In Fond Memory

Father Jim Marshall

Fr. Jim Mitchell died last August, in Bucaramanga, Colombia. After serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer for four years in Santander, Colombia, Jim decided to become a parish priest. He then returned to Santander and founded a leadership training center, El Camino, for young men and women from rural areas. El Camino graduates have returned to their communities as schoolteachers, health promoters, farmers trained to share their knowledge of modern techniques, and several as priests. Colombian educators, all graduates of the center, now run the school.

Jim worked for 41 years with the rural poor, especially in education, civil society, and sustainable community enterprise. He was fully active until his last day in this world, less than one month after first being diagnosed with cerebral melanoma during exploratory brain surgery. He had originally planned on attending the Cartagena conference, until his diagnosis of terminal illness in late July 2007.

Jim Mitchell was the 1993 Recipient of the Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service. He is one of three Colombia RPCVs to win this award; the others are Katrina Clark and Sue H. Patterson.