A Farewell to James Jordan

Today many of the citizens of Naugatuck came together to say goodbye to a beloved member of the community. James Jordan touched the lives of so many people in the borough and he will be missed by every one of them. At only 46, he was taken from us far too soon.

Mr. Jordan had served as the land use commissioner for years, but I came to know him through his years serving on the Naugatuck Board of Education. I was only a little surprised to see him in attendance at last month’s regular meeting after being diagnosed with an aggressive malignant brain tumor. As always, he offered his honest opinion about an issue at hand, in this case the site for this year’s high school graduation.

He was in my experience a positive voice for education in general and for the students in Naugatuck in particular. He could always be counted on to voice his level-headed opinion, often given with a twinkle in his eye that I could spot from my seat in the audience. I enjoyed speaking with him and I always felt that he closely listened to whatever I had to say.

I personally admired that he headed the finance subcommittee and often updated us about the upcoming budget process. How lucky were we to have a person with his accounting training to volunteer his time to help manage the BOE budget. He will be a hard act to follow in that position.

The community came together to support the Jordan family recently with a huge pasta dinner fundraiser at the Elks Club. Despite snowy weather, many people attended and several thousand dollars were raised. The donated baskets were so numerous that some were saved for another upcoming fundraiser.

Mr. Jordan always spoke so highly of his family. His wife Colleen is a teacher at City Hill Middle School, and his son James and daughter Rylee attend borough schools. I offer them my heartfelt condolences.

Pictured: James Jordan and his family from the Support for The Jordan Family Facebook page

James Jordan’s obituary