Article archive / February 1, 2016
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 2. Source pages: 5.
James Eugene “Jim” Canfield, a “Founding Father” of the Louisiana School Psychological Association, died January 1, at the Southeast Louisiana War Veterans Home in Reserve. He was 68.
Canfield’s long career included work as a district- level school psychologist for the Louisiana public school system and then serving as a School Psychological Services Consultant for the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE).
In his work he advised legislators and leaders in the LDOE and with the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education about the best practices of school psychology for children and school systems. He also helped state leaders, including serving on boards and committees, to design policies regarding assessment for students with disabilities.
He was a key figure and founder of the Louisiana School Psychological Association (LSPA) and served as the first president, and then again for a second term.
In 2013 Canfield was honored with LSPA President’s Award, and named “Founding Father.”
Long-time friend and colleague, Robert Hinton, LSPA member and school psychologist, said that Jim was a key figure in the school psychology community.
“Jim was very instrumental in getting our state association going in 1980,” said Hinton. “He was able to take what was broken from the different parts of other groups and put them back together. He later served as president.”
“Jim and I were in graduate school together, 40 years ago, and we stayed friends all the years,” Hinton said. We hunted, fished, and hung out together for 40 years.”
Jim’s health declined in the last year, but he was very independent and productive for much of this time, going into the Veterans home at the end, explained Hinton.
Current President of the Louisiana School Psychological Association, Amber Boykin, told the Times, “The passing of James Canfield and the subsequent regaling of tales from our early years as an organization has given me pause to really stop and contemplate where we began, what we have accomplished, and where do we want to go from here.”
“Although I did not know James personally, I have a great appreciation for him and his unquenchable determination to see this organization established so that school psychologists in the state of Louisiana had and continue to have a collective voice and opportunities through our annual conferences to collaborate and grow professionally,” Boykin said. “Each member of the organization must honor his memory and thank him for paving the way for us today.”
Jim Canfield was born in Bastrop, Louisiana. He was a veteran of the United States Navy and served with distinction as a Navy Corpsman with the First Marine Division in Vietnam. He was a graduate of Northeast Louisiana University and took graduate studies at Louisiana State University. He is survived by his children, James Blake Canfield and Brittany Comeaux, and grandchildren Audrey Canfield, and Hudson, and Holland Comeaux.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.