Retirement: Jim Mendonsa, Columbia college

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Retirement: Jim Mendonsa, Columbia college

Godfather of Tuolumne County Search and Rescue

Columbia, CA -- Jim Mendonsa will be inducted into the Columbia College Hall of Fame Thursday evening at six o'clock in an on-campus ceremony.

Geoff White - inducted into the Columbia College Hall of Fame 4/4/08.

Mendonsa has been labeled as the Godfather of Tuolumne County Search and Rescue by his peers. He is one of the originals of the SAR Team based out of the Sheriff's Office.

Mendonsa was involved in rescue and recovery assignments at the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in the Bay Area, the 1995 Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City and the 1995 Northridge earthquake in southern California.

Mendonsa taught search and rescue along with speech classes at Columbia College for 24 years.

He has authored a number of search and rescue national training courses.

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Thursday, April 3, 2008