Seeking Heaven on Earth

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James Markosian

DRAPER — After almost 45 years serving the Skaggs Catholic Center in a variety of roles, James Markosian is retiring.

He began his career with Utah Catholic Schools in 1980 as a geography teacher at Judge Memorial Catholic High School in Salt Lake City. Over the next 13 years, he taught everything from archeology and world geography to study skills and fly fishing in the summer.

In the early 1990s he obtained a master’s degree in administration from the University of Utah and spent five years as the dean of discipline at Judge Memorial. He clearly remembers the day that the Diocese of Salt Lake City received the news that the Skaggs family had given the financial gift that made the Skaggs Catholic Center in Draper possible.  

“I was on two of the committees that designed different areas of the campus, and my father, who was a retired engineer, actually drew up the original plans for our campus,” he said.

Feeling like he was a part of the Skaggs Center from the early stages of its development, “I wanted to be a part of this community from the very beginning,” he said.

While the Skaggs Center was being developed, Markosian worked for five years as principal of Blessed Sacrament Elementary School in Sandy. Then he transferred to the new St. John the Baptist Middle School on the Skaggs Catholic Center, serving first as vice principal and then as principal. In 2016 he became the center’s director of facilities, and also was the head coach of the Juan Diego Catholic High School freshman football team.

“All of these positions have been incredibly challenging and rewarding, never boring,” he said. “It has been a wonderful journey through the last 20 years of the growth and development of the campus.”

Many experiences were very rewarding, he said. “Among them are helping to develop Saint John the Baptist Middle School into a thriving, dynamic and positive school; being an assistant football coach and working with many student-athletes over the years; overseeing many construction projects, remodels and the maintenance of a wonderful facility; and sending three sons through the schools.”

Having been involved in the community in a personal as well as a professional capacity, and having a strong connection to the campus also was rewarding, he said.

“My involvement on this campus has come full circle,” he said, noting that all three of his sons have been involved with the campus after their graduation, serving as coaches and facilities staff, “performing traffic studies for the campus, and structural engineering for a proposed Black Box Theater and classroom expansion that will hopefully begin soon.”

Being part of Utah Catholic Schools has been a meaningful aspect of his life, he said.

“In my opinion, the best form of education is to educate the whole child, academically, spiritually, socially, emotionally and physically in an accepting, safe and positive environment, and that is what we strive for in Catholic education,” he said, and Catholic schools “play an important role in the future of our Church and in our greater society. It has been a privilege to be a part of Catholic education in Utah.”

He will never forget the thousands of students he has taught or who were in the schools where he worked, he said. “Occasionally when my wife and I are out and about, a former student will come up to me and say hi, which is very rewarding.”

In retirement, “I would like to visit our grandchildren who are out of state and spend more time with our granddaughter here,” Markosian said.

He also plans to spend some time travelling with his wife, and to continue as an assistant football coach, but he also looks forward to going fly fishing and skiing during the week “to escape the crowds, and I have several house and yard projects that I have been putting off that I would like to complete,” he said.

Markosian thanks his wife, his family and “all the teachers, administrators, and staff I have worked with over the years. I have learned much from all of you, and your support made whatever successes I have had, possible,” he said, adding that all of the students and student-athletes whom he has known have enriched his life.