House Engrossed

Jim Carruthers; death resolution

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-fifth Legislature

First Regular Session

2021

HOUSE RESOLUTION 2012

A RESOLUTION

On the death of the honorable jim carruthers.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

James Ross "Jim" Carruthers, a longtime leader in the Yuma community, passed away on July 21, 2020 at the age of seventy-nine.

Born December 4, 1940 in Alamosa, Colorado, Jim was raised in Aztec, New Mexico. After graduating from Aztec High School he received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado. There he met Jacqueline Schulz, whom he dated and later married on August 17, 1968.

Jim and Jacqueline soon moved to Yuma, Arizona, where Jim served as a counselor at Kofa High School and then as a financial aid officer and football coach at Arizona Western College. While he worked there, he also earned a doctorate in educational administration from Northern Arizona University. In 1977, Jim became the Dean of Student Services and in 1984 he accepted the presidency of Arizona Western College. He served honorably until 1997, during which time he was a dominant figure in the modernization and growth of the college. 

Jim's tenure as president of Arizona Western College left a lasting impact on generations of local students. Over the course of his presidency, Jim brought distance learning technology to the campus. He was also instrumental in creating a partnership with Northern Arizona University that brought both four-year and graduate programs to the Yuma area. This partnership with Northern Arizona University, along with future partnerships involving the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and local Yuma school districts, would later evolve into the K-20 consortium, which allows Yuma students to complete all of their education, from kindergarten to doctoral programs, without leaving the area. The modern-day landscape of education in Yuma County is due in large part to the robust framework forged by Jim and his colleagues.

After leaving Arizona Western College in 1997, Jim went on to serve for eight years in the Arizona Legislature, where he fought for rural Yuma County values and education statewide. When he retired, Jim started his own real estate rental company, which he continued to build with vigor until his passing.

Jim leaves a legacy as a visionary educator, a scrupulous politician, a dependable scholar and a virtuous citizen. A devoted husband and father, Jim will be greatly missed by his loving wife, Jacqueline, his son, James Scott, his daughter-in-law, Sandra, and his grandchildren, brothers, sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews.

Therefore

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona:

That the Members of the House of Representatives express their condolences to the family and many friends of the Honorable Jim Carruthers.