Tim Mains, at right, is pictured in 2017. Mains served as superintendent in Jamestown for three and a half years. P-J file photo

A former superintendent of the Jamestown Public Schools District has died.

The Pine Bush Central School District on Thursday evening announced the sudden passing of Tim Mains. In a statement, the district said: “We are deeply saddened to pass the news that Superintendent Tim O. Mains has passed away. Please keep Mr. Mains and his family in your thoughts and prayers.”

Mains began serving as superintendent of Jamestown schools in August 2013. He took the position at Pine Bush, with a student body population at the time of about 5,600, in February 2017.

Pine Bush is located about 75 miles north of New York City.

Paul Abbott, president of the Jamestown Public Schools Board, said he was “deeply saddened” to learn of Mains passing Thursday.

“On behalf of the Jamestown School Board and the district, I wish to extend our deepest sympathies to his husband David, his extended family and the entire Pine Bush family,” Abbott said.

“Tim had a tireless passion for education that he brought to work every day. He loved being in the buildings and seeing students and sharing his enthusiasm with everyone around him. It is an enormous loss to all who knew him. He will be missed.”

Shortly before he left Jamestown, Mains noted some of the district’s accomplishments.

“I think it is important to note that when you look over the very long list of our accomplishments over the past three and half years, that they belong, not to me, but to the many, many staff, students, parents and community members who have continued to work tirelessly together to make Jamestown into a district of distinction,” he said in 2017. “Even more than our accomplishments, I am proud of that collaborative spirit that has made them all possible.”

In addressing the Jamestown Public Schools Board for the last time, Mains said, “It has indeed been an honor and a privilege.”

Mains was eventually replaced by Dr. Bret Apthorpe, who served until June 2020. He was replaced by the current superintendent in Jamestown, Dr. Kevin Whitaker.