Jim Carbonetti, past president of two local groups, passes away at 81

Longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident James Anthony “Jim” Carbonetti, a past president of the La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Assn. and the La Cañada High School Spartan Boosters Club, passed away Oct. 10 at the age of 81.

Carbonetti was born Aug. 20, 1931 in New York City and was reared in Rutherford N.J. In the 1950s he served in the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant, ending his military service stationed in Nuremberg, Germany. For 40 years he was employed by Mobil Oil Corp. (now Exxon Mobil), retiring in 1995 as public affairs manager of its West Coast Marketing and Refining divisions.

A heart transplant recipient in 1998, Carbonetti took on a role of lecturing in the local area on the subject of organ donations.

He is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years, Sherrill. He also leaves four children, nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 10 at La Cañada Presbyterian Church, where he served as an elder in 1997-’98. The family suggests memorial donations be made to California Heart Center, 8536 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 302, Beverly Hills, CA 90211; or to LCF Educational Foundation, P.O. Box 869, La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91012.

-- Carol Cormaci, Times Community News