Jean Meinhardt Rich
Note: Jean died in Tucson in 2023. This was the information she gave us before her death for this page.
After moving to Tucson with my family in 1955, I have found not one good reason to move to another
location; so I remained a resident of Tucson
throughout the years.
I have been fortunate to have been in almost every
state in the U.S., sightseeing and visiting
relatives. Since my husband was from Alabama, we
went that direction often, and visited with some very
loving family members. Mom and I took an Alaskan
cruise in 2001 and had an amazingly good time.
Another earlier jaunt took the two of us to the New
England states to see the beautiful fall colors;
another to Oregon, Washington, and Canada; and there were others. We always enjoy these getaways and are always glad to be back home.
FAMILY:
My late husband (Bobby Joe Rich)was a fulltime member of the Air National Guard during most of our marriage (23 years); and he built two of the homes in which we lived. I was the go-fer and cooked for the workers.
Our two sons are now grown and old enough to have children of there own; one son does. He has given me two very special granddaughters (now 6 and 11 years of age). Both sons live in Tucson.
My mother is one of my very good companions, still
quite active at 83 years of age.
CAREER:
WHERE AM I NOW? Retired. I have worked over 20 years in TUSD or for Pima County. Within a month after graduating from CHS, I began working at CHS as the counselors' secretary and part-time secretary to the
assistant principal (Mr. Quenelle). After a few years, I quit and had a family. I spent several
years going on school field trips; being a Cub Scout
leader; being a baseball team mother; typing the
weekly order-of-worship for the church; taking
several classes at Pima Community College (computer, bookkeeping, real estate, and others); and then I went back to work.
For a few months, I again worked at CHS, as secretary to the assistant principal/dean of boys (in
1983/84). I saw a world of difference when comparing
that period at CHS to our years there. Students
would actually spit on the floor as they walked down
the hall. And one of the students made his way onto
the campus with a gun and tried to shoot my boss. I
was delighted to see the new direction and
rejuvenation of our school when we toured CHS during
our class reunion five years ago.
I worked in several other TUSD schools, and in other positions before working in the Pima County Assessors Office as an appraiser for about 15 years (which included some very nervous moments while Alan Lang was Assessor).
OPINIONS:
I have some very strong opinions; but, since they're
not always shared by others, I think they should be
left alone.
AVOCATIONS:
I love to travel; play around with the computer,
watch sports and other things on TV; be with my
granddaughters; get together with friends and
relatives (usually involving food); plan remodeling
projects; read; and other things I'm still trying to
get to in my retirement.
MEMORIES:
I will always remember and cherish the friendly
people at CHS and those who included me into their
groups. I came to Tucson from a farming background,
having attended a one-room country school, K-8; and I
was extremely apprehensive about diving into a large
city school with such large classes, filled with
students who had attended city schools.
Several of my friends from CHS and I still get
together regularly and always enjoy sharing stories
from our CHS school days and of the many experiences we've had since. We can remember when "pot" was something you cooked in.
