James Alan Chrystal

James “Jim” Chrystal, 57, of Waukee, Iowa passed away on January 24, 2025. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, February 1, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. at Hamilton’s on Westown Parkway, 3601 Westown Parkway in West Des Moines, Iowa.

Jim was born on January 22, 1968 to Joyce and Al Chrystal in Des Moines, Iowa. He graduated from Hoover High School and graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Management Information Systems, Computer Science, Engineering. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Jim started his career as a programmer analyst, dominating his industry, rising to the roles of his dreams. For the past 12 years, Jim led as Managing Director of IT Infrastructure, Operations, and Architecture at Global Atlantic Financial Group. He took immense pride in his work, loved his job, and was a generous mentor to his teams. He was a highly valued technology leader of Global Atlantic and “to our tech team, he was family.” He met the love of his life in 1989, Yolanda Romeo, and they were married on April 17, 1999.

Jim’s family was the most important part of his life. He loved his beautiful wife beyond words and found his life’s purpose in 2007 with the birth of his son, Cole. Jim, Yolanda, and Cole took on the world together. They travelled often to incredible places with some of their favorites being Florida, Mexico, and Italy (where he meant to propose but could not wait and instead proposed the night before their flight). Jim and Yolanda celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary last year with an unforgettable trip to Greece.

Jim’s best friend was his son, Cole. One of Jim’s favorite things to do was watching Cole play basketball and watching sports with Cole. They also spent countless hours accessorizing and polishing their BMWs. He loved passing his car knowledge down to Cole and could hardly wait to give Cole his own BMW at Christmas for getting good grades. Jim had a true passion for cars. He was a proud member of the BMW Car Club of America. One of his favorite pastimes was racing his BMW in high performance driving events.

Jim was competitive and competed in bench press competitions between 1994-1997 at the Iowa State Fair, placing 1st in his “pure division”, benching 445 lbs. As Jim was quoted, “I didn’t stop lifting, I just stopped competing to give someone else a chance to win.” Jim was everyone’s phone-a-friend as he was a living encyclopedia of knowledge and endless trivia. Jim enjoyed fitness, focusing on weight lifting and bicycling (he had a love-hate relationship with RAGBRAI). He was a gourmet cook, but his favorite meal was the one he made for Yolanda and Cole, pancakes on Saturday mornings. Yolanda, Jim and Cole loved strolling at Brenton Arboretum, enjoying the peacefulness and scenery - it was one of Jim’s favorite places to enjoy with his family. Jim cherished all time spent with friends and family.

Jim is survived by his wife of 25 years, Yolanda Chrystal; son, Cole Chrystal; father, Al Chrystal; sister, Karen Chrystal (Mike Kuehn); in-laws: father, Joseph Romeo (Nancy Williams); mother, Bonnie O’Neal; sister, Maria (Jeff) Davis; brothers, Geno (Dania) Romeo, Alexander Romeo, Dante Romeo; loving nieces and nephews: Nick Kuehn, Alec Kuehn, Nicco Romeo, Austin Cordes, Drake Davis, Sela Davis, Talia Romeo; and many, many, many friends.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Joyce Chrystal and step father-in-law Paul O’Neal.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made via Venmo(@Yolanda-Chrystal) for a special memorial at Brenton Arboretum in Dallas County, Iowa.

The family would like to invite you to join them immediately following the service, for a celebration of life for Jim at Aura Restaurant and Lounge, 12851 University Avenue in Clive, IA.

Condolences may be expressed at www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com.

“We will miss Jim so much. He was bigger than life and a friend to us all.”

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