Noe PadillaLafayette Journal & Courier
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Greater Lafayette community learned Wednesday that Jim Pasdach, well-known, respected and beloved owner of JL Records passed away on Tuesday.
The JL Records team informed the community of his passing via a Facebook post, which read, “Jim passed away from congestive heart failure after a long and brave fight. We will miss his one-of-a-kind spirit, his confidence, his friendliness, and his encyclopedic knowledge of music. Rock ‘n’ roll music was his greatest love!”
The comments were flooded with loving memories and heartfelt condolences.
For many in the community, Pasdach represented the ideals of a music lover and saw his store as a mecca for those of inquisitive taste in music.
His passing came as a shock to many.
Pasdach's regular customers were always asking how he was doing, Hunter Butler, a manager at JL Records recalled.
Pasdach's presence at the store slowly took a back seat in November as he started to focus on taking care of his health issues.
“Our regulars called us every day asking about how he was doing,” Butler said. “He would update us every day.”
To say that Pasdach was loved by locals would be an understatement.
Pasdach operate the record store for decades, overseeing the music taste of four generations of families, Butler shared.
Pasdach originally opened his store in November 1981 in a one-room storefront at the mini-mall at 122 N. Third St. in Lafayette.
They soon outgrew that location, and in 1984, the store moved to its first West Lafayette location on 249 E. State St.
Even after the move to larger digs, the excitement around JL Records kept its storefront full to the point they could barely fit 30 people inside.
In the mid-1980s, Pasdach shared his thought about the store’s growth.
“I’m still amazed. We simply outgrew the building,” Pasdach said in a Journal & Courier interview published Feb. 25, 1986. “We lost a lot of business on Saturdays because people would start to walk in, see 30 to 40 people inside, and walk out because there wasn’t enough room.
“Our ultimate goal is to have the largest record store in the Midwest,” he said in that 1986 interview. “But we’ll continue to stick with used records.”
Many would argue that at 74, Pasdach achieved that goal, seeing as people from all of the Midwest knew about JL Records, Butler said.
Although, ultimately, Pasdach's employees believed that the true draw of JL Records was the opportunity to interact with Pasdach’s encyclopedic knowledge of music.
“I just remember him talking about music to the customers all the time. That’s what a record store is all about,” Dan Lumley, a manager at JL Records, said.
“You can’t get that from buying stuff online," Lumley said. "You can’t get that get from even going to a box store. You can only get it from a place like this and a person like him.
“He knew a little bit about everything and a lot about most things,” Lumley said.
On Thursday — the day after the announcement of Pasdach's death — Butler and Lumley went to open the store and found a red carnation sitting at the foot of the door.
Believing it was for Pasdach, they lifted it up and placed it in a pot inside the store.
“They’ve been a comfort for us," Lumley said. "It’s hard for us because we’re not just record store workers. We’re also like a family here.”
Although the music was playing over the speakers in the store, the room felt quiet and calm.
Normally the store would be full of chatter between customers and employees explaining why one artist was better than the other or offering recommendations of similar artists.
But on Thursday, the store was empty.
The only people inside were Butler and Lumley.
Butler believed that the community and customers were giving the employee space to mourn the loss of their leader, co-worker, friend and father figure.
But to Butler and Lumley, keeping the store open is what Pasdach would have wanted.
“We only close for Thanksgiving and Christmas," Butler said. "He would want us to keep it open today.
“It was like one of his wishes that we stayed open. He told me that. He said that when I go, throw me in the Beatles Rubber Soul lunchbox and keep the store open.
“I don’t care how hard it is, this was his last order.”
The Beatles were one of Pasdach’s favorite bands, and Rubber Soul was his favorite album by them, Butler said.
It’s hard for Butler to listen to the Beatles now without crying and thinking about Pasdach. To him, he was like a father figure, both in the real world and the world of music.
“I think the lyrics take on a whole new meaning now,” Butler said.
For those worried about the future of JL Records, Butler and Lumley want to reassure the community that they will be taking the helm to ensure the store stays open for generations to come.
According to the Facebook post, the store will host a celebration of life for Jim at a future date.
Noe Padilla is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email him at Npadilla@jconline.com and follow him on Twitterat1NoePadilla.
