COMMUNITY MEMBERS
San Marcos lost a pillar of the community with the passing of James F. Garber, PhD, known fondly as Jim. Hundreds of friends and family gathered on a beautiful spring day at the Meadows Center to celebrate the life and legacy of Jim Garber. His children and friends told stories about his success as a professor, a community servant, a fisherman, an archeologist, but, most importantly, his success as a father and friend. Jim was a professor at Texas State University for 37 years, impacting the lives of over 10,000 students that took his classes or joined him on yearly field studies in Belize. Even before retiring he focused efforts on local politics, from supporting campaigns of candidates that championed preservation to holding a seat on the Planning and Zoning Commission and advocating for common sense development in a rapidly growing San Marcos.
Dozens of community members reached out to the Daily Record with stories and treasured memories of Jim.
Amy Meeks served alongside Jim on the Planning and Zoning commission and reflected on the years spent together serving the San Marcos community.
“The breadth of Jim’s intelligence was huge and the depth of his knowledge was astounding, but what he did so brilliantly was weave the two together. His institutional knowledge of San Marcos and so many of its guid- ing documents such as the Land Development Code, the Comprehensive Plan, Preferred Scenario Maps, Overlays, the City Charter, etc. were brought together in his public comments and eventually in his votes,” Meeks said. “He was extremely involved with the city through serving on Planning and Zoning — many years as chairman, serving on various commissions and sub-committees and also serving on several Comprehensive Plan writes and re-writes. At the time of his passing he was serving on P&Z, a joint sub-committee of P&Z and City Council, and the Charter Review Commission. His knowledge of, and concern for, San Marcos will be difficult to replicate.”
Meeks noted how Jim was genuine, approachable and as real as they come.
“He listened intently and fought strategically, always wanting to do what was best for all of San Marcos. I also must say that, personally, I feel like I was in the middle of my journey with Jim and was not at all ready to let him go. I was still learning from him in every way. His presence was always noticed but his absence will be even more so,” Meeks said. “Sometimes I think we don’t realize how impactful someone is in our lives until they are gone, and that’s how I think Jim’s absence will affect us...his presence was large but his absence will be huge. It will take many of us to fill the one place Jim occupied. I hope we can rise to meet his standards.”
Jill Pruetz is a professor in the Anthropology department at TXST and had the opportunity to not only be Jim’s student but also a colleague.
“I took my first anthropology class [with Jim] at Southwest Texas State University in the 1980s when I was an undergraduate. I loved that class so much; I took all of the classes that Jim taught, and I ultimately changed my major to anthropology. I was lucky enough to be part of one of Dr. Garber’s archaeological field schools in Belize, Central America … Suffice to say that Dr. Garber’s teaching led me down my career path, and I was able to teach alongside Jim when I returned to Texas State about eight years ago as a Professor,” Pruetz said. “I really felt like I had come full circle. It is hard to communicate his influence on my career path and so many other students over the years. He will be missed immensely.”
William Agnew served with Jim on the Planning and Zoning commission and noted that Jim was the heart and soul of P&Z.
“Not only to his length of service but also his generosity in sharing his expertise and perspective with the other members of the Commission. If any member of the Commission felt the need for guidance or just a discussion on a particular agenda item, Jim was almost always who was called. He was the guru. It made no difference to Jim whether a commissioner was or was not aligned with him politically or ideologically; he would give any commissioner whatever time and consultation they needed,” Agnew said. “If there is one word that I would use to characterize Jim, it was ‘generous.’ He gave far more to the other commissioners than he received in return. He is irreplaceable and the commission will be weakened both tangibly and intangibly by his absence.”
Antonio Beardall is a Ph.D. student at Texas State University from Belize who met Jim during a field study.
“I met Dr. Garber in the early 2000s while working at the Belize Institute of Archaeology. He immediately struck me as genuine, funny, dedicated, lifting up all those around him. We developed a friendship over the years, with the last few years being the strongest our friendship ever was. He visited me at the site of Xunantunich in Belize where I was working with young Belizeans as part of my dissertation research, where we spoke for hours about the future of Belizean archaeology and the need for it to be more inclusive of local youth. Dr. Garber believed that Belizeans are essential in telling of their own history, and thus their participation on archaeological projects is very important,” Beardall said.
He noted that Jim had a passion for changing established narratives of history, combining historical records with archaeological research.
“Through all he did, whether digging, teaching or presenting at conferences, Dr. Garber remained himself in his demeanor, in his delivery and how he treated those around him, seeing them as equals regardless of their educational background. His smile was infectious, his talent for storytelling was unmatched. We spoke [a week before his passing] of my upcoming summer research and looked forward to many more years of collaboration. His passing is a huge blow not just to Texas State University but to Belizean archaeology. By continuing our research, we shall honor his legacy,” Beardall said.
Jim’s legacy will live on not just through his friends and family but through all of the community members who enjoy this beautiful city he worked so hard to preserve for generations to come.
