An effort to establish a scholarship endowment in honor of Dr. Lee F. Stith was unveiled at a special luncheon held on August 26, 2000 in Tucson. Former students on hand for the gathering showered Lee and Bettye with praise.

Humbled by the gathering, Lee and his wife, Bettye, stated: "We shall always cherish this honor done in our name and trust and hope that the recipients will use the scholarships to the fullest in the future." Dr. Stith was a faculty member at the University of Arizona (UA) from 1955 through 1983. Although hired as a plant breeder, Stith also taught classes and was an advisor to hundreds of students, becoming a mentor and life-long personal friend to many.

Gordon Hadden (’63 – Agronomy), one of Lee’s students, approached the Scholarship office at the UA about honoring Stith in the Summer of 1999. After being directed to John Engen, Director, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Development and Alumni Office, Phase I of the campaign to raise support for the named scholarship began.

"Gordon began contacting a small group of Lee’s former students, colleagues, and producers," reported Engen, "and in cooperation with our office, we reached about 40 people we thought would be interested, and have secured slightly over $50,000 to date."

Hadden is concerned that although there may be others who would be interested in being a part of the campaign to honor Dr. Stith, he has no way to reach them. "Gordon doesn’t want to offend anyone by leaving them out, but unfortunately, we don’t have the records that link specific students to specific faculty members," Engen noted, "and given the many people who love Lee Stith, the best we can do is run an article and hope they contact us.

For more information contact John Engen at CALS (520) 621-7190 or Gordon Hadden at The Rouse Companies, (602) 381-0300 in Phoenix, or (816) 781-6408 in Liberty, Missouri.

Come out and enjoy the crisp November air while showing your support and school spirit by participating in the Ag-Cat Open!

Plan to join us for the eleventh annual Ag-Cat Open Golf Tournament sponsored by Touchstone Energy ^SM. This year’s Homecoming weekend event will take place Friday, November 10, 2000, starting at 7:00 a.m. at the beautiful Starr Pass Golf Resort in Tucson.

Proceeds of this tournament benefit the Agriculture Alumni Student Support Endowment, which provides financial assistance to students by recognizing academic accomplishments, supporting student activities, student work programs, and recruiting/retaining minority students. Your involvement helps the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences continue a tradition of student support that is now over a century old!

Registration is set at $85.00 per person for early registrants (those paying before October 15, 2000) and $95.00 after that date. This entry fee covers the greens fees, golf cart, lunch, and prizes. We are also seeking sponsors for the tournament at various levels of support including Tee-Box sponsor ($250), Hole Sponsor ($500), Tournament Sponsor ($1000), or Breakfast Sponsor ($1500). Each sponsor receives a two-some or four-some in the tournament as part of his or her contribution. In addition, a portion of each sponsorship qualifies as charitable tax deduction.

For information call Susan Paul @ (520) 621-7190 or via e-mail at: spaul@ag.arizona.edu.

Ruth Prina Stanley, 71, of Green Valley, Arizona, passed away on August 30, 2000. Born in Tucson on December 28, 1929, she graduated from the University of Arizona with a BA in Home Economics and received her Masters Degree in Nutrition from the University of California at Berkley. Ruth was an active member of P.E.O. Chapter J and a former board member for Marshall Home for Men. She was also part of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority at the University of Arizona which her mother was a founding member.

Kenneth S. Olson, 78, died May 5, 2000, in Tucson. He received his doctorate in Cooperative Extension Administration in 1959 at the University of Wisconsin. In 1962, he moved to Arizona to serve as Arizona’s Extension State 4-H Program Leader; subsequently he was director of the Extension Winter School from 1974-1995 he served as State Extension 4-H specialist. Ken was also a 4-H club leader and for many years judged small animals at fairs throughout the state.

William F. (Bill) Hendrix, BS Agricultural Education '50, MS Agricultural Education '57
Mr. Hendrix and his wife Mrs. Evangeline Hendrix have five children; Rebecca, Frank, Mark, Ann, and Bradley. Mr. Hendrix after 36 years with the Amphitheater Schools, as founding vocational agriculture teacher, FFA advisor, principal of Amphi High School and at the level of associate superintendent, is retired. He is now a part-time volunteer teacher's aide for first grade teacher, Becky Wilson, his daughter, in the Helen Keeling Elementary School.

Thomas C. Monahan, BS Agriculture Economics ’52
Mr. Monahan was a very successful businessman working as chairman at Crown Products, Inc., but he is and has been more successful as a volunteer for the Salvation Army for twenty-five years. He has been given the name of "Secret Santa" after thirteen Christmas seasons of donating his company’s truck and his personal time delivering piles of Angel tree gifts to The Salvation Army’s Toy Shop. Children have been blessed by the kindness of Mr. Monahan through his "Mr. Fix-It" style and his ability to teach children about gardening and how Mother Nature works.

Chuck Raetzman, BS Horticulture ’60
Mr. Raetzman has recently retired after 32 years as the assistant director of operation services at the University of Arizona. He was in charge of all the ground and athletic fields. His future plans are to raise apples in Sonoita, AZ and lumber trees in Wisconsin.

James C. Brown, BS Agricultural Education ‘68 and MS ‘72
James and his wife Terry, also an alum, have four children and three grandchildren. Currently Mr. Brown works as director of vocational and community education for Peoria Unified School District and received the Arizona Association FFA Administrator of the year (1999-2000) award at the 71st Annual State FFA Leadership Conference at the UA in June.

James E. Watkins, BS Agricultural Education ‘68, MS ‘73 and PhD ‘80
James and his wife Sharon, who graduated from Arizona State University in 1971, have two children and two grandchildren. James spent several years doing contract training work with the US Department of Defense, first as head of instructional development for pilot training with the US Air Force F-117A stealth fighter, and later as a training and resource manager for the US Department of Energy’s computer-based/multimedia training on the Yucca Mountain Project. This entailed studying that mountain to determine if it was a suitable site to store nuclear waste from US nuclear power plants. James currently works in Louisville as the dean of undergraduate studies at Sullivan University, the largest private college in Kentucky.

Walt Johnson, BS Agronomy ‘69
Walt and his wife Mary currently live in Grass Valley, California where they are closer to their kids and grandchildren (seven so far). Although, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson live in California, they sure miss the desert and look forward to moving back when they retire.

Michael l. Maynard, PhD Range Management ‘70
Michael has retired after thirty-one years of teaching range management at California State University, Chico. He and his wife Carol have recently moved to Salem, Oregon to be near one of their daughters and grandchildren, but do expect to do some traveling and spend some of the winter months in Phoenix where they have another daughter and grandchildren.

Barbara Huston, BS Animal Science ‘71
Barbara and her husband Chris, also an alum, have eleven children, seven of them still live at home, and five grandchildren. Barbara is still raising sheep, chickens, rabbits, and pigs for 4-H and has been nominated as Erie Volunteer of the year for her work with the City of Mission in the Family Care Department.

Barney P. Popkin, MS Soil & Water Science ‘73 and PhD ‘76
Barney and his wife Carolina have three children, Jessamyn, Kamran, and Monica. Barney very much enjoyed the summer issue, especially when he saw how some projects that were started in the 1970s became operational technologies by the end of the century. He currently works as a resources management consultant in energy, water, wastewater, water quality, solid and hazardous waste, and environmental management in the US and abroad. He strives to manage resources safely, strategically, and sustainable in his work, which has taken him to the Middle East, North Africa, Latin America, South East Asia, and South Asia.

Allen J. Anspach, BS Agricultural Education ‘75
Allen currently works as an agency superintendent for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Parker, AZ. The Bureau delivers irrigation water to 80,000 acres of farmland on the Colorado River Indian Reservation.

Rhonda (Leff) Cromwick, BS Animal Science ‘80
Rhonda and her husband Richard have two children, Alexander and Sarah. Currently Rhonda is involved in evangelism and works part-time as an independent distributor of Oxyfresh.

Ted Halbach, BS Agricultural Communication ‘80 and MS Animal Science ‘85
Ted and his wife Sandy have two children, Courtney - 10 and Kurt - 6. Ted works as an extension educator for Wisconsin dairy youth and teaches dairy cattle selection classes in the Department of Dairy Science. He also coaches the University of Wisconsin’s Dairy Cattle Judging Team.

Mark Russell, BS Agronomy ’83
Mark and his wife Lori have one child named Max. Recently Mark has joined EDEN Bioscience as Western US business manager. EDEN has new technology for use in production agriculture for disease and crop quality management.

Joel Gillman, BS Agriculture '85
Joel and his wife Caroline, who graduated from Washington State in 1982, have two children, Madeline - 4 and Sam - 2. Joel currently works as a middle school language arts teacher in Seattle, Washington and is pursuing his MFA in creative writing. He enjoys camping, running, bicycling, being an environmental activist, and developing writing exercises and opportunities for those living on the margins. Most of all Joel loves spending time with his beautiful wife and his two precious children.

Larry Bagley D.V.M., BS Animal Health Science '87
Larry and his wife Linda have two children, Marissa - 3, and Matthew - 1. Larry moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he started the Animal Eye Clinic of Pittsburgh in 1997. He is a board certified veterinary ophthalmologist and has become a huge Steelers fan.

Joan (Fiddaman) Holland, BS Family Relations '89
Joan and her husband Neil have four children, Tyler - 7, Austin - 4, Jennifer - 2, and Cameron - 4 months. Joan currently lives in Saratoga, California and has the hardest job of all, being a full time mom.

Steven Moore, PhD Renewable Natural Resources Studies ‘89
On January 1, 2000 Steven became the executive director of the Center for Image Processing in Education, a nonprofit organization that provides computer-based instructional materials and professional development activities for K-12 teachers.

Judith Weiss, BS Child Development and Family Studies ’91
Judith currently lives in Arlington Heights, Illinois where after 9 years of a career with the YMCA, she has decided to pursue her master’s. She will be attending DePaul University to obtain a master’s of education in human services counseling. For fun, Judith enjoys working at Women’s Workout World selling memberships.

Sherri Major Goemmer, Agriculture Economics & Business Finance ‘92
Sherri owns a cow/calf operation along with her spouse Shane in Eastern New Mexico. Recently Sherri has become a member of the Executive MBA class at the University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management. Sherri and Shane are expecting twins in February.

Stephen Banta, BS Animal Sciences ‘93
Stephen currently lives in Chandler, Arizona and has recently joined the law firm of Lewis and Roca in Phoenix, Arizona as an associate.

Faye Farmer, BS Plant Science ‘96
After graduating from the University of Arizona, Faye was accepted as a Peace Corps volunteer working in South Africa. She lived and worked in a small, rural village in Southern Lesotho connecting the community with opportunities for scholarships, funding, small business endeavors, general gardening, and nutrition education. Faye completed her two years of volunteer service in April 1999. Following her volunteer services, Faye worked at a bookstore, but has since decided to go back to school. She plans on applying to graduate schools and is currently working at Arizona State University as a research assistant.

Keri Levitt, BS Family Consumer Resources ‘96
Keri recently obtained her Masters Degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of Southern California and she currently lives in Los Angeles with her fiancé, whom she is to wed next summer. For now Keri works for the Los Angeles Unified School District as an occupational therapist with children who have special needs and disabilities.

Rick Ennis, BS Family Studies ‘97
Rick completed his Masters of Science in Social Work with specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy in July 2000 from the University of Louisville. He is currently pursuing dual credentials as a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and a licensed family therapist (LMFT) while working as a family counselor with Family & Children’s Counseling Centers (F&CCC). F&CCC is the oldest continuously running nonprofit helping agency in Kentucky celebrating its 117th anniversary.

Edward Tamasi, BS Dietetics ‘97
Edward is currently working as a flavor chemist. He creates and applies flavors to a variety of beverages, sweet goods, as well as nutraceuticals.

Stephanie Ruiz, BS Family Studies ’98
Stephanie graduated from the University of Arizona in 1998 and is currently working as a health educator in Coolidge, Arizona.

Patricia Tiller, BS Family Studies ‘98
Patricia currently lives in Wilmington, Delaware where she is pursuing a master’s in education. She says she misses the sunny desert in Tucson.

Alberta Juan, BS Family Studies ‘99
Alberta currently works for Tohono O’odham Nation Scholarship Fund. Her project is to make scholarship funding available to tribal members in Mexico, in hopes of increasing ways to up the retention rate for Native American students in a post secondary environment.

Tara Charmel Decort, BS Agriculture Business Management ‘99
Tara currently lives in Paradise Valley, Arizona where she works for The Arizona Republic doing Sports News.

Farrah Peabody, BS Agribusiness ‘99
Farrah graduated from the University of Arizona in 1999 and is currently working as an office manager in Phoenix, Arizona.