James Godwin Jr.

GODWIN, James Jr.

Mentally in control until the very end, Jim Godwin made the decision to go into hospice and passed away at Peppi's House in the early morning hours of Friday, May 7, 2021, following nearly two weeks in the hospital. He was 84. He is survived by his wife, Cindy and their daughter, Kelly and his former wife, Janis and their daughters, Deborah her husband, Jack and Teresa; grandsons, Samuel and his wife, Lacey and Lucas and great-grandson, Harrison. He had many treasured friends who became like family.

The only child of Ruby Frances and James Godwin Sr. Jim was born in Indiana. The family moved to Alabama where he attended school in Bay Minette and then Mobile. He started working at 13, selling Nehi soft drinks to the construction workers on his dad's job sites. He attended Murphy High School where he played football and baseball and lettered in both sports three years, graduating in 1955. Jim worked as a construction laborer during high school, then became a carpenter's apprentice and joined the carpenters' union after high school.

His parents moved back to Indiana and he enrolled at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology to pursue a degree in civil engineering. While at Rose-Hulman he played football and baseball (pitching a no-hitter), and joined Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. "Bama," as he was known among his classmates, served as Secretary of his ATO chapter and President of the Senior Class.

He graduated from Rose-Hulman in 1961 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and took a position with Indiana Bell Telephone Co. While working with Indiana Bell he completed a Master's in Business Administration at Indiana University. Upon completing his MBA, he went to work for Industrial Nucleonics in Columbus, Ohio as Vice President of Facilities and Services.

Jim met the architect Charles A. Nitschke in 1968 while supervising the construction of a residence for Industrial Nucleonics Chairman Wilbert E. Chope on Cape Cod. He became a partner in C.A. Nitschke & Associates, leaving Industrial Nucleonics to join the architectural firm full-time in 1972. The firm became Godwin-Bohm-NBBJ in 1979 when Jim managed the merger of the firm with Seattle-based architectural firm NBBJ. In 1980, Jim left Columbus to take a position as President of Cella Barr & Evans in Tucson. He and Cindy married in June that year. Soon Jim became CEO and the firm changed its name to Cella Barr Associates (CBA). While with the engineering firm, Jim oversaw its expansion in Phoenix and the addition of offices in Las Vegas, Nevada and Sacramento, California, and the addition of mechanical and electrical engineering services.

Jim contracted Guillain Barre Syndrome in November of 1992, spending months in the hospital, and experiencing a lengthy rehabilitation to be able to walk again. He returned to work in 1993 and saw the firm grow to be listed in the ENR 500 with 180 employees. In 1999 CBA was sold to Stantec, an engineering services company founded in Canada. Jim was able to retire, and he was ready! He had figured out how to play golf again (which was his favorite pastime), and attended UA basketball games, planned vacations and travelled, and spent time with family and friends enjoying wine, good food and Haagen Dazs ice cream. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2015, but never complained and continued to show his determination to make the best of what he had to work with. His resolve was to "Be Happy."

Jim was a member of Tucson Country Club where he played golf for many years and especially enjoyed the "Over the Hill Gang." His memberships included Centurions, Rotary Club of Tucson, The Breakfast Club, Wildcat Club, UA President's Society and Skyline Country Club. He served on the Board of Directors of Carondelet, Arizona Children's Home, St. Mary's Foundation, United Way, Pima Community College Foundation and the Tucson Chamber of Commerce

He was an inspiration and hero to many. Everybody liked Jim. He was strong, determined, smart, analytical, patient, responsible, generous, humble and had a great sense of humor. He was direct, and you never had to wonder what he was really thinking—he told you, whether you liked it or not. What he loved most was bringing joy to other people, especially his wife. And she knows how fortunate she was to be married to him.

True to his personality, Jim wanted a party instead of a memorial or celebration of life, and he will be there in spirit having a glass of wine and enjoying the company. If you'd like to join us at the party, please let Cindy know. If you want to make a donation in his memory, the most fitting donation you could make would be to Parkinson's Wellness Recovery Gym (also known as PWR! Gym), where Jim learned how to take on Parkinson's in the same way he overcame many of the limitations from Guillain Barre Syndrome. Arrangements by ANGEL VALLEY FUNERAL HOME.