Re: [Amc-list] James Hahn

["Eddie Stakes" <eddiestakes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

And funny you mention that, as today, anyone who called I told them what
happened to James. And one fellow told me of a friend who took his own life
years ago in his new Corvette head on into a abutment whose wife had filed
for divorce.

I have been thinking about James all day, and have not looked thru albums of
photos for some that he would be in. I will get to them and make copies and
send to his mother who i talked to on the phone today. And really don't know
where she had the strength to be at work, but it is their family business
(Blentech) and if family ain't there no one is I guess, but she indicated
that they had a lot of calls from sympathetic friends and family. God only
knows how many of these folks James might have known as he as a really
approachable fellow.

As I write this, yet ANOTHER SWAT situation with almost identical markings;
a fellow has barricaded himself inside his house on Chimney Rock at
Westheimer and shots were fired, and several streets cordonened off right
now, and has been going on for several hours. Less than 24 hours after James
killed himself in Spring.

Even more bizarre was on the something on the NBC evening news about all the
foreclosures and suicides and how different people handle it different ways.

 It's really a shame and tragic no matter how one looks at it. His mom told
me 'if only they (mom and dad) knew how deep his depression was'. There is a
lot of anger. What a chicken shit way to end life, no matter how rough life
had got. Ther had to be someone out there, a priest, rabbi, counselor,
friend, even his mom and dad who would would have lent a ear, and maybe this
would be different outcome.

Instead, the big old jovial 'gremlin god' is dead. What a shame. Someone on
the news asked why wasn't Harris County Crisis Response Team there, maybe
they were, maybe they weren't, I don't know, but that team was developed a
few years ago and are highly specialized trained individuals to "buy time"
(for lack of better word) with people who may be under influence or drugs,
booze, or on top of bridge, or holding gun to someone's head.....these
people can usually open a line of communication when all seems hopeless with
the individual.

Almost monday morning quarterbacking now it seems as mom and dad prepare to
bury their son. And so it goes.

Oh, one more thing. On the exposive belt. James was a chemist and what 
quickly comes to mind is the movie Contact with Jodie Foster. And the bad 
guy that gets onto the launch pad with the explosive belt. James' knowledge 
of that stuff (see what their company does) he could have taken out 
everything from FM1960 north thru Spring and Woodlands if he wanted. He 
didn't, it seems more like a last ditch effort when lost wife, and as his 
mom put it 'they served him a eviction notice put him over edge' perhaps. 
Don't make it right, but I still found that really odd in the story that a 
cop or negotiator would mention that.
Eddie Stakes'
Planet Houston AMX
713.464.8825
eddiestakes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.planethoustonamx.com
email reply currently 5-9 days
8-19 day reply times, just call!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Wrambler242@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Eddie Stakes" <eddiestakes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "AMC/Rambler owners,
drivers and fans." <amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2007 1:56 PM
Subject: Re: [Amc-list] James Hahn


> The key to not doing this is simple.
> Always look for something else to do.
> Someone to call. A movie to watch, anything.
> The human mind does not want to kill itself. Give it an alternative and it
> will take it.
> Believe me, I've thought about it. Promised my wife and kids I wouldn't.
> Read lots of books on it.
> Talked to a few shrinks.
> Funny what pain does, you drive around or go to sleep visuallizind a
> pistol goint bang, or a nice big fat ole tree at 90 mph.
> Then you think, oh, yeah, the kids, the wife, I could not possibly do that
> to them. Plus theres to much stuff left to do here, or in my case watch
> being done! Also, what if I screw it up and end up in worse condition! No
> thanks!
>  Finally getting a doctor to right a script for some things that help have
> made all the difference this last week.
> No, don't send me a bunch of emails tell me to stuff a poodle under my arm
> and it'll all be OK.
> I don't wnat to hear about it right now...
>
> I'm good :]
>
> --
> Mark Price
> Morgantown, WV
> 1969 AMC Rambler, 4.0L, EFI, T-5
> " I was different before people dared to be different"
>
> -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: "Eddie Stakes" <eddiestakes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> What a devastiating blow. It's always tough to hear a AMC Friend passes
>> away, but doubly tough to hear one taking his own life. It's another
>> thing
>> to get killed in a car wreck or drown, but another to blow one's head
>> off.
>>
>> James Hahn was a friend of mine. I frist cross paths with him in the mid
>> 1980s, a big fellow, looked like a football player who towered over me.
>> And
>> wore a eternal smile. He liked Gremlins. Didn't care for AMX, Ambassador,
>> anything except Gremlin. You probably saw me write about him being "the
>> gremlin god" as he owned about 13-16 of them, and his dad was just as
>> enthusiastic about those little cars. Together, they seemed to snap up
>> any
>> Gremlin that needed a home; and in the 80s, many of the Gremlins were
>> usually bought at police auctions...one step from the crusher.
>>
>> One Gremlin in particular I need to mention. I was driving along
>> Washington
>> avenue here in Houston in the late 1980s and had it down to science to
>> where
>> I could drive slowly and look at the back rows of cars in the many used
>> car
>> lots on Washington, Harrisburg, Shepard, Durham and even College; as the
>> back rows is where the AMCs sat. On this day there was a small lot with
>> about 20 cars near Sawyer and The Pig Stand, and one front row was a
>> little
>> white Gremlin, so I whipped around and stopped.
>>
>> It was a 74 Gremlin X, white with 304, AT and beautiful Levi's interior.
>> I
>> tlked to the salesmen and they wanted $1500 for it. When I made my rounds
>> and went home, the first person I called was James Hahn. Not that he
>> needed
>> another, but this car was sweet, ready to show with little detail. He
>> thanked me and went and bought it next day for $1250 cash.
>>
>> That car he, along with beautiful wife Jaime, would proudly show at many
>> meets here in the east Texas area for years to come including AMC
>> Regionals,
>> and ISCA Astrodome. The little 74 Gremlin made the big guy with the big
>> smile have a bigger smile, especially when he would win a trophy! His dad
>> had another show Gremlin, a red 76, but this one they really liked.
>>
>> I talked to James just 2 years ago....and his work number at Blentech was
>> on
>> my desk here as I was going to call him to see if he needed anything off
>> the
>> 74 Hornet I am parting out.
>> Last night (October 24th) I was watching the news about a SWAT standoff
>> in
>> NW Harris County in Spring. Nothing unusual there, SWAT standoffs are way
>> of
>> life in big city. But unusual about this was the announcer said that 'the
>> man on Covington Place' had 'a chemical belt with explosives, and had
>> told
>> the officers that they knew what he does for a living and to back off'. I
>> thought that strange, but that was end of it.
>>
>> This morning, I found out the SWAT stand off ended as it was first thing
>> on
>> Houston news. The name seemed familiar, James Hahn. The firth thing you
>> think of is how many people named James Hahn in Spring, Texas that are
>> chemists and 39 years old. No, can't be. So I went to office closet and
>> started pilfering thru AMC Club of Houston rosters, as he had been a
>> member
>> on and off for years, not steady, just occasionally. There is his name,
>> and
>> Covington Place, Spring. No, not this big happy bear Gremlin guy.
>>
>> I told my youngest son, Jacob, who is 4 now, to watch cartoons of which
>> he
>> happily obliged. On my desk, I called Blentech, the work number I had for
>> James since 1980s. The lady who answered the phone sounded tired. I'm not
>> at
>> a loss for words but stuttered thru it something like this:
>> "Hi, good moring maam, my name is Eddie Stakes." "Hi Eddie." Yes maam, I
>> saw
>> some news report about a SWAT standoff in Spring and the fellow's name is
>> James Hahn and I his number is on my desk here and I just wanted to make
>> sure this is not my Gremlin buddy who works there." She said "Hi Eddie, I
>> remember you, and yes, this is his mother, and he killed himself last
>> night.
>> He had gotten a divorce from Kaime about 5 years ago and had been
>> depressed
>> as they mortgage company was foreclosing on his house." Insert stunned
>> silence here. "He had been depressed, and as you know, we are a family
>> run
>> business here." "I stuttered (for lack of better word) WHY? He is only 39
>> years old dammit!" But then quickly realized nothing I could say or do
>> would
>> easy this mother's pain. I told her that Paige & me would pray for James,
>> and also strength for his family at this time and if there is anything I
>> could do (their ain't) to please call me 24 hours. She said she was
>> thankful
>> for all those friends who had been calling expressing sympathy. I told
>> her
>> that James was just a big nice fellow and I could not even comprehend
>> what
>> her or daddy are going thru.
>>
>> I also told her about finding the Gremlin on Washington and how he was
>> like
>> a kid with new puppy when he bought it years ago. On my wall I have a
>> framed
>> 8x10 of my 68 Rebel convertible Machine at the ISCA 5 star Auto Rama at
>> the
>> dome from possibly 1990 or 1991. Next to it....is James' little 74 Levi's
>> Gremlin!
>>
>> She laughed as only a mother could do, especially under the
>> circumstances.
>> No mom should have to bury son. And all the questions. I just wished he
>> had
>> asked for some help. I honestly don't know what goes thru one's mind but
>> I
>> have been depressed before, just not to that pushed to the wall/no return
>> I
>> guess James was at with deputies serving eviction notice to him and he
>> barricades himself in there. The kid had so much to live for and nothing
>> to
>> die for, but again, no one knows what goes thru a person's mind battling
>> demons.
>>
>> This is the article in the Houston Chronicle:
>>
>> http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5244051.html
>>
>> I'm sure in coming days there will be more on this strange story that
>> sadly,
>> involved a long time AMCer, and dammit, just a good man I had watched
>> grow
>> up the past decades.
>>
>> This is a photo of James' Gremlin I mentioned above at the Houston
>> AutoRama
>> behind my Rebel.
>>
>> http://www.planethoustonamx.com/stuff/james_gremlin.jpg
>>
>> I probably have photos here of James, and chances are he is with or
>> in......a Gremlin, and well, wearing a big smile. Too upset to look thru
>> cases of photo albums right now however, eventually after the funeral, if
>> there is one, will do it and make copies for his momma of her son, as
>> usual,
>> smiling. Ya'll say a prayer for this young man, he was a joy to be
>> around,
>> and at any AMC meet, even non AMC meet, ws usaully first one there and
>> one
>> of last to leave, and would always lend a hand, unloading parts, picking
>> up
>> trash in park, judging, selling sodas to benefit chapter, you name it, he
>> was all that. God Bless You James, you will be missed by everyone you
>> crossed paths with in this life. I just wished you had asked someone for
>> help big guy.
>> Eddie Stakes
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>
>

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