I was excited and nervous, and he made himself my guide, because he saw I needed one. When I was trying to start new chapters in Illinois, he was an experienced voice on the phone, always willing to coach or to help in whatever way he could. I am so sad that he is gone, and grateful to have known him.

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