Jim Benemann retires as longtime mentor to CBS News Colorado colleagues and students at Colorado State University

Jim Benemann retires as one of the most trusted and longest-serving television news talents to ever serve Colorado and countless journalists and educators are where they are today thanks to his dedication to the profession. 

He retires on Friday after decades of work in local news, most of which was served as main anchor for CBS News Colorado.  

Ever since Benemann graduated from Colorado State University in the late 1970s, he has been an outspoken alumni and supporter of young journalists following in his footsteps.   

"Jim was the first and foremost standard bearer for the (CSU journalism) program," said Greg Luft, the former department chair for CSU's Journalism and Media Communications department. 

Benemann, who is in the CSU JMC Hall of Fame, studied at CSU before the student media program took off. Today, students at CSU broadcast on live television and shoot on digital cameras. 

"In the 70's everything was still shot on film," Luft said. 

CSU's team couldn't locate any of Benemann's old tapes, as those that existed were potentially lost in the floods of 1997. 

However, a deep dive into the CSU archives unveiled photos of his time in Sigma Phi Epsilon, including pictures of him and his fraternity brothers lounging on couches and posing for group photos.  

Luft and Benemann met in college, both were residents at the university's infamous Corbett Hall. While they were not close friends at the time, they got to know each other over the years through the profession.  

"I would say the thing Jim has always been is a CSU graduate. He has always made that clear, and that is big for the university," Luft said.  

Luft and other staff at CSU would regularly ask Benemann to visit the campus. Sometimes he would be asked to speak with students about the career, other times he would be asked to emcee an event.  

"He never said no. Never one time said, 'No, I can't make it to help you out.' His time was personal," Luft said.  

JMC professor Steve Weis joked with students that the department considered naming one of their academic awards the "Benny Award" in his honor, but instead decided to name it the "Cammy Award" in honor of the university's mascot, Cam the Ram.  

Benemann is known to be a lighthearted and always funny person on television.  

"He is in person who he is on the air," Luft said.  

Luft credited Benemann for creating a pipeline to working at CBS News Colorado through his outspoken advocacy for the program. 

"(When Jim was hired at CBS News Colorado) that is when the number of students from CSU picked up at CBS4, and I think Jim had a lot to do with that," Luft said.  

"Jim Benemann has been a great supporter of our program here at CSU and Fort Collins," Weiss said. "(When incoming students visit) from the Denver area, it is always a pleasure to walk them by our Hall of Fame wall and say, 'Jim Benemann was a Ram.' That really is something that resonates with students and parents." 

Over the years, on-air talents such as Michelle Griego, Dominic Garcia, Makenzie O'Keefe, Karen Morfitt and many more followed Jim's footsteps from CSU to CBS News Colorado. Behind the scenes countless employees, from assignment editors to photographers, also followed him.  

"I know (CBS News Colorado) has had an active program for high school students to come in and shadow folks in the newsroom, and I know of a couple cases where Jim had a very big impact," Luft said. "One specific case where the student not only shadowed Jim, but Jim instructed that student to come to CSU. And, that student ended up going back to CBS and doing very well." 

That kid was Dillon Thomas, CBS News Colorado's longest-serving multiskilled on-air journalist.  

Shaun Boyd, CBS Colorado's political reporter, met Thomas while on assignment at Smoky Hill High School in Aurora. Thomas had tipped the station off to an uplifting story he was covering for his yearbook. 

Boyd told Benemann about the student she met as he reached out and invited Thomas to shadow him for the day. 

Benemann and Thomas met during his senior year of high school in 2009. Benemann showed him around the newsroom, explained the inner workings of the news operation and provided both educational and career advice.  

Benemann then gave a quote to the Smoky Hill Summit Yearbook, saying in part, "...We have kept in contact and even discussed a hopeful future as colleagues." 

Thomas followed Benemann's advice and pursued an education in television journalism at CSU. Just three years after he shadowed, Benemann wrote Thomas a letter of recommendation to join the CBS staff as an intern. 

Four years after he finished the internship and two years after graduating CSU, Thomas was hired on at CBS Colorado, fulfilling Benemann's prediction in the yearbook six years prior.  

Through his dedication to CSU, and his willingness to take journalists of all talents under his wing, Jim Benemann has influenced generations of storytellers around the globe.  

From taking time to visit with school groups that tour the station to speaking at fundraisers, Jim Benemann has always given his time to his community. 

From Fort Collins to Denver, Benemann will forever be known as one of the most influential alumni to ever pass through the campus of Colorado State University.  

"We really appreciate what Jim has done for CSU. He has been a Ram through and through," Weiss said. "He has been a generous and wonderful benefactor for our department." 

CSU JMC student Jevon McKinney and staff with Colorado State University helped contribute visual content included in this report.