CARSON CITY -- Former state Climatologist John James died Monday in Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno after a long bout with Parkinson's disease. He was 73.

James served as state climatologist for 23 years before his retirement in June 2004. He also had been a geography professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.

"I want to remember him as an amazing dad, a devoted father and a great educator," said his son Mark James, a Las Vegas lawyer who formerly served as a state senator and Clark County commissioner. "He loved the weather. He lived and breathed it."

Mark James said one of the last photos taken of his father before he has hospitalized shows him wearing a T-shirt with the inscription "Mr. Weather to you."

A memorial service will be conducted 10 a.m. Saturday at Mountain View Mortuary, 425 Stoker St., in Reno.

As climatologist, James maintained weather records taken by about 100 observers in backyard weather stations throughout the state.

His fascination with Nevada's weather, especially severe weather, was unparalleled. During an interview before his retirement he even compared his own struggles with Parkinson's with Nevada's worsening weather.

"There is no way we can continue to have the growth with the kind of weather numbers we are recording," he said. "I see Nevada weather dragging along slowly like me, but getting worse in the long run."

As climatologist, he frequently expressed concern about the long-term availability of water, particularly for Las Vegas. But he added that people would pay whatever was necessary for water.

"They aren't cutting back on gas because of high prices, and they will pay whatever it takes for a house with a pool."

During the administration of Gov. Richard Bryan, James had been appointed chairman of the Governor's Drought Committee at a time when Nevada was going through a long drought.

"Occasionally you will have a good year," said James during an interview. "But the rainfall in the state is going down in the long term."

He had been diagnosed in 2001 with Parkinson's disease, a nerve disorder that caused him to stutter, lose his balance and his legs to shake. Muhammad Ali and Michael J. Fox suffer from the same disease.

It was a hard knock for James to take, since he had been an athlete much of his life, playing tackle on the University of Oregon football team and putting the shot on the track team.

James would run seven or eight miles a day in the foothills around Reno, where he lived for many years. He even ran a couple of miles a day after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's. As the disease worsened, he walked up to the time of his hospitalization in June.

He first became interested in the weather while serving as a military cartographer in Korea during the Korean War.

James had spend part of his childhood in Henderson, but moved away to attend high school in Roseville, Calif. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Oregon. After teaching in Colorado and California, he moved to Nevada in 1969 to help found the Sierra Nevada College at Incline Village.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Lois, in 2003. Along with his son Mark, survivors include his son Lee of Reno, and daughter Cathy-Lee of Virginia City. He is also survived by five grandchildren.

The family requests donations to the Keep the Memory Alive Foundation, 9101 W. Sahara Ave., PMB 105-117, Las Vegas, NV., 89117.