Jim Rynning

Photo by Steve Rochford. Steve says: "[Jim is] seen here in 2007 back stage
 of the IVC Performing Arts Center during the installation of seats and other innards of the hall.

Sad news has reached us of the death of Jim Rynning, a person who was an integral part of Irvine Valley College since 1991 until his quiet departure last year. Count that - 26 years. To say he’ll be missed is not enough. To say that he'll be remembered is just the beginning.

What did Jim do? What didn’t he do? His classification, Senior Lab Tech, did not do the man justice. And it was not just what he did, but how he did it, with authority and generosity, plus good humor and an abiding gentle patience that most of us would have run out of years ago. Set design, scenic design, lighting design, Jim did it all. He made things happen. He made things work.

We will post more soon about Jim when we receive it from his colleagues.

Cherish each other people.

"Tartuffe" at IVC, 1994

UPDATE by Steve Rochford:

Our longtime friend and colleague Jim Rynning has passed away. Jim had been with the college since the Spring of 1991 but had become sick and been away from IVC for the past two years. He initially worked for the Foundation, (in a very old IVC manner of production). We were literally a hamlet of a college back then, not even a small college! Within a couple of years he was formally hired in the IVC School of Arts where he worked with both the Music and Theatre Departments as the only full time technical personnel until we opened the PAC. Later he also worked with the Dance Department until we finally hired a few more people and the workload was distributed amongst a few others. Jim was also seen around campus assisting with other types of undertakings in which the School of Arts was involved. For many years Jim served on the Campus Safety Committee, on a number of hiring committees, and, when we entered the actual building phase and opening on October 30, 2007, (he arrived one semester after the actual design committee had done its work in the Fall of 1990), on the PAC Working & Planning Committee. Finally, he served alongside his classified and faculty colleagues on the internal PAC Committee, (a committee that consist of the School of Arts technical personnel, theater and dance directors and choreographers, the music conductors and the PAC staff), where PAC planning, School of Arts season scheduling and a myriad of other production and PAC operational policies are/have been decided. Jim was a veteran. He served in the US Army where he was stationed in Germany during the Vietnam War. If I recall correctly. I believe he was an Alumnus with a Bachelor’s Degree in Technical Theatre from CSU Northridge and later received his Master’s Degree in Lighting Design from Florida State University. Jim Rynning was a great colleague who possessed a dry, witty and keen sense of humor and a hearty laugh! He will be missed by all of us. RIP Jim.

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