ALBANY, Georgia — Jim Isberg, technical service manager for R.R. Street & Co. passed away on March 30, 2018, at his home here, surrounded by his family.
A native of Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, Isberg had over 45 years of experience in the drycleaning industry and during that long tenure, made a significant impact, helping to educate hundreds of cleaners, his obituary notes.
First introduced to the drycleaning industry in the mid-60s through his brother, Fred, who worked at a local One Hour Martinizing Plant, Isberg served various roles in the industry. For over 15 years he owned a successful drycleaning plant that he designed and built on Main Street, in Alberta, Canada.
“What some in the industry may not know about Jim,” his obituary points out, “was that he was past director of the Alberta Quarter Horse Association and, at one point in his life, was active on the rodeo circuit, riding bulls and bareback horses, calf roping, and team roping, and even winning the All-Around Cowboy Championship in 1967 at a local rodeo.”
He worked as a distributor salesman, it continues, served as chief instructor at Michigan Laundry and Cleaners school, and became a well-known consultant to the industry. Isberg literally wrote the book on drycleaning; his book Drycleaning 101, first published in 1989, is still in publication and is widely known in the industry as "the answer book.”
The obituary also says, “Those of us who were lucky enough to work with Jim could count on him for his professionalism, his wealth of technical knowledge derived from his many years of experience in the cleaning industry, and equally importantly, his kindness, generosity, and wonderful sense of humor. He will be greatly missed.”
Before joining the drycleaning industry, he held jobs with the Canadian Pacific and Canadian National Railways, served as senior rate and claims manager for two of the largest trucking companies in Canada, and was an account executive in both television and radio.
Isberg and his wife Sharon were married 35 years. He is survived by his seven children and 13 grandchildren.
Ccontributions in his name can be made to the Humanitarian Aid Fund or to the Fast Fund at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 2700 Westgate Blvd., Albany, Ga., 31707.
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