Woodland, CA – James Henry Ratner passed away on November 2, 2025 at home in Woodland, CA surrounded by his loving family after a brief illness. Jim was born in El Paso, Texas on March 31, 1945, the son of Adalaide and Alfred Ratner.
Jim attended schools in El Paso, graduating from El Paso High School in 1963. He graduated from Yale University (BS) in 1967, Baylor College of Medicine (Houston) with an MD in 1971, and completed a residency in Dermatology at Dartmouth Medical School in 1975. He was a Dermatologist and Major in the Army in Louisiana from 1975-1977.
Jim married Janice Dimenstein in June 1968 and they raised two children, Derek and Andrea, in Amherst, MA where Jim opened a Dermatology office in 1977. He practiced Dermatology in Amherst until 2009 when he took a position on the staff of Wing Memorial Hospital in Palmer, MA. He retired in 2015. In June 2023, they moved to Woodland, CA to live near family.
Jim is survived by his loving wife of 57 years, his children Derek (Chrissy) and Andrea (John) Belko, grandchildren Dean, Kevin, and Alaina Ratner, and Allison and Brian Belko, sister Linda (Richard) Bateman and brother Robert (Nancy) Ratner, both of Colorado, several in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins and dear friends.
Jim was an avid sports fan, loving to watch Boston sports teams, UMass, Yale and UTEP teams. He was fortunate to see the Red Sox win 4 World Series titles, the Patriots win 6 Super Bowl championships, and UMass Hockey win a National Championship.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in his memory to support cancer research, such as Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/The Jimmy Fund in Boston or Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
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