Tucsonans we lost in 2016
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Tucson lost some incredible people in 2016.
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“He was an old soul," said local blues historian Marty Kool. "Such a kind and gentle guy, always with a smile on his face, handshake for everybody. Kinda took everything in stride.”
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"Bob Shelton was a charismatic visionary who turned Tucson into 'Hollywood in the Desert,' " said Old Tucson General Manager Terry Verhage. "He wasn't boastful, but he did like to tell the story of how he once had John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Lee Marvin and Burt Lancaster all working on films at the same time."
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"I thought she would live forever," said poet Janice Dewey, who met Mairs when they were both in graduate school at the University of Arizona almost 40 years ago.
"She was extraordinary - an important word for her. She was a thinker and writer and speaker. Her readings were always riveting," added Dewey.
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Jacob Alsadek, junior offensive lineman: "He always used to smile. Especially toward the end, he would always smile. When I'm at practice, I'm very serious. I'm really into everything. I'm really hard on myself. He would always look at me and tell me to smile. That's something I will never forget from him. & I think that helped me as a player this year especially. Just having him next to me, telling me to smile every day."
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"He was a little bit of a class clown in school," Kevin's mom, Linda Frost said. "When he walked into the room, he had this magnetism."
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"She was the most curious woman I ever knew," said her stepdaughter Maryann Simpson. "She read voraciously and was very interested about different cultures, and what people had to say."
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"When the famous scientists of the day would visit, it was really remarkable - they did not know as much about the moon and planets as Ewen did. He knew each mountain and each crater and each crag and he knew the names of them," planetary scientist William Hartmann, one of the laboratory's first three graduate students, said.
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"His large-scale paintings are just spectacular," said Terry Etherton of Etherton Gallery, who has three of Davis' works hanging in his gallery. "Bold, edgy. & His work is almost reportage. They reflect his travels and his experiences."
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"Thousands of older adults in this community every day are getting assistance and that's because Marian knew what needed to happen and made it happen," said Debra Adams, chief operating officer at the Pima Council on Aging. Lupu hired Adams in 1986.
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"This was a man who never forgot where he was from, the way they were raised," Marcos E. Moreno, youth minister at Most Holy Trinity, said.
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“He just wanted to do music. That was his passion. When he took the chance to jump in and do it, even as a little kid I could tell he was happier,” his oldest son Michael G. Ronstadt said.
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Neill first took on the role as the Daily Planet reporter in the 1948 Columbia movie serial, "Superman." She would reprise the part alongside George Reeves as the Man of Steel in the 1950's TV series, "The Adventures of Superman."
Neill's involvement with the series continued through the years. She played Lois Lane's mother in 1978's "Superman" and had a bit part in "Superman Returns" in 2006.
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"You'd walk offstage and into the booth and then you would know, from the look on (Hood's) face or the first words from his mouth if you had done a good job," Tucson comedian Nancy Stanley said. "It's going to be a long walk off the stage and past the booth. In a very real sense, I won't know what kind of comic I am without him."
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"Sean Rooks had the ability to connect with players he never played with at Arizona," said Ryan Hansen, a longtime staffer under Olson who is now a radio analyst and president of Bon Voyage Travel.
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"My dad taught me integrity," said Alex R. Garcia Jr. He recalled when he was a young boy that his father's job included the approval of building permits. "Developers would send gifts to the house, and my dad would send them right back unopened. He would tell us kids not to touch the gifts. My dad could not be bought," Garcia Jr. proudly recalled.
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"He was brilliant and exuberant. He had great language skills, great writing skills," said John Peck, the former managing editor at the Arizona Daily Star who hired Skinner in 1984. "He was always looking for things to write about in a really wonderful way."
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"I can't comprehend a Tucson without him. He's been a voice for the history and the culture of the area for so long," said noted UA anthropologist Thomas E. Sheridan, a longtime friend and colleague.
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Garry Shandling was practicing his comedy routine on classmates at Tucson's Palo Verde High School in the mid-1960s.
He turned his high school comedy schtick into a 30-year career that included long stretches on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" and two cable shows - "It's Garry Shandling's Show" on Showtime from 1986 to 1990 and "The Larry Sanders Show" on HBO from 1992 to 1998.
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From the Associated Press on March 24:
PHOENIX- Joe Garagiola's nine-year baseball career was a modest one. His 57 years in broadcasting that followed made him one of the most popular figures in the sports world and beyond.
The man Arizona Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall called "one of the biggest personalities this game has ever seen" died Wednesday. He was 90.
The Diamondbacks announced Garagiola's death before their exhibition game against San Francisco, and there were murmurs of shock and sadness at the ballpark. He had been in ill health in recent years.
Growing up in the Hill neighborhood of St. Louis not far from future Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, Garagiola went on to hit .257 during nine years in the majors. His highlight came early, getting a four-hit game in the 1946 World Series and helping the hometown Cardinals win the championship as a 20-year-old rookie.
"Not only was I not the best catcher in the major leagues, I wasn't even the best catcher on my street," Garagiola once remarked.
But it was after he stopped playing that his fortunes took off. He thrived as a glib baseball broadcaster and fixture on the "Today" show, leading to a nearly 30-year association with NBC.
Garagiola won baseball's Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting in 1991. He kept working well into his 80s, serving as a part-time analyst for Diamondbacks telecasts until he announced his retirement in February 2013.
"He had a genuine impact on the craft. He was among the first to bring a humorous, story-telling style to the booth," NBC announcer Bob Costas said.
Garagiola's son, Joe Jr., is a former general manager of the Diamondbacks and a current executive with Major League Baseball.
"We are deeply saddened by the loss of this amazing man, who was not just beloved to those of us in his family, but to generations of baseball fans who he impacted during his eight decades in the game," his family said in a statement.
"Joe loved the game and passed that love onto family, his friends, his teammates, his listeners and everyone he came across as a player and broadcaster. His impact on the game, both on and off the field, will forever be felt."
Garagiola was a tireless champion for Tucson sports during the 1970s and '80s.
He was named celebrity sponsor of the Tucson Open in 1977 in what supposed to be a one-year deal; he stayed for seven years. Tucson's Rodeo Park, located at Nogales Highway and Irvington Road, was renamed Joe Garagiola Park in 1982. The name stayed until 2001, when it was renamed for Rudy Garcia.
Commissioner Rob Manfred said "all of us at Major League Baseball are deeply saddened by the loss of Joe Garagiola."
"Joe began his illustrious career as a baseball player, but it wasn't long before everyone knew that this unique individual would combine his multitalented media skills and wonderful personality to make a mark off the field as well," Manfred said.
The Cardinals signed Garagiola after rejecting Berra at a 1943 tryout. The two remained lifelong friends, with Berra often the good-natured subject of Garagiola's wit. Berra died Sept. 15.
When both men entered retirement communities a few years ago, Garagiola recalled a phone conversation with Berra.
"I said, 'How's it going, Yog?'" Garagiola said, "and he said, 'It's all right, but geez, they've got a lot of old people here.'"
Garagiola played for the Cardinals, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs.
He broke in with the Cardinals, joining a powerful team led by the great Stan Musial. Garagiola got four hits in Game 4 of the 1946 Series against Boston and batted .316 overall as St. Louis beat the Red Sox in seven games.
Garagiola broke into broadcasting in 1955 as a radio and television analyst for the Cardinals. He spent 27 years at NBC and was paired with Tony Kubek as the lead broadcast team from 1976-82 and then with Vin Scully from 1984-88. He was 62 when he left on Nov. 1, 1988, when his contract expired. He broadcast Angels home games on TV in 1990.
He didn't limit his talents to sportscasting.
Garagiola was a co-host of the "Today" show from 1969-1973, working with Barbara Walters and Hugh Downs, and again from 1990-1992, working with Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric.
"God I'll miss Joe Garagiola. Was part of the soul of our show, and told me stories that made me laugh till I cried. Hall of fame person," tweeted "Today" host Matt Lauer.
Garagiola also stepped in on occasion to host "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," including a 1968 show featuring guests John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Garagiola's work as a commentator for the Westminster dog show helped inspire Fred Willard's daffy character Buck Laughlin in the mockumentary "Best in Show."
"One of the world's good guys," said his longtime Westminster broadcasting partner, David Frei. "He loved the game, of course, but he loved life. That's why he was so well-loved everywhere he went, including the dog show."
Garagiola helped found the Baseball Assistance Team in 1986 to assist former players and other baseball figures in financial need and was a leading figure in the National Spit Tobacco Education Program.
He wrote several books, including a New York Times best-seller called "Baseball Is a Funny Game."
Among his favorite projects was the St. Peter Indian Mission School on the Gila River Indian Reservation. He coaxed friends into helping him provide bats and balls, basketball equipment and a new bus for the school near Phoenix.
Garagiola is survived by his wife of 66 years, Audrie, sons Joe Jr. and Steve, daughter Gina and eight grandchildren.
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"We brought him to Tucson to be in charge of outreach to the community, and he taught us over the 20 years that he was associated with St. Philip's to have compassion for those who live in the margins of society," said the Rev. Roger Douglas, the retired St. Philip's rector who brought Buckwalter to Tucson.
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"Bob Shelton was a charismatic visionary who turned Tucson into 'Hollywood in the Desert,' " said Old Tucson General Manager Terry Verhage. "He wasn't boastful, but he did like to tell the story of how he once had John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Lee Marvin and Burt Lancaster all working on films at the same time."
"I thought she would live forever," said poet Janice Dewey, who met Mairs when they were both in graduate school at the University of Arizona almost 40 years ago.
"She was extraordinary - an important word for her. She was a thinker and writer and speaker. Her readings were always riveting," added Dewey.
Jacob Alsadek, junior offensive lineman: "He always used to smile. Especially toward the end, he would always smile. When I'm at practice, I'm very serious. I'm really into everything. I'm really hard on myself. He would always look at me and tell me to smile. That's something I will never forget from him. & I think that helped me as a player this year especially. Just having him next to me, telling me to smile every day."
"He was a little bit of a class clown in school," Kevin's mom, Linda Frost said. "When he walked into the room, he had this magnetism."
"She was the most curious woman I ever knew," said her stepdaughter Maryann Simpson. "She read voraciously and was very interested about different cultures, and what people had to say."
"When the famous scientists of the day would visit, it was really remarkable - they did not know as much about the moon and planets as Ewen did. He knew each mountain and each crater and each crag and he knew the names of them," planetary scientist William Hartmann, one of the laboratory's first three graduate students, said.
"His large-scale paintings are just spectacular," said Terry Etherton of Etherton Gallery, who has three of Davis' works hanging in his gallery. "Bold, edgy. & His work is almost reportage. They reflect his travels and his experiences."
"Thousands of older adults in this community every day are getting assistance and that's because Marian knew what needed to happen and made it happen," said Debra Adams, chief operating officer at the Pima Council on Aging. Lupu hired Adams in 1986.
"This was a man who never forgot where he was from, the way they were raised," Marcos E. Moreno, youth minister at Most Holy Trinity, said.
“He just wanted to do music. That was his passion. When he took the chance to jump in and do it, even as a little kid I could tell he was happier,” his oldest son Michael G. Ronstadt said.
Neill first took on the role as the Daily Planet reporter in the 1948 Columbia movie serial, "Superman." She would reprise the part alongside George Reeves as the Man of Steel in the 1950's TV series, "The Adventures of Superman."
Neill's involvement with the series continued through the years. She played Lois Lane's mother in 1978's "Superman" and had a bit part in "Superman Returns" in 2006.
"You'd walk offstage and into the booth and then you would know, from the look on (Hood's) face or the first words from his mouth if you had done a good job," Tucson comedian Nancy Stanley said. "It's going to be a long walk off the stage and past the booth. In a very real sense, I won't know what kind of comic I am without him."
"Sean Rooks had the ability to connect with players he never played with at Arizona," said Ryan Hansen, a longtime staffer under Olson who is now a radio analyst and president of Bon Voyage Travel.
"My dad taught me integrity," said Alex R. Garcia Jr. He recalled when he was a young boy that his father's job included the approval of building permits. "Developers would send gifts to the house, and my dad would send them right back unopened. He would tell us kids not to touch the gifts. My dad could not be bought," Garcia Jr. proudly recalled.
"He was brilliant and exuberant. He had great language skills, great writing skills," said John Peck, the former managing editor at the Arizona Daily Star who hired Skinner in 1984. "He was always looking for things to write about in a really wonderful way."
"I can't comprehend a Tucson without him. He's been a voice for the history and the culture of the area for so long," said noted UA anthropologist Thomas E. Sheridan, a longtime friend and colleague.
Garry Shandling was practicing his comedy routine on classmates at Tucson's Palo Verde High School in the mid-1960s.
He turned his high school comedy schtick into a 30-year career that included long stretches on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" and two cable shows - "It's Garry Shandling's Show" on Showtime from 1986 to 1990 and "The Larry Sanders Show" on HBO from 1992 to 1998.
From the Associated Press on March 24:
PHOENIX- Joe Garagiola's nine-year baseball career was a modest one. His 57 years in broadcasting that followed made him one of the most popular figures in the sports world and beyond.
The man Arizona Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall called "one of the biggest personalities this game has ever seen" died Wednesday. He was 90.
The Diamondbacks announced Garagiola's death before their exhibition game against San Francisco, and there were murmurs of shock and sadness at the ballpark. He had been in ill health in recent years.
Growing up in the Hill neighborhood of St. Louis not far from future Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, Garagiola went on to hit .257 during nine years in the majors. His highlight came early, getting a four-hit game in the 1946 World Series and helping the hometown Cardinals win the championship as a 20-year-old rookie.
"Not only was I not the best catcher in the major leagues, I wasn't even the best catcher on my street," Garagiola once remarked.
But it was after he stopped playing that his fortunes took off. He thrived as a glib baseball broadcaster and fixture on the "Today" show, leading to a nearly 30-year association with NBC.
Garagiola won baseball's Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting in 1991. He kept working well into his 80s, serving as a part-time analyst for Diamondbacks telecasts until he announced his retirement in February 2013.
"He had a genuine impact on the craft. He was among the first to bring a humorous, story-telling style to the booth," NBC announcer Bob Costas said.
Garagiola's son, Joe Jr., is a former general manager of the Diamondbacks and a current executive with Major League Baseball.
"We are deeply saddened by the loss of this amazing man, who was not just beloved to those of us in his family, but to generations of baseball fans who he impacted during his eight decades in the game," his family said in a statement.
"Joe loved the game and passed that love onto family, his friends, his teammates, his listeners and everyone he came across as a player and broadcaster. His impact on the game, both on and off the field, will forever be felt."
Garagiola was a tireless champion for Tucson sports during the 1970s and '80s.
He was named celebrity sponsor of the Tucson Open in 1977 in what supposed to be a one-year deal; he stayed for seven years. Tucson's Rodeo Park, located at Nogales Highway and Irvington Road, was renamed Joe Garagiola Park in 1982. The name stayed until 2001, when it was renamed for Rudy Garcia.
Commissioner Rob Manfred said "all of us at Major League Baseball are deeply saddened by the loss of Joe Garagiola."
"Joe began his illustrious career as a baseball player, but it wasn't long before everyone knew that this unique individual would combine his multitalented media skills and wonderful personality to make a mark off the field as well," Manfred said.
The Cardinals signed Garagiola after rejecting Berra at a 1943 tryout. The two remained lifelong friends, with Berra often the good-natured subject of Garagiola's wit. Berra died Sept. 15.
When both men entered retirement communities a few years ago, Garagiola recalled a phone conversation with Berra.
"I said, 'How's it going, Yog?'" Garagiola said, "and he said, 'It's all right, but geez, they've got a lot of old people here.'"
Garagiola played for the Cardinals, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs.
He broke in with the Cardinals, joining a powerful team led by the great Stan Musial. Garagiola got four hits in Game 4 of the 1946 Series against Boston and batted .316 overall as St. Louis beat the Red Sox in seven games.
Garagiola broke into broadcasting in 1955 as a radio and television analyst for the Cardinals. He spent 27 years at NBC and was paired with Tony Kubek as the lead broadcast team from 1976-82 and then with Vin Scully from 1984-88. He was 62 when he left on Nov. 1, 1988, when his contract expired. He broadcast Angels home games on TV in 1990.
He didn't limit his talents to sportscasting.
Garagiola was a co-host of the "Today" show from 1969-1973, working with Barbara Walters and Hugh Downs, and again from 1990-1992, working with Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric.
"God I'll miss Joe Garagiola. Was part of the soul of our show, and told me stories that made me laugh till I cried. Hall of fame person," tweeted "Today" host Matt Lauer.
Garagiola also stepped in on occasion to host "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," including a 1968 show featuring guests John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Garagiola's work as a commentator for the Westminster dog show helped inspire Fred Willard's daffy character Buck Laughlin in the mockumentary "Best in Show."
"One of the world's good guys," said his longtime Westminster broadcasting partner, David Frei. "He loved the game, of course, but he loved life. That's why he was so well-loved everywhere he went, including the dog show."
Garagiola helped found the Baseball Assistance Team in 1986 to assist former players and other baseball figures in financial need and was a leading figure in the National Spit Tobacco Education Program.
He wrote several books, including a New York Times best-seller called "Baseball Is a Funny Game."
Among his favorite projects was the St. Peter Indian Mission School on the Gila River Indian Reservation. He coaxed friends into helping him provide bats and balls, basketball equipment and a new bus for the school near Phoenix.
Garagiola is survived by his wife of 66 years, Audrie, sons Joe Jr. and Steve, daughter Gina and eight grandchildren.
"We brought him to Tucson to be in charge of outreach to the community, and he taught us over the 20 years that he was associated with St. Philip's to have compassion for those who live in the margins of society," said the Rev. Roger Douglas, the retired St. Philip's rector who brought Buckwalter to Tucson.
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