How to Nourish a Community
The legacy of James Jimenez will help hometown students thrive at UC Santa Barbara
The late entrepreneur James Jimenez was a key player in the Mexican food industry and a lifelong advocate for education. James understood the transformative impact of education from an early age. His father, a railroad worker who emigrated from Mexico, told James to seek knowledge everywhere — it was one thing he couldn’t lose.
James took that advice to heart and shared it with young people throughout his life. Through the creation of a charitable remainder trust, James established pathways to support first-generation college students from his rural farming community.
James excelled academically. After struggling against discrimination to access the advanced classes offered only to his white classmates, he graduated high school in 1933 as valedictorian and received a full scholarship to Stanford University. He never enrolled, however; his wages were needed at home to ensure that his nine brothers and sisters stayed in school.
While James set aside his dream of becoming a doctor, he transferred his dream of education to his siblings, his three daughters, and the children of his community. Daughters Virginia and Barbara attended Occidental, like their mother, and Margaret attended CalPoly Pomona and Cal State LA. All three of his daughters would become teachers, with a combined 106 years of service as educators.
“Both our parents supported education. My mom was very involved in the PTA. My dad was fortunate to be brilliant and creative, with many patents. He realized the value of a college degree. We were very fortunate to know the power of education through him,” said Virginia.
After James and his wife, Katherine, retired to a ranch in Fillmore in 1990, James became involved with local high schools. He began by providing informal scholarships.
“Dad would hear about a family who needed help and provide what that particular child needed. It started as book money and then turned into small scholarships,” said Barbara. “He would take the student out to dinner, an experience my dad never had as a young man.”
James first encountered UC Santa Barbara through the Early Academic Outreach Program, a state-wide college preparatory program sponsored by the University of California. UC Santa Barbara’s program is unique in that it has embedded a college site coordinator at 11 high schools. A UC Santa Barbara staff member has provided services at Fillmore High School for over 20 years.
Inspired by this work, James established a charitable remainder trust that provided income for himself and for his daughters for a term of years. When the term was complete, the remainder was distributed to UC Santa Barbara and created the James Jimenez Scholars Endowment, the payout of which will provide financial support to undergraduate students from underserved schools, with a preference for those from Fillmore High School.
The Jimenez daughters remember James as a charming and tenacious inventor. At age 50, James co-founded Electra Food Machinery Inc., drawing on his deep industry knowledge to develop equipment that quickly revolutionized fast-food production. His tortilla oven with an infrared burner system boosted output from 60 dozen to 3,000 dozen tortillas per hour. In 1975, his enchilada machine won a national design award from Food Engineering magazine. The same technology was later adapted to cook hamburgers and steaks for fast food chains.
“All of his life, he wanted to support his family and he was willing to take risks,” said Barbara.
James Jimenez’s passion for life, and especially for education, lives on through his daughters and grandchildren, and his legacy will provide inspiration and education for generations of UC Santa Barbara students to come
Published November 2024
Dad would hear about a family who needed help and provide what that particular child needed. It started as book money and then turned into small scholarships.
Barbara Parrott on her father, James, pictured
