Longtime community leader killed in head-on collision

Barney Rawson, the father of state Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson and a mentor to a number of influential Las Cruces business and community leaders, was killed Sunday night in a head-on collision in Illinois.

Barney and Joan Rawson were in Moline, Ill., to celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary and visit friends when a man who appears to have been drag racing crossed the median and struck their vehicle head-on, Lee Rawson said. His father died, and his mother will be hospitalized for a week or two and need several months to recover.

Barney Rawson was 77.

Rawson was a successful home builder in Las Cruces for many years before retiring. In addition, he was a mentor to a generation of men and women who are among today’s influential community leaders.

Paul Curry, a builder and former county commissioner, said when he was in high school, Rawson sponsored his local Boy Scout post and gave high-school students an opportunity to work for him. They got to earn money and learn about building and business.

“Anybody that needed money, he always provided them with a job,” Curry said. “He helped us all get started in business, and we wouldn’t be in business if it weren’t for him.”

Curry said those Rawson mentored also included his brother John Curry and Bill Quinones, both builders, and Lee Cotter, a local Republican activist who has run unsuccessfully for state senate in the past.

Rawson was a Republican, but his public service was focused on church and the building community, Curry said. He was a leader of the local homebuilder’s association.

Lee Rawson said his father’s funeral is on hold until his mother is healthy enough to travel back to Las Cruces.

Rawson is the third high-profile community leader to die in approximately a month. Mike Laurance, a former chairman of the county’s GOP and former southern regional political director for the Republican Party of New Mexico, died at the end of May after a battle with cancer.

In addition, Chris Jaramillo, a law enforcement officer and lobbyist for the cockfighting industry, died on June 14. He was recovering from knee surgery when complications resulted in a massive heart attack.

“It hasn’t been a good month,” said Sid Goddard, chair of the county Republican Party.