The following was written by Mike Hillers, technical sales manager at Simrad Fisheries, following the passing of industry colleague Jim Brantingham, longtime president of Electronic Charts Company, Inc., in Seattle. Brantingham died on May 30, 2025, after a short illness.
My reaction to learning of Jim’s passing was surprisingly emotional. My brain registered that this is bad news in the milliseconds between seeing “Nate Brantingham,” on the caller ID andsaying “hello?” But even with recognition it was …. Arrrrgh! Damn! and a choked-up inability to speak.
Jim became an industry fixture as he shepherded Electronic Charts Company’s (ECC) stellar rise to become the standard for the Alaska and West Coast fisheries. That is how I knew him.
At first anyway. He was a stop on my way home, and more than once I interrupted a meticulous chart digitizing session that was in response to a customer’s needs. Jim’s dedication to ECC could only be described as inspired. Larger companies emulated and adapted to ECC’s dominant product. While the small ECC team was skilled, I saw in Jim a bit of Santiago watching the shark tear at his efforts as larger companies consumed market share.
It didn’t take too long to discover we shared an appreciation for conversation over a beer. We didn’t have the same taste in beer, me being on the two-decade IPA bandwagon and Jim, not so much. In the time I knew Jim, trends didn’t seem to impact him much. Stable is an apt description of Jim from my perspective. The stability of still waters, which, in Jim’s case, epitomize the ‘still waters run deep’ metaphor.
We shared a love of reading, although as with beer, we had different tastes. I am making myself a promise to sit down and actually read “Moby Dick” with the dedication Jim says it requires. Proust… probably not!
Reading Jim’s writings was surprisingly pleasurable and exposed me to both Third Place Books and the great expanse of wood in Pub, below, and of course Die Bierstube.
Jim had, if you were listening, a quiet ability to connect. Indeed, though never the center of attention, he was an interesting fabric that connected people.
Great to know you, Jim!
