I’ve been very fortunate not to have ever written an obituary. Unfortunately today, I will, and it will be for one of our own.

Jim Pollock, our managing editor, passed away at 8:50 a.m. Thursday at the age of 59 due to complications from chemotherapy treatment for cancer. Jim is survived by his wife, Nola, and three children: Travis, Hollis and Quinn.

Jim had been with the company since April 2004, serving first as managing editor and then as the Business Record’s editor until May 2011, when he returned to the role of managing editor. He began writing “Transitions,” his weekly column, shortly after starting at the Business Record and continued delivering his witty, refreshing commentary about life and the business community until the very end.

Jim was a graduate of Iowa State University, and dedicated 35 years of his life to journalism, working first as the sports editor of the Marshalltown Times-Republican, then as a Des Moines Register reporter for 20 years, and as an editor at Meredith Corp. for five years.

Arrangements are being made at Hamilton’s Funeral Home in Altoona but are still pending.

If the news comes as a shock, know it comes as a shock for us, too. Jim began what was supposed to be a short chemotherapy treatment just over three weeks ago for what doctors expected to be a very curable, non-life-threatening form of cancer.

Unfortunately his body had a negative reaction to the treatment; he caught an infection and had to be admitted to the hospital shortly after starting treatment.

For someone who was a master of using words to slow down and sort through the hectic thickets of business, the quickness in which he passed away is hard to accept.

It was Jim’s wish, and style, to keep his personal health struggles to himself while he went through the treatment. He fully expected to continue working throughout the journey to health, and scoffed at any notion he wouldn’t.

He was preparing a column on his ordeal. That’s just who Jim was.

We’ve set up this Web page in honor of Jim, which features his first column, other staff favorites and a link to past columns. While here, please consider leaving a comment on our site (it won’t publish immediately). Jim hated to brag, but we know how valued Jim’s column and presence were, and we’d love to share that publicly with his family and the rest of the business community.

Thank you in advance for your support and understanding in these unfortunate times. We’ll continue to push forward, because it’s the one thing we know Jim would have required.