James Tracy Caruth

CARUTH, JAMES TRACYThe first thing that strangers tended to notice about Jim Caruth was his height. At 6'4", he tended to tower over most people he met. It is a testament to his inquisitive and sympathetic nature that most people quickly forgot about that commanding height and began to tell him all about their lives. For over 9 decades, he combined a restless energy, quick wit, calm nature and endless curiosity about the human condition into a well-lived life. James Tracy Caruth was born in 1913 in Hartford, CT, the only son of Angus and Elizabeth Caruth, and brother to Bertha, Elizabeth and Mary. As a young man, he enlisted in the Army and was stationed in Texas, where he met and married Juanita Whitis. Following the Second World War, Jim and his wife settled in Dallas, where he went to work for the Department of Agriculture, graduated from Southern Methodist University, and, in his spare time, helped his wife develop the Catch-A-Drip, the original washing machine connection box. The grand passion of his later years, educational reform, was brought about by a seemingly innocuous question: What is the purpose of education? Jim set out to find out why this question was so controversial. This led to his crusade to bring back fundamentals into education, a crusade which led to a website, www.canwelearn.com that he was contributing to up until his death in Astoria. OR, making him one of the few 90 year olds with his own website. He is survived by a sister, Mary Arnold of Salem, NJ, two daughters, Bonnie Caruth of Kansas City, MO and Tommie Redwine of Seaview, WA, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. ,

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