James Daniel Balmer

James Daniel Balmer, 44, very suddenly passed away at his house in Indiana on July 2, 2026. He was born June 17, 1982 in Springfield, Ohio to Charles (Chuck) and Juliet (Davison) Balmer of Urbana. Jim went to St. Mary’s Elementary and Jr. High Schools and graduated from Urbana High School. He graduated from the University of Dayton in 2006 with a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering.

For the last 12 years he worked for Toyota Industrial Equipment in Columbus, Indiana as a senior design engineer. Jim was a lifelong member of the Cinder Sniffers live steam railroad club in Cincinnati, Ohio. He sometimes helped his dad building numerous steam and diesel locomotives. What he really loved was to run the engines, especially the coal fired ones. Over the years he enthusiastically participated when the family took the trains to various train shows. He was a skilled computer specialist but was interested in older systems as well. Most recently he was a vendor at the Midwest Region Vintage Computer Fest. Another hobby he had was a love of heavy metal and rock music and was a roadie for the band Eight Count in the mid 2000’s. He routinely went to many concerts and festivals like Rock on the Range and even sailed on the Ship Rock cruises. He was a regular performer of Karaoke at the Soft Rock Café in Centerville, Ohio. Jim was always ready to help his friends with whatever they needed, whether it was moving the contents of an apartment or pumpkin chunking.

He is survived by his parents and older brother Matthew (Jill) Balmer, Aunts Debbie (Bruce) Woods and Dottie Grogan, and numerous cousins. He was preceded in death by both sets of grandparents, Aunts Judy Fox and Barbara Siferd, and infant brother Benjamin. He will be sorely missed not just by his family, but by the many friends he made over the years.

Visitation will be held on Sunday July 12th from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Walter & Lewis Funeral Home, 642 S. Main St., Urbana, Ohio. A mass of Christian Burial will be on Tuesday, July 14th at 10:00 a.m.at St. Mary Church, 228 Washington Ave., Urbana, Ohio. Burial will follow at Oakdale Cemetery in Urbana. In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution in his memory to your favorite charity. He was all about service, and he had a kind heart.

This is Jim driving the locomotive "Pidge" at our home track.

Https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=ABixhzNuwVs 

This is Jim driving his favorite locomotive "the northern" at our home track

Https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=w4uDtnuKAOg

This is Jim helping his father pouring molten iron to make a casting. It was part of a full length DVD that Chuck made (with Jim's help) on operating a home foundry and making castings. 

Https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=_teUJiPFLd8