By Melissa Crytzer Fry

When a charismatic college football recruiter showed up at 18-year-old Jimmy Kane’s high school in the coal-mining town of Dunmore, Pa., in 1965 — toting a binder filled with photos of Arizona State University and copies of Arizona Highways magazine — all Kane could wonder was, “Where the hell is Arizona?”

Kane, whose longest road trip had been to the Jersey shore, was being courted by coaches across the country. Small-town Pennsylvania’s obsession with high school football made it a hotbed for collegiate recruiters — including ASU coach Frank Kush.

“ Frank offered to drive me home, and then talked for hours to my Mom and Dad — sitting down like he was part of the family,” recalls Kane. “I remember my Mom saying,’Arizona’s sure a long way off, but I’d like you to go with that nice Mr. Kush.’”

A few months later, Kane did just that. Arriving in Tempe for a February visit, the athlete was in awe of the warm weather, the stately saguaro cacti and the bending palm trees. “Talk about an impression on an 18-year-old kid,” says Kane. "I had made up my mind right then — I didn’t even need to go back to Pennsylvania. I just wanted to stay.”

That love affair with ASU and the state of Arizona has spanned almost 40 years, seeing Kane through an exciting football career at ASU, introducing him to his wife of 36 years, Su, and leading him to the position of company president for Southwest Gas Corp.

Kane insists his football success came from grit, not a physical gift.

“ I wasn’t necessarily blessed with a tremendous amount of athletic ability,” says the always-modest Kane, who was an All-WAC (Western Athletic Conference) pick in 1968. “But what I lacked in ability, I made up for in determination. And I probably played for the right kind of guy when it came to that, because Frank was obviously a disciplinarian — he knew exactly what he wanted out of you.”

That discipline helped Kane, a starting offensive lineman from 1966 to 1968, lead the Sun Devils to a 21-9 record overall and a 12-4 record in the WAC. In 1968, one semester short of graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in elementary education, he was called to eight months of active duty in the National Guard. During the same year, he also married his college sweetheart, Su Roberts, a fine arts major at ASU.

With a family to support after completing military service, Kane took his work-hard ethic into the job force. After working for Arizona Public Service as a laborer on the gas crew, he tried his hand as a lineman in the electric department. It is no accident that Kane has held almost every position imaginable in the energy industry — from truck driver, welder helper and equipment operator to sales supervisor, assistant engineer and executive vice president.

Learning everything he could about the industry led to Kane’s May 2004 promotion as president of Southwest Gas, one of the nation’s largest utilities, providing services to the growing populations of Arizona, Nevada and California. Kane’s 33-year career in the energy industry has allowed him to call many Arizona cities his home — Tempe, Yuma, Snowflake, Flagstaff — and even Tucson, which he describes as “an experience in itself, being a Sun Devil.”

Through all the moves, Kane has maintained close ties with the university. In 1988, he was able to complete his degree at ASU, and that same year, participated on the ASU West Campus Advisory Council. Currently, Kane is an active member of the Sun Angels Foundation, where he coordinates Southwest Gas’ tee sponsorship in the yearly ASU golf outing aimed at raising funds for intercollegiate athletics. He also is a newly elected ASU Foundation Board member.

Even though he now resides in Las Vegas, the Sun Devil season ticket holder can be spotted during home games — seated right next to teammate Tom Delnoce, Kane’s college roommate — cheering the Devils on to victory.

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Jim Kane, left, reminisces with Frank Kush about the winning Sun Devil teams of the middle and late 1960s. Kane was a starting offensive lineman for the team between 1966 and 1968.

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