Former San Diego County Sheriff Carroll James “Jim” Roache, who led the department from 1991 to 1995, died Thursday. He was 79.
His family announced his death on social media, and Sheriff Kelly Martinez shared news of his passing in a department-wide message.
“I want to extend my appreciation, the appreciation of our organization and the county for his commitment, dedication and service,” Martinez told the Union-Tribune.
Jeanette Roache, his wife of 59 years, said Tuesday that her husband died following a “hard-fought” battle with lung and brain cancer. They were living in Liberty Hill, Texas, where the couple retired in 2016.
As sheriff, Roache is credited with securing funding for a regional crime lab, initiating the senior volunteer program and selecting the department’s first female assistant sheriff. He was also at the helm when the old green-and-white patrol cars changed to the familiar black and whites that remain.
But his tenure was also marked by criticism and tumult, and he was voted out after one term.
Roache served 19 years with what was then called the Sheriff’s Department (now called the Sheriff’s Office), rising to the rank of captain before running to become sheriff. He also served as an elected board member of the San Diego Unified School District from 1986 to 1990.
His quest for the sheriff’s job started with kicking over a roadblock. Roache had to take incumbent Sheriff John Duffy to court in 1989 in a fight to rescind department policy that barred active deputies from running for the top job. Duffy settled out of court and soon said he would not run for re-election.
In early 1990, the San Diego Union endorsed two candidates, including Roache, who led the Lemon Grove substation at the time, as better alternatives to a third candidate the paper labeled Duffy’s “handpicked heir.” The paper cited Roache’s “considerable courage” for challenging Duffy. It also noted that Roache earned his law degree at night — from what is now Thomas Jefferson School of Law — while working as a deputy.
Jay La Suer, who was later elected as a state Assembly member, served as Roache’s undersheriff. “He was an honest man, he was a man with integrity and morality,” La Suer said Monday.
But Roache grew at odds with sworn staffers and clashed with the county Board of Supervisors. In 1993, the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association — the deputies’ union — delivered a no-confidence vote, with a 92% margin. Roache lost his re-election bid to former San Diego Police Chief William Kolender, who had been recruited to run.
After the loss, Roache remained active in community and civic affairs ranging from the Navy League to the San Diego County Homelessness Task Force, according to the San Diego Sheriff’s Museum’s profile of Roache. He was also a Sunday school teacher.
In 1998, he and his wife founded the Technology Training Foundation of America, a nonprofit organization that provided refurbished computers to schools and other nonprofits.
He was born June 25, 1945, in West Virginia. Military service brought his family to California and eventually to San Diego, where he attended Grossmont College and met Jeanette, the younger sister of a classmate. She was 18 and he was 21 when they married.
Roache joined the Air Force and served as an air traffic controller in Vietnam during the war, his wife said. He was hired by the sheriff’s department in 1970. While he was a deputy, he earned his bachelor’s, master’s and law degree.
Roache’s daughter, Keri Giordino, posted online about her father’s passing and said he was a “strong, ambitious, hardworking, Godly man who always wanted to stay busy, continue discovering and advancing.”
“To say my dad was a family man is a huge understatement!” she wrote. “My dad was the most virtuous example of what it means to be a protector, a provider and a role model in loving support to his family.”
Roache is survived by wife Jeanette, daughter Keri Giordino and son-in-law Joe Giordino, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His son Ronald died in 2005.
Roache’s family plans to hold a celebration of life on May 3 in Liberty Hill, Texas, and he will be laid to rest at Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Killen, Texas.
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