Photos: Rep. Jim Kolbe served Southern Arizona for 22 years
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Rick Wiley
Photo editor
- Updated
Former U.S. Congressman Jim Kolbe died on Dec. 3, 2022, at age 80.
Kolbe, who grew up on a guest ranch in Patagonia in rural Santa Cruz County, started his political career by serving as a page for U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater. He was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1984 and went on to serve 11 terms. – Norma Coile
Jim Kolbe formally announcing his candidacy for the U.S. Congress against Democrat Mo Udall in 1982. He lost that race, but when on to win 11 others.
Jim Kolbe celebrates his 1996 election victory with some Republican supporters at the Doubletree Hotel.
Jim Kolbe hugs supporter Charlene Johnston at the Republican party at the Doubletree Hotel on Election night in 1996.
Representative Jim Kolbe cheers for University of Arizona basketball team with college students at O'Malleys during the 1997 NCAA Final Four.
Left: U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., makes a point with Alex Jackson, a member of the University of Arizona College Republicans, as Aaron Green looks on. Jon Kolbe talks to two members of the University of Arizona College Republicans, Aaron Green (left) and Alex Jackson at the Kolbe Headquarters in 1998.
Tucson Mayor Tom Volgy shakes hands with Jim Kolbe as Libertarian Phil Murphy looks on during a debate sponsored by the Pima Council on Aging at the Doubletree Hotel in 1998.
Ray Carroll, Jim Kolbe and Mike Boyd laugh at a comment made by Altar Valley rancher Sue Chilton, bottom right, during a 1998 press conference about the Sonoran Desert Protection/Conservation Plan.
President Bill Clinton and Rep. Jim Kolbe share a laugh before the president speaks to the crowd at the Tucson Convention Center in 1999.
Senator Jon Kyl (Jon Kyl), third from left, Representative elect Raul Grijalva (Raul Grijalva), center, and US Representative Jim Kolbe (Jim Kolbe) listen to US Department of Transportation Inspector Jose Rivas (Jose Rivas), second from left, explain the function of the hand held computer which brings up the status and vital information on commercial vehicles which pass this check-pint at the Mariposa Port of Entry west of Nogales on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2002.
Sen. John McCain, left, with Cindy McCain, stops of El Charro Restaurant in Tucson for dinner on Nov. 22, 1999, with Congressman Jim Kolbe, lower right, and Pima County Supervisor Ann Day.
Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., speaks to delegates on the importance of international trade during the Republican National Convention in Philadephia on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2000.
Rep. Jim Kolbe talks to a school children during a visit at the Islamic Center of Tucson in September, 2001. Kolbe went to help reassure students and teachers that Muslims are not and should not be targets of aggression because of the terrorist acts last week. The school was closed for several days last week because of threats to it.
Congressman Jim Kolbe gets the latest information on the renovation project at the former Dunbar Spring School from Cress Lander in 2002.
Celia de la Ossa, chief inspector for cargo with U.S. Customs, gestures as she explains the operations at the US/Mexico border at the Mariposa port of entry in Nogales, Ariz., to Undersecretary of Homeland Security Asa Hutchinson, Congressman Jim Kolbe and US Senator Jon Kyl in 2003.
President George Bush talks with Congressman Jim Kolbe and Senator John McCain after arriving at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in 2003. Bush was taking a tour of the Catalina Mountains to see the devastation of the Aspen Fire.
US Marine Corporal Frankie Quintero from Rio Rico talks with Congressman Jim Kolbe at the Fred G. Acosta Job Corps prior to a ceremony honoring Quintero and others in 2003. Quintero was seriously wounded in Iraq.
Congressman Jim Kolbe (center) serves a Thanksgiving meal at the Gospel Rescue Mission in 2001. Kolbe helped serve the meals to the homeless despite a controversy in which the Mission didn't want him there because of his being gay.
U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., second left, shakes hands with US Marine 1st Lt. Javier Diaz from Hasbrouk Heigths, N.J., as Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., left, looks on at the US Embassy during a visit of six US congressmen to Kabul Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2002.
Caroline Nichols receives a certificate of congressional recognition in honor of her acceptance into West Point from Congressman Jim Kolbe in 2003. Kolbe hosted brunch for all the Southern Arizona graduates heading to military academies.
Rep. Jim Kolbe presents a Purple Heart medal, a World War I Victory Medal and a World War I Victory Button to Ronald Dilley on behalf of Dilley's father Harry Dilley in 2004. Dilley's father served in the U.S. Army infantry and fought in the Argonne Forest in France in World War I. Harry Dilley, who died 25 years ago, never received his medals for his service.
Jim Kolbe during service in the U.S. Navy.
A happy Jim Kolbe at the Republican party at McMahon's Steakhouse in 2005.
Representative Jim Kolbe shares a laugh with a few of his supporters during his 2004 election watch party at a home in El Encanto neighborhood of Tucson.
U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe finds a spot away from the crowd of the media and his supporters to take a look at some returns and accept phone calls during his election watch party in 2004.
U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., and Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., debate Social Security reform at the Valley Presbyterian Church in Green Valley in 2005.
Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe leaves his Tucson home in 2005 after conducting an interview with KGUN Channel 9 during which he announced he would not seek re-election next year.
Michael Nicely, second from left, chief of the Tucson sector of the Border Patrol, talks with House Speaker Dennis Hastert, second from right, as Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., right, looks through border patrol night vision goggles into Mexico while on a tour of the border in 2006.
Gabrielle Giffords stopped her 2006 victory speech to greet Congressman Jim Kolbe, whom she replaced in Congress, at the Doubletree Hotel in Tucson.
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords gets a surprise greeting from former Congressman Jim Kolbe in 2008 after Giffords' successful reelection campaign.
Former Congressman Jim Kolbe watches the election returns for candidate Jonathan Paton in 2010.
Rep. Jim Kolbe at his Tucson office.
Former Arizona Congressman Jim Kolbe, left, co-chair of the Transportation and Trade Corridor Alliance, speaks with the Port of Tucson's Alan Levin at the Southern Arizona Logistics Education Organization's monthly meeting at the Viscount Suite Hotel in 2014.
Former Arizona Congressman Jim Kolbe, co-chair of the Transportation and Trade Corridor Alliance, speaks on the status of Arizona and Sonoran trade during the Southern Arizona Logistics Education Organization's monthly meeting at the Viscount Suite Hotel in 2014.
Retired Congressman Jim Kolbe at a roundtable discussion on veterans' issues with Congresswoman Martha McSally, Sen. Jon Kyl and Lea Marquez Peterson at the Trident Grill in Tucson on Oct. 23, 2018.
Rick Wiley
Photo editor
As featured on
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