James (Jim) Albert Vedro, 67, passed away Saturday May 28th at General Memorial Hospital after a lengthy illness.

Jim was born in Wilkes-Barre July 16, 1954 to John and Virginia Vedro and was a 1972 graduate of Coughlin High School. His happiest memories of his parents include fishing with his dad and watching sports at the kitchen table with his mom. He spent the vast majority of his life not far from his childhood home. Jim would often share stories of the fun times he had growing up with his brother and sister, John and Donna. He loved bringing up stories and reminiscing about their childhood tales.

Jim married Barbara "BJ" Casey (lovingly nicknamed "B") in 1980 and although their marriage ended decades later, their friendship lasted forever as they continued to enjoy one another's company. James never got tired of teasing, pranking, and joking - especially at her expense. B now waits for the day to fall for another one of his silly pranks.

Throughout his life, Jim would work nights, weekends, overtime, & swing-shifts to make sure he provided for his family. He organized his work life in such a way as to never miss anything important in his family's life. He never complained about the countless hours, the sleepless nights or the grueling schedule as long as his family was happy.

Jim and BJ raised four children, Jesse, Aaron, Jared, & Justine. Each had their own unique relationship with him. He will be greatly missed and the void he has created is tremendous.

Jim was an avid Steelers fan and enjoyed traveling to stadiums with his daughter or yelling at the tv in his local pub or at his kitchen table. Son Jared loved how his father would still come watch him play softball. Both his daughter and son will forever miss him in the stands.

One of Jim's favorite memories he liked to talk about was a cruise he took to Bermuda with his family in 2012. Many memories were made during that trip that we will cherish forever.

Jim had a unique personality. Although stubborn and argumentative at times, he had a softer side that surfaced much more often. He was always available to lend a helping hand to friends and family, but would also joke about how much it was going to cost them.

We joke, Jim came out of the womb with his first one-liner & he was writing jokes his entire life. His puns and dad jokes were second to none and he would often wake his children with texts of funny one-liners. In his opinion, there was never a situation that he couldn't turn into a joke. He thought humor was the best medicine and was genuinely happiest when making others smile and laugh.

Aside from humor, Jim loved food (believe us, he'd want this in here). He was a simple man who enjoyed a good Nardone's or Serpico pizza and a few hot dogs. Upon his death, his son and daughter have actually found hundreds of recipes for foods he never made, dozens of which were saved (hilariously) under the category "hot dog sauces." He was always cooking for himself and others while trying to pawn his leftovers onto anyone who visited.

Jim had many friends & acquaintances and truly loved spending time with many of them at his local pub, Leisure Tavern. He enjoyed the relationships, banter, pool, food, and the company. Jim will be sorely missed by his drinking buddies.

Jim was always the life of the party and, in his later years, never missed the opportunity to attend game nights or bbqs. Although mobility and illness made it difficult, he was there and loved spending time with his family- especially his grandkids. Aubree and Asher will forever miss "the donut man" because Grandpa never came to visit empty handed.

Jim was preceded in death by both parents, John and Virginia Vedro and father-in-law, Donald Casey. He is survived by his ex-wife, "B," children, Jesse, Aaron, Jared & wife Julie aka "favorite daughter-in-law", Justine & husband Keith aka  "favorite son-in-law" (because they were his only), grandchildren Aubree, Asher, Alex, and Kolbe, brother John & wife Linda, sister Donna & husband Lenny, many cousins, nieces, nephews, family, friends…and even a couple enemies.

Even at death, Jim was avid about providing for his family. Being said, he was adamant about not having a viewing or funeral and made the family promise to uphold his wishes. He has chosen to have his remains placed in a location where he has fond memories with his family.

His son Jared had the opportunity to share Jesus with him years ago and we truly believe he will now forever be tossing his one-liners in heaven. There is not a day he will not be remembered & missed and we long for the day we will see him again.

Dad, we wish you were here to tell you a joke we heard about pizza…you'd think it was really cheesy. Hope you're laughing.

Until we meet again. We love you.