Jim Yorke, 45, passes away at his L.A. home
Former skater worked with reigning U.S. champ Nagasu
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| Jim Yorke and Renee Roca placed fourth at the 1988 U.S. Championships, his best national finish. (courtesy of the World Figure Skating Museum and Hall of Fame) |
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Yorke competed on the senior level with Eleanor DeVera and Renee Roca. He appeared at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships seven times, with his best finish coming in 1988, when he placed fourth with Roca. It was also with Roca that he captured the bronze later that year at Skate America in Portland, Maine.
Following his retirement from competitive skating, Yorke embarked on a professional career with five-time U.S. champion and three-time world bronze medalist Judy Blumberg and, later, with Kim Callahan. He was also sought out by many skaters for his expertise in choreography and footwork.
Yorke touched many lives through his lifelong involvement in skating. Icenetwork.com caught up with several of his closest friends in the sport and asked them to reflect on his life.
Judy Blumberg (Five-time U.S. ice dancing champion)
With an assist from Brian Boitano, it was Blumberg who set up Yorke to skate with Roca. When Blumberg's partnership with Michael Seibert ended in 1992, Yorke called her to ask her if she wanted to try out. They met at a public session in Sun Valley, Idaho, and spent the next 3 1/2 years together on the professional circuit.
"He treated me like a gem. He was so careful with me," Blumberg said. "He was so respectful of how I moved. He wanted to move in the same way."
Yorke had recently become involved in Blumberg's life as a sort of surrogate father to her adopted daughter, Etienne. He came to Etienne's shower last September and her birthday party this past April.
"I'm forever better for having skated with him and having had him in my life and my daughter's life," Blumberg said.
Russ Witherby (Eight-time U.S. ice dancing medalist)
Russ Witherby first came into contact with Yorke when they were competitors at the 1981 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Diego, Calif.
"He was one of those people who was quick to compliment you on your achievements," Witherby said. "He was a very real person."
When Witherby moved to Los Angeles in 1996, Yorke was one of the first coaches to reach out to him to seek his input on some teams he was coaching.
Witherby tells of the mother of a skater who worked with Yorke for a couple seasons. She would repeatedly ask Yorke how he was able to get up at four in morning to be on the ice at 5:30 a.m.
"It was because he looked forward to working with her," Witherby said. "Him giving to her and her giving back to him meant so much to him. That's what he was about."
Lisa-Marie Allen (Three-time U.S. silver medalist)
When Lisa-Marie Allen and Susan Austin formed the City of Angels Ice Theatre in the mid-1990s, she and Yorke skated as partners in ensemble pieces. He also choreographed some of her professional programs and shared the ice with her in the TV special, "Michelle Kwan Skates to Disney's Greatest Hits."
"He had a special quality about him," Allen said. "The way he walked and the way he skated, it was such an exciting thing to be a part of that energy."
The Jim Yorke that Allen remembers is someone who threw his entire self into everything he did and loved. She recalls his unequivocal adoration for his dogs, a Weimaraner named Bailey and a Beagle named Syska, and his passion for yoga. In her last conversation with him, six weeks ago, he told her how excited he was about a new condo he had purchased in LA.
She believed he had finally found peace and balance in his life.
"He had such highs and such lows," Allen said. "He made you appreciate how fragile life is."
Andrea Brett (Longtime friend and colleague)
In the small world of ice dancing in the northeast, Andrea Brett got to know Yorke well. Yorke was partnered with one of Brett's best friends when Brett's mother made a poignant observation.
"My mother deemed him 'Prince Charming.' He was what we all aspired to find in a partner," Brett said.
Later on, Brett found herself in Southern California coaching an intermediate/novice dance team, and she turned to Yorke to do the choreography for their free dance.
It was Yorke's "exuberance, his joy" that Brett remembers most.
"He was so good with the kids," Brett said. "He was such an honest-to-God bright spot in the day."
Charlene Wong (Coach of U.S. champion Nagasu)
Charlene Wong remembers how supportive Yorke was when she and fellow coach Scott Williams would put on shows.
"[Jim] was a friend, a wonderful skater and fabulous teacher," Wong said. "His work with Mirai was essential to her development as a skater and an artist. Jim worked hard in his unique way to help Mirai raise the emotional output and sincerity of her performances. He would teach Mirai basic skating skills or ice dance on the surface when, in fact, the underlying tone of the lessons were of a much greater value. He really gave of himself."
Yorke's memorial service will be held July 6 from 4:00 - 6:00 pm at Pickwick Gardens in the Garden Room, 1001 Riverside Drive, Burbank, Calif.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Jim Yorke Scholarship Foundation.