James Michael (Jim) Lyons, 76, of Grand Forks, ND died Thursday Sept. 21, 2023 at Altru Hospital following a long, hard battle with kidney issues. Jim was born in Grand Forks on Aug. 30, 1947 to James W (Budd) Lyons and Mary “Dot” (Bennett) Lyons. He attended St. Michael’s grade school and graduated from St. James High School in 1965. Upon graduation he attended UND in Grand Forks and North Dakota State School of Science in Wahpeton. In 1969 Jim was drafted into the US Army. He completed his basic and advanced infantry training at Ft. Lewis, Washington. The remainder of his time in the military was served in Viet Nam with the 101st Airborne.. of which he was very proud. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. As Jim put it.“I was just doing my job”.
Harry’s Steakhouse and Hugo’s Pure Market were the first of the recent major downtown developments to be completed. Work is ongoing at other major projects, including a boutique hotel and mixed-use developments.
Here’s what Gov. Doug Burgum had to say about Grand Forks’ recent development efforts:
“I want all of you in Grand Forks to understand how special this is. There are few communities in the nation that can sit down … around a table and everybody's rowing in the same direction. This is why the future of Grand Forks is so bright and it's one of the reasons why I just love North Dakota, because this is one of the places in the nation, in the world, where it still happens today.”