James L. “Jim” Hanretty ’51 was born at Children’s Hospital, San Francisco, on April 25, 1926. Jim attended St. Monica’s Catholic School in San Francisco, Napa High School, and SCU, where he played on the 1950 Orange Bowl football team and obtained a bachelor’s in economics. In 1963, he was selected as a National Defense Education Act fellow and attended the University of Florida, Gainesville, where he earned a master’s in guidance and counseling. In 1966, he was awarded an additional master’s degree by San Francisco State University in school administration. In 1944, Jim enrolled in the United States Marine Corp and served his country during WWII in the South Pacific, including the Battle of Iwo Jima. He was awarded combat battle stars for his service as well as the Purple Heart for a battle-related injury sustained on Okinawa. In the early 1950s, as Lt. Hanretty, he also served in the Korean Conflict. In 1955, he married Mary Ann Narusis of West Frankfort, Illinois. They met while attending graduate summer courses at the University of Colorado, Boulder—and as newlyweds, settled in Fresno, California, where they both served as school teachers. In 1957 they moved to Marin County, where their commitment to education, community, and church flourished. In the 110-year history of the Tamalpais Union High School District, he is the only individual to serve as principal at more than one of the district’s comprehensive high schools. Jim was an active member of the community, serving as board president for both St. Patrick’s School and Timothy Murphy School at St. Vincents. He also served as the St. Patrick’s chairperson for the Archdiocesan Annual Appeal for three years. Perhaps his most passionate community work was associated with the development of the community sports field complex adjacent to Redwood High School. As both a coach and school administrator, he was acutely aware of the shortage of sports field space in the area. He frequently referenced that the unused 17 acres of school district land next to Redwood was originally intended to be a sports complex, but that funding was never available. During the great storm and floods of January 1982, he realized that mudslide soil that was about to be hauled away, represented a small fortune in topsoil that could serve as the foundation for the sports fields. He contacted the Army Corp of Engineers and asked if the soil could be transported to a nearby location, which they did. In 1987, after the formation of the Community Fields Association on whose board Jim served, and which raised over $1.5 million in construction funds, the multisport complex was opened to the public. A former teacher, coach, counselor, and principal at Tamalpais High School (1957–81); principal at Redwood High School (1981–84); and commissioner of the Marin County Athletic League (1990–2000), Jim passed away on January 8, 2019. a resident of Larkspur for 60 years, Jim is survived by his wife, Mary Ann, son Tim (Joel Morris) of Woodside, daughters Connie Hanretty-Church (David Church) of Santa Margarita, California, and Mary Kay Hanretty-Stratton (Gregg Stratton) of San Luis Obispo, California, and son Jim (Kiren Niederberger) of Stinson Beach. A loving grandfather, he was known as “Poppy” to James Stratton, Maddie Stratton, Nathan Church, Andrew Church, and Daisy Hanretty. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lawrence and Ruth Carter Hanretty of Napa; sisters Peggy Morin of Napa and Barbara Sisler of Vacaville, California, and his beloved golden retriever, Paddy. He was a fun-loving uncle to 18 nieces and nephews.