Pebble Beach, CA

James Joseph Tunney III, better known as Jim or simply Number 32, made his final exit from the field in Pebble Beach, CA, with his wife Linda and family members at his side. He was 95.

Jim Tunney was a respected NFL referee, a masterful public speaker, an educator, an author, a coach, and the very proud father of Maureen, Michael, Mark, Janet, and Debbie, with a gift for bringing people together. Over the course of a 30-year career, he earned, honorably and consistently, the title bestowed upon him by Los Angeles Times sportswriter Bob Oates, Jr. in a story published on the date of Jim's second Super Bowl appearance in 1978: "The Dean of NFL Referees."

A longtime member of the National Speakers Association, in 2007, he received its Philanthropist of the Year Award for the example he set as a giver, a teacher, and a catalyst for doing the right thing. In 1989, celebrated former coach and CBS announcer John Madden, a friend and neighbor on the Monterey Peninsula, honored him with one of the inaugural All-Madden Awards for outstanding work on the field. Everywhere that Jim Tunney turned his attention he saw an opportunity to practice the acronym that had become his message, his motto, through 30 years of motivational talks: "T.E.A.M," or "Together Everyone Achieves More."

Jim received his bachelor's degree from Occidental College in 1951, from which he later earned a Gold Seal Award for outstanding achievement as an alumnus. (In 1975, he was awarded a doctorate in education from USC.) He went to work as a teacher and coach and soon began supplementing those jobs with officiating, first at the high school level and eventually graduating to college and the Pac 10.

By 1960, his work in the college game, which included Rose Bowl assignments, caught the attention of the NFL, and he was hired as a field judge. Jim's maternal uncle, Harry "Bud" Brubaker, had preceded him by 15 years as an NFL referee and mentored him colorfully and capably on the field. Seven years later, Jim was promoted to referee and remained in that role until his retirement in 1990.

During his early career, juggling teaching, coaching, and officiating jobs and striving to establish his professional identity, Jim married his college sweetheart Marie Picou, and the family has grown and changed through the decades into an expansive roster comprising grandchildren, great-grandchildren, cousins, in-laws, and blendees hailing from Jim's later marriage to Linda Broughton in 1996. Then there were his own siblings Joanne, Peter, and Loretta, and all of their issue, and it would require Census Bureau overtime to count, much less name, everyone in that multi-generational crowd. Suffice to say the extended Tunney clan covers substantial territory.

Aside from the highlights his career as an official produced, with 29 post-season assignments, 10 championship games, and three Super Bowl appearances--two of them in consecutive years, a feat so far unmatched--Jim pursued a simultaneous career as a teacher and educational administrator (NFL officiating remains to this day a part-time job). In a jacket and tie rather than pinstripes, he served as the principal at Fairfax, Franklin, and Hollywood High in succession from 1964 to 1974, as the Bellflower District Superintendent in 1977, and 16 years later as the temporary headmaster at the York School in Monterey. He was also a trustee at Monterey Peninsula Community College from 1997-2009, for six of those years sitting as the board chairman.

Public speaking led to some interesting destinations for Jim, including a handful of cruises on which he shared the microphone duties with Don Shula (accompanied by their wives Linda and Marianne), the retired coach of the Miami Dolphins who became a close friend and neighbor in later years, any lingering on-the-field disagreements tossed into Davy Jones' locker. He developed other meaningful relationships over the years with people at the top of their fields, which is a modest description of his pal Frank Sinatra. And there was the beloved Vin Scully, who sought Jim's tutoring in football prior to his seven-season recruitment as an NFL announcer, and who remained a good friend to the end of his life.

While he was the principal at Fairfax High (where in 2010 he was inducted into its Hall of Fame), Jim got to know alumnus Herb Alpert, co-founder of nearby A&M Records and the leader of the Tijuana Brass, who would arrange to have his band and other artists make periodic fundraising appearances for the students. The relationship deepened when Alpert asked Jim, "Why don't you come work for me?" and Jim replied, "All I play is the whistle. What can I do for you?" But, when Jim's term at Fairfax ended, he did indeed go to work for the Alpert Family Foundation, and the colloquy between the two men about innovative educational concepts helped inform Jim's subsequent work as the principal at Hollywood High.

Jim also counted Paul Salata, an enterprising California businessman best known for his creation of the "Mr. Irrelevant" award to honor the last pick of the NFL draft each year, as a reliable and always-surprising friend since their first meeting at a convention in 1953. The same was true of Bob Boyd, a childhood friend and teammate who became USC's colorful head basketball coach. And there has been, in more recent years, the addition of CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz to the pantheon of friends admired and respected by Jim Tunney.

Jim Tunney was an accomplished author and essayist alongside his public speaking.

Beginning with his Impartial Judgment in 1988, he wrote or co-authored nine books, including Chicken Soup for the Sports Fan's Soul (which for a time occupied a spot on the New York Times bestseller list) and It's the Will Not the Skill, (his ode to the values he observed--and shared--with former NFL player and coach Herman Edwards). The column that he produced weekly for the Monterey Herald until just months ago, On the Tunneyside of Sports, was also published in collected book form on multiple occasions.

His written work generally followed the motivational theme that was his hallmark as a speaker, and pointed to an energetic and irrepressible part of his nature, which was the fire that he carried for the welfare of everyone.

His columns were assembled around a thought, an observation, a reservation, or a celebration that was foremost on his mind in any given week, and the depth and variety of all that subject matter was a testament to the dilemma and promise of the times in which we live. He always presented his reader with a blunt rhetorical question at the conclusion of each column, a motivational coda that doubled down on the subject at hand, e.g., Will you allow your dreams to lead you to action, participation, and commitment in your life?...Will you prepare thoroughly so that you're ready when the moment arrives?...Will you help others who may be facing a difficult situation to find the courage within? It was his way of taking it directly to you. It was a steadfast and supportive voice that echoed through decades and generations, and it will be missed.

In lieu of flowers, consider honoring Jim’s memory with a donation to the Special Olympics of Southern California or to any other youth sports organization that holds special meaning for you.