Influential Women of Arizona
Here are the names and bios of three influential women the West Valley AAUW has nominated for recognition in the Scottsdale Celebrating Arizona Women Event in 2012. We set up a committee, and established the following criteria:
1. Lived in the West Valley for at least five years;
2. In keeping with the last phrase of the AAUW Mission statement “Positive Societal Change” our Woman of the Year will have been a positive influence in one of the following areas: educational, political, social, or cultural;
3. She should be a role model for women and girls in our community.
The three women listed below were recognized at an event at Scottsdale Community College in the spring of 2012 as being Influential Women of Arizona.
1. Lived in the West Valley for at least five years;
2. In keeping with the last phrase of the AAUW Mission statement “Positive Societal Change” our Woman of the Year will have been a positive influence in one of the following areas: educational, political, social, or cultural;
3. She should be a role model for women and girls in our community.
The three women listed below were recognized at an event at Scottsdale Community College in the spring of 2012 as being Influential Women of Arizona.
Jacqui MacConnell
Jacqui MacConnell, President and Founder of Angels on Patrol, is a lieutenant with the Phoenix Police Department where she has worked since 1994. As an officer she worked in the Maryvale Precinct and South Mountain Precincts as well as in the Drug Enforcement Bureau, Sex Crimes Unit and the Training Academy. As a sergeant, she worked in the South Mountain and Central City Precincts as well as the Drug Enforcement Bureau. As a lieutenant, she was assigned to patrol in the Maryvale Precinct where she still works as the Crime Suppression Lieutenant. Jacqui founded Angels on Patrol in 2009 and owns her own business, MacConnell Instruction, LLC teaching citizens how not to be victims of violent crime.
The founder of Angels on Patrol, Lt. Jacqui MacConnell, started this organization in 2003 after her squad rescued two 5 year-old twins and their 8 year old brother. The twins had been caged their entire lives and their brother shared their room. The three boys have since been adopted by their foster family and are thriving. Lt. MacConnell stayed involved in the boys lives and knows the challenges the family has faced throughout the years. The goal of Angels on Patrol is to help other officers help other families.
Angels on Patrol supports families in crisis and youth who have either been abused or neglected and/or whose caregivers are facing extreme financial hardship identified by Phoenix Police Officers.
Angels on Patrol:
• Has emergency funds available for officers who identify a crisis situation involving youth or families
• Funds recreational and enrichment opportunities for youth
The mission of Angels on Patrol is to:
• Help children and families in crisis who are identified by law enforcement
• Enhance the public's perception of law enforcement
• Help officers become more than a "band-aid" and positively affect families after the initial crisis has passed.
Due to the nature of their profession, officers often come across horrendous crisis situations. Officers provide immediate assistance and ensure that the situation is stable before leaving. However, many officers have the desire to help families beyond the immediate situation. Angels on Patrol helps officers do this. By helping families and children past their immediate crisis situation, the families and the public have an additional opportunity to see officers as individuals who care about the community they serve.
How does Angels on Patrol work?
When an officer comes across crisis situations involving children and/or families who they feel could use additional assistance, the officer can fill out a Family Application Form and submit it to Angels on Patrol. A board member will conduct follow-up with the officer and with the children/family in question. The application will then be presented to the board of Angels on Patrol. The board will decide whether to approve the application, and if so, to what extent.
The item in question, not cash, will be provided to the children/family.
Example #1: Officers respond to an apartment complex where the 5 young children are left unattended. The children are removed from the home and placed with their aunt who is already raising 3 of her own children on her own. The aunt cannot afford the initial food and clothes to bring the children into her home so the initial responding officers and Angels on Patrol took the family shopping for much needed food and clothes to get them on their feet.
Example #2: A woman and 2 of her 5 children are killed by her husband before he kills himself. The remaining 3 children go to live with their grandmother. The grandmother is limited financially and when her house burns to the ground, she is left with nothing. Through the referral of a School Resource Officer, Angels on Patrol took this family shopping for much needed clothes.
Example #3: A 12 year old girl is hand picked to attend a 6 week summer school in Dallas, TX for future scientists. Her family is struggling financially and having a difficult time paying the airfare from Phoenix to Dallas. Through a Community Action Officer, Angels on Patrol is introduced to this young lady and purchases her plane ticket to Dallas.
Example #4: A School Resource Officer who helped turn the 13 year old boy around through school programs, recognizes that when the boy is accepted into the Junior Ambassador Program which includes a trip to Washington, DC, that the family cannot afford the cost of the program. Through Angels on Patrol, the young boy was able to attend the trip and the mother was overjoyed.
The founder of Angels on Patrol, Lt. Jacqui MacConnell, started this organization in 2003 after her squad rescued two 5 year-old twins and their 8 year old brother. The twins had been caged their entire lives and their brother shared their room. The three boys have since been adopted by their foster family and are thriving. Lt. MacConnell stayed involved in the boys lives and knows the challenges the family has faced throughout the years. The goal of Angels on Patrol is to help other officers help other families.
Angels on Patrol supports families in crisis and youth who have either been abused or neglected and/or whose caregivers are facing extreme financial hardship identified by Phoenix Police Officers.
Angels on Patrol:
• Has emergency funds available for officers who identify a crisis situation involving youth or families
• Funds recreational and enrichment opportunities for youth
The mission of Angels on Patrol is to:
• Help children and families in crisis who are identified by law enforcement
• Enhance the public's perception of law enforcement
• Help officers become more than a "band-aid" and positively affect families after the initial crisis has passed.
Due to the nature of their profession, officers often come across horrendous crisis situations. Officers provide immediate assistance and ensure that the situation is stable before leaving. However, many officers have the desire to help families beyond the immediate situation. Angels on Patrol helps officers do this. By helping families and children past their immediate crisis situation, the families and the public have an additional opportunity to see officers as individuals who care about the community they serve.
How does Angels on Patrol work?
When an officer comes across crisis situations involving children and/or families who they feel could use additional assistance, the officer can fill out a Family Application Form and submit it to Angels on Patrol. A board member will conduct follow-up with the officer and with the children/family in question. The application will then be presented to the board of Angels on Patrol. The board will decide whether to approve the application, and if so, to what extent.
The item in question, not cash, will be provided to the children/family.
Example #1: Officers respond to an apartment complex where the 5 young children are left unattended. The children are removed from the home and placed with their aunt who is already raising 3 of her own children on her own. The aunt cannot afford the initial food and clothes to bring the children into her home so the initial responding officers and Angels on Patrol took the family shopping for much needed food and clothes to get them on their feet.
Example #2: A woman and 2 of her 5 children are killed by her husband before he kills himself. The remaining 3 children go to live with their grandmother. The grandmother is limited financially and when her house burns to the ground, she is left with nothing. Through the referral of a School Resource Officer, Angels on Patrol took this family shopping for much needed clothes.
Example #3: A 12 year old girl is hand picked to attend a 6 week summer school in Dallas, TX for future scientists. Her family is struggling financially and having a difficult time paying the airfare from Phoenix to Dallas. Through a Community Action Officer, Angels on Patrol is introduced to this young lady and purchases her plane ticket to Dallas.
Example #4: A School Resource Officer who helped turn the 13 year old boy around through school programs, recognizes that when the boy is accepted into the Junior Ambassador Program which includes a trip to Washington, DC, that the family cannot afford the cost of the program. Through Angels on Patrol, the young boy was able to attend the trip and the mother was overjoyed.
Betty Lynch
Betty Lynch – was a non-traditional student – and the first in her family to attend college. She graduated with her BS Summa cum Laude with a Major in Accounting and a Minor in Business Administration and again Summa cum Laude with an MBA in Finance and a Minor in Controllership both from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT. Betty spent her career in banking in CT rising in various banks from teller to President. Her personal paradigm changed after attending Leadership West’s Human Service Issue Day.
After moving to Arizona in 1997, Betty served the City of Avondale for two terms as a Council Member and as Vice Mayor from 2000-2008 when she was term limited. Betty has served and continues to serve on numerous school, city, county and state boards and commissions, numerous non-profits and is a graduate of Leadership West, Class V. In addition, Betty co-founded the West Valley Human Services Alliance (WVHSA) in 2005 following a needs study and a request to MAG from the City Managers in the West Valley.
The Alliance has been and continues to be the central forum for human services planning in the West Valley. With over 760 members from private businesses, faith-based organizations, non-profit organizations, municipal staff, elected officials, grass roots and governmental agencies, schools and law enforcement personnel, the organization works diligently in a volunteer capacity serving the underserved people of Arizona and building capacity in the West Valley communities in particular.
Under Betty’s leadership, the Alliance works to identify, align and leverage available resources, reduce duplication of efforts and augment existing services and programs with fresh ideas. The West Valley Alliance meets monthly with keynote speakers such as Mission of Mercy presenting their Medical Van and site services in Avondale for underinsured/uninsured mothers and children. They are provided complete medical care, including prescriptions, and other services if needed through private funding and a Memorandum of Understanding with Banner Estrella Hospital. The program is staffed by volunteer doctors and nurses and additional volunteers to move the process along. That program is currently being considered for a $500K grant to allow them to be available on a more regular basis to meet the demand of the clients. Betty is playing a key role on an Advisory Communication Board to bring this to fruition.
The WVHSA partnered with the Valley of the Sun United Way beginning in 2008 to bring “Project Homeless Connect” to the West Valley. They continue this partnership today and hold 12 “Project Connect” programs annually. The name change reflects the economy and those attending may not be homeless, but near homeless. Annually, there are four in the WV, four in Phoenix and four in the Tempe, Mesa, and Chandler areas. These full day programs are presented by VSUW/WVHSA for the purpose of assisting individuals and families who are homeless, unemployed, or have fallen on hard times. All federal, state, county, city and community agencies are invited to be present on site to meet the needs of the guests. A vet is usually present to meet the needs of their pets. Hot breakfast and lunch are provided as are haircuts and showers. Housing and medical health is often available as a well as assistance with job searches and food stamp applications. Vans provide transportation to DMV for identification and driver’s licenses. Guests may take as much clothing as they need and are given a healthy snack and water as they leave along with a toiletry kit and new socks. If available, backpacks are provided. Since 2008, they have served approximately 10,000 in need.
The WVHSA also presents annual informational Summits for the underserved. Topics have included “Ending Childhood Hunger” utilizing national speakers, a hot school breakfast, a hot school lunch with salad and fruit bars to illustrate the quality of food our children receive while in school. Next was a program titled “Benevolence and Beyond” with the Faith Based Community to showcase various programs that stretch the limited funding that the community has available and to help them share and learn about additional programs already in existence. Upcoming is a summit – “Transportation for the Underserved.” How do we insure that our senior citizens, youngsters and those in-need can get from point A to B when they need to do so? Can we say, “Yes, we can be there because we have transportation”?
Betty was also instrumental in obtaining funding of $600K for the Arizona Foundation for the Eye to build a mobile van to look at diabetes of the eye and retinal degeneration especially among Hispanics in the community. The population treated is 18 and older. That van has been built and is working in the community. Currently, there are discussions with Mission of Mercy on a possible partnership to treat additional patients.
Betty exemplifies a selfless and energetic woman dedicated to making Arizona a better place to live, work and to raise a family. She has given countless hours of plain hard work, organizing, strategizing and problem solving for the good of the greater population. In her spare time, Betty has chaired the Board of Management of the SWV Family YMCA, Chairs the WV Advisory Board for A New Leaf counseling and shelter programs, and sits on the board for the Developmentally Disabled.
After moving to Arizona in 1997, Betty served the City of Avondale for two terms as a Council Member and as Vice Mayor from 2000-2008 when she was term limited. Betty has served and continues to serve on numerous school, city, county and state boards and commissions, numerous non-profits and is a graduate of Leadership West, Class V. In addition, Betty co-founded the West Valley Human Services Alliance (WVHSA) in 2005 following a needs study and a request to MAG from the City Managers in the West Valley.
The Alliance has been and continues to be the central forum for human services planning in the West Valley. With over 760 members from private businesses, faith-based organizations, non-profit organizations, municipal staff, elected officials, grass roots and governmental agencies, schools and law enforcement personnel, the organization works diligently in a volunteer capacity serving the underserved people of Arizona and building capacity in the West Valley communities in particular.
Under Betty’s leadership, the Alliance works to identify, align and leverage available resources, reduce duplication of efforts and augment existing services and programs with fresh ideas. The West Valley Alliance meets monthly with keynote speakers such as Mission of Mercy presenting their Medical Van and site services in Avondale for underinsured/uninsured mothers and children. They are provided complete medical care, including prescriptions, and other services if needed through private funding and a Memorandum of Understanding with Banner Estrella Hospital. The program is staffed by volunteer doctors and nurses and additional volunteers to move the process along. That program is currently being considered for a $500K grant to allow them to be available on a more regular basis to meet the demand of the clients. Betty is playing a key role on an Advisory Communication Board to bring this to fruition.
The WVHSA partnered with the Valley of the Sun United Way beginning in 2008 to bring “Project Homeless Connect” to the West Valley. They continue this partnership today and hold 12 “Project Connect” programs annually. The name change reflects the economy and those attending may not be homeless, but near homeless. Annually, there are four in the WV, four in Phoenix and four in the Tempe, Mesa, and Chandler areas. These full day programs are presented by VSUW/WVHSA for the purpose of assisting individuals and families who are homeless, unemployed, or have fallen on hard times. All federal, state, county, city and community agencies are invited to be present on site to meet the needs of the guests. A vet is usually present to meet the needs of their pets. Hot breakfast and lunch are provided as are haircuts and showers. Housing and medical health is often available as a well as assistance with job searches and food stamp applications. Vans provide transportation to DMV for identification and driver’s licenses. Guests may take as much clothing as they need and are given a healthy snack and water as they leave along with a toiletry kit and new socks. If available, backpacks are provided. Since 2008, they have served approximately 10,000 in need.
The WVHSA also presents annual informational Summits for the underserved. Topics have included “Ending Childhood Hunger” utilizing national speakers, a hot school breakfast, a hot school lunch with salad and fruit bars to illustrate the quality of food our children receive while in school. Next was a program titled “Benevolence and Beyond” with the Faith Based Community to showcase various programs that stretch the limited funding that the community has available and to help them share and learn about additional programs already in existence. Upcoming is a summit – “Transportation for the Underserved.” How do we insure that our senior citizens, youngsters and those in-need can get from point A to B when they need to do so? Can we say, “Yes, we can be there because we have transportation”?
Betty was also instrumental in obtaining funding of $600K for the Arizona Foundation for the Eye to build a mobile van to look at diabetes of the eye and retinal degeneration especially among Hispanics in the community. The population treated is 18 and older. That van has been built and is working in the community. Currently, there are discussions with Mission of Mercy on a possible partnership to treat additional patients.
Betty exemplifies a selfless and energetic woman dedicated to making Arizona a better place to live, work and to raise a family. She has given countless hours of plain hard work, organizing, strategizing and problem solving for the good of the greater population. In her spare time, Betty has chaired the Board of Management of the SWV Family YMCA, Chairs the WV Advisory Board for A New Leaf counseling and shelter programs, and sits on the board for the Developmentally Disabled.
Margaret T. Baker
To our great pleasure, we discovered that one or our own members is an outstanding representative in all aspects of her life, through her community service, political efforts, education, organizational involvement and especially through her exemplary personal life. She embodies what we all desire to become – a loving, caring person to the community and especially to her family.
This person is Margaret Truman Baker, our immediate past president and a founding member of this branch. In choosing to honor Margaret as our first Woman of the Year, we’re recognizing all her many accomplishments but especially the one of being an extraordinary mother of a large and highly successful family.
But first we need to start at the beginning. Margaret was born to Jack and Helen Gass Truman, the third oldest of 12 children. Both her parents were from hardy pioneer Arizona families. In fact, they were pioneers in their own right, moving from Phoenix to the remote Waddell area west of Phoenix in 1947. Their home consisted of a small four-room house with no running water. At the time they had six children. Through the years they added onto the house and to their family, instilling in their children the high ideals they expected of them and their strong Roman Catholic faith. These ideals including doing the best they could at whatever they were involved in.
Each of the Truman children maintained these high standards, including Margaret. In elementary school she was active in 4-H, breeding and showing registered Guernsey dairy cattle raised at her family’s small citrus ranch. She also qualified for state competition in track and field and graduated second in her class.
At Litchfield High School and Agua Fria High School, Margaret continued to excel, serving as president of the all-girl student organization, and again qualifying for state athletic competition, this time in tennis and archery. She played the clarinet for four years in the band. Before and after school each day for two years she was responsible for milking from 20 to 25 cows, and she graduated second in her class.
Margaret then went on to Arizona State University, graduating in 1964 with distinction with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. She was one of a limited number of women students in the Business College but was so well accepted by her peers she became the first president of the College of business student council. In addition, she served as a charter member of Mortar Board, a national senior women’s honorary, and in the Student Senate. As a senior she one of the few students named by ASU to “Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.
However, it is truly amazing what was going in her personal life at the same time she was going to college. Halfway through college, and at 19 years old, she married her high school sweetheart, Larry Dean Baker. She bore their first child her senior year and went on to have their first four children in five years. Another child joined the family and her orphaned niece came to live with them when she was 12, leaving Margaret to raise six children. Margaret and Larry had four children in high school at the same time and later four children in college at the same time. It is truly a testament to their parenting skills and financial wizardry they were able to pull it off!
Larry was born in Buckeye, and graduated from Avondale Elementary, Agua Fria High School, and ASU. Though his bachelor’s degree was in agriculture, Larry spent 35 years in banking, rising to the senior position of regional vice-president for First Interstate Bank. After taking early retirement, he now owns and manages their Sparklin’ Clean Car Wash business on Indian School Road in Phoenix.
In addition to raising their six children, Margaret worked as an occasional high school substitute teacher and when the children were older at a management services firm in an executive position for seven years. For the past two and a half years she has worked as an assistant librarian for the Phoenix Public Library.
Her involvement in the community as a young mother began while she and Larry were living in Yuma during their early married life. Although the children were small she served as a member of the Yuma Junior Woman’s Club, chairing their community improvement project and establishing the Yuma County volunteer Bureau. In 1970 she was named as an “Outstanding Young Woman in America”.
After moving back to the Waddell area where she grew up, in 1972 Margaret was elected as the first woman on the Dysart Unified School District Governing Board and as its first woman president, serving for four terms. While on the Dysart board she was recognized as a “Most Outstanding School Board Member in Arizona” by the Arizona School Boards Association and was the first to be so honored. She also served as the first woman member and the first woman president on the Arizona Interscholastic Association executive board; served on the Arizona School Boards Association Board as the Maricopa County director; the Valley view Community Hospital board for six years and as the first woman chairman; and on the Maricopa County Volunteer Bureau board.
After moving to Litchfield Park in 1984 she led a successful effort to elect Barbara Robey as the city’s first woman mayor. In addition Margaret herself served on the City Council from 1990-1992, and organized and chaired the city’s first town hall, “Litchfield Park Town Hall I: Shaping the Future.” She also was selected in 1985 to Valley Leadership VII, and served as a member of the Phoenix 40/Valley Leadership task force on education reform. In addition Margaret served on the Estrella Mountain Community College’s Vocational Education Curriculum Task Force, the Litchfield School PTA board, and as a member of the Brophy Mother’s Guild board for three years. Currently she is a member of the Arizona Historical League Board and is a charter member of our organization, the West Valley branch of the AAUW.
Margaret and Larry’s children are very successful in their own right. Daughter Lynda graduated first in her class from Dysart High School, serving as student body president and as southwestern United States governor of the Key Club while actively showing swine in FFA. She received a national merit scholarship to Georgetown University, where she graduated with high distinction from the School of Foreign Service, majoring in International Economics and Finance. After graduating with high distinction from Harvard Business School with an MBA, she now works in Frankfurt, Germany as vice president of administrative operations for Goldman Sachs International, an investment banking firm. Multi-lingual, Lynda works in the German language, is married to Johannes Funke, and has three small children.
The second daughter, Monica, graduated second in her class from Dysart High School and also served as student body president, while showing sheep in FFA. She was selected to travel nationally and teach dance. Monica graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, which she is using to help raise her and husband Peter Pappas’ three small children in Connecticut.
Margaret’s niece, Elena Wuthier, graduated from Agua Fria High School. While there she successfully petitioned the school governing board to establish a girls’ basketball interscholastic program. After graduating from the University of Colorado in English, she taught English to children and adults in Spain. Elena is a graduate of the University of Arizona’s College of Law and is a member of the New Jersey Bar where she, her husband Thomas Fahey, and their two small children live. Currently she is concentrating on raising her family before returning to law.
Eldest son Jeffrey also is an Agua Fria graduate and an ASU graduate like his parents, having graduated in Political Science. A brown belt in Jujitsu, he currently is a senior account executive with Management Recruiters International in Scottsdale. He and his wife Jennifer Bousard Baker live in the east valley with the infant daughter, Madeline.
Middle son Stephen also followed in his parents’ footsteps, graduating from Agua Fria, where he played football and basketball, and then on to ASU where he graduated with a business degree. After college he went on to the California Culinary Academy where he graduated second in his class. Currently he works as a culinary free-lance writer and wine buyer for a California market chain. He and his wife Sarah Robison Baker live in the San Francisco area.
Matthew, the baby of the family, stands well over six foot tall. He graduated from Litchfield Elementary School District, and Brophy College Preparatory, earning the distinction of National Merit Scholar. At Brophy he played basketball and baseball, pitching in the state all-star game and in the Hawaii Western Classic. This fall he is graduating from the ASU College of Business.
Although Margaret doesn’t have much time for recreation, through the years she has enjoyed traveling by camper with her family throughout most of the 50 states as the children were growing up. Currently she enjoys researching her family’s genealogy, and spending time with her ever growing family. It is very impressive to see the Baker clan when they are able to be together. With that many children and grandchildren it is a large and happy family at holidays and other special events. And the Baker family always makes a point of getting together as much as they can, with even Lynda and her family flying in from Germany as much as possible.
To what does Margaret attribute her successful parenting? She believes strongly in every child being a gift from God and that every child has the right to be himself or herself. In addition she believes children should be treated with respect and have the freedom to make their own decisions and to learn from experience. She also believes that a child sees itself through the eyes of the parents, both the positive and negative. And, as always, Margaret and Larry’s firm foundation in the Catholic Church has been an essential and fundamental part of their lives, especially in the area of raising their children. This spring they will celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary, an event, I am sure, their children are happy to celebrate with them.
It is with great respect, admiration, and appreciation that we present Margaret Truman Baker with the West Valley branch’s Most Influential Woman in Arizona.
This person is Margaret Truman Baker, our immediate past president and a founding member of this branch. In choosing to honor Margaret as our first Woman of the Year, we’re recognizing all her many accomplishments but especially the one of being an extraordinary mother of a large and highly successful family.
But first we need to start at the beginning. Margaret was born to Jack and Helen Gass Truman, the third oldest of 12 children. Both her parents were from hardy pioneer Arizona families. In fact, they were pioneers in their own right, moving from Phoenix to the remote Waddell area west of Phoenix in 1947. Their home consisted of a small four-room house with no running water. At the time they had six children. Through the years they added onto the house and to their family, instilling in their children the high ideals they expected of them and their strong Roman Catholic faith. These ideals including doing the best they could at whatever they were involved in.
Each of the Truman children maintained these high standards, including Margaret. In elementary school she was active in 4-H, breeding and showing registered Guernsey dairy cattle raised at her family’s small citrus ranch. She also qualified for state competition in track and field and graduated second in her class.
At Litchfield High School and Agua Fria High School, Margaret continued to excel, serving as president of the all-girl student organization, and again qualifying for state athletic competition, this time in tennis and archery. She played the clarinet for four years in the band. Before and after school each day for two years she was responsible for milking from 20 to 25 cows, and she graduated second in her class.
Margaret then went on to Arizona State University, graduating in 1964 with distinction with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. She was one of a limited number of women students in the Business College but was so well accepted by her peers she became the first president of the College of business student council. In addition, she served as a charter member of Mortar Board, a national senior women’s honorary, and in the Student Senate. As a senior she one of the few students named by ASU to “Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.
However, it is truly amazing what was going in her personal life at the same time she was going to college. Halfway through college, and at 19 years old, she married her high school sweetheart, Larry Dean Baker. She bore their first child her senior year and went on to have their first four children in five years. Another child joined the family and her orphaned niece came to live with them when she was 12, leaving Margaret to raise six children. Margaret and Larry had four children in high school at the same time and later four children in college at the same time. It is truly a testament to their parenting skills and financial wizardry they were able to pull it off!
Larry was born in Buckeye, and graduated from Avondale Elementary, Agua Fria High School, and ASU. Though his bachelor’s degree was in agriculture, Larry spent 35 years in banking, rising to the senior position of regional vice-president for First Interstate Bank. After taking early retirement, he now owns and manages their Sparklin’ Clean Car Wash business on Indian School Road in Phoenix.
In addition to raising their six children, Margaret worked as an occasional high school substitute teacher and when the children were older at a management services firm in an executive position for seven years. For the past two and a half years she has worked as an assistant librarian for the Phoenix Public Library.
Her involvement in the community as a young mother began while she and Larry were living in Yuma during their early married life. Although the children were small she served as a member of the Yuma Junior Woman’s Club, chairing their community improvement project and establishing the Yuma County volunteer Bureau. In 1970 she was named as an “Outstanding Young Woman in America”.
After moving back to the Waddell area where she grew up, in 1972 Margaret was elected as the first woman on the Dysart Unified School District Governing Board and as its first woman president, serving for four terms. While on the Dysart board she was recognized as a “Most Outstanding School Board Member in Arizona” by the Arizona School Boards Association and was the first to be so honored. She also served as the first woman member and the first woman president on the Arizona Interscholastic Association executive board; served on the Arizona School Boards Association Board as the Maricopa County director; the Valley view Community Hospital board for six years and as the first woman chairman; and on the Maricopa County Volunteer Bureau board.
After moving to Litchfield Park in 1984 she led a successful effort to elect Barbara Robey as the city’s first woman mayor. In addition Margaret herself served on the City Council from 1990-1992, and organized and chaired the city’s first town hall, “Litchfield Park Town Hall I: Shaping the Future.” She also was selected in 1985 to Valley Leadership VII, and served as a member of the Phoenix 40/Valley Leadership task force on education reform. In addition Margaret served on the Estrella Mountain Community College’s Vocational Education Curriculum Task Force, the Litchfield School PTA board, and as a member of the Brophy Mother’s Guild board for three years. Currently she is a member of the Arizona Historical League Board and is a charter member of our organization, the West Valley branch of the AAUW.
Margaret and Larry’s children are very successful in their own right. Daughter Lynda graduated first in her class from Dysart High School, serving as student body president and as southwestern United States governor of the Key Club while actively showing swine in FFA. She received a national merit scholarship to Georgetown University, where she graduated with high distinction from the School of Foreign Service, majoring in International Economics and Finance. After graduating with high distinction from Harvard Business School with an MBA, she now works in Frankfurt, Germany as vice president of administrative operations for Goldman Sachs International, an investment banking firm. Multi-lingual, Lynda works in the German language, is married to Johannes Funke, and has three small children.
The second daughter, Monica, graduated second in her class from Dysart High School and also served as student body president, while showing sheep in FFA. She was selected to travel nationally and teach dance. Monica graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, which she is using to help raise her and husband Peter Pappas’ three small children in Connecticut.
Margaret’s niece, Elena Wuthier, graduated from Agua Fria High School. While there she successfully petitioned the school governing board to establish a girls’ basketball interscholastic program. After graduating from the University of Colorado in English, she taught English to children and adults in Spain. Elena is a graduate of the University of Arizona’s College of Law and is a member of the New Jersey Bar where she, her husband Thomas Fahey, and their two small children live. Currently she is concentrating on raising her family before returning to law.
Eldest son Jeffrey also is an Agua Fria graduate and an ASU graduate like his parents, having graduated in Political Science. A brown belt in Jujitsu, he currently is a senior account executive with Management Recruiters International in Scottsdale. He and his wife Jennifer Bousard Baker live in the east valley with the infant daughter, Madeline.
Middle son Stephen also followed in his parents’ footsteps, graduating from Agua Fria, where he played football and basketball, and then on to ASU where he graduated with a business degree. After college he went on to the California Culinary Academy where he graduated second in his class. Currently he works as a culinary free-lance writer and wine buyer for a California market chain. He and his wife Sarah Robison Baker live in the San Francisco area.
Matthew, the baby of the family, stands well over six foot tall. He graduated from Litchfield Elementary School District, and Brophy College Preparatory, earning the distinction of National Merit Scholar. At Brophy he played basketball and baseball, pitching in the state all-star game and in the Hawaii Western Classic. This fall he is graduating from the ASU College of Business.
Although Margaret doesn’t have much time for recreation, through the years she has enjoyed traveling by camper with her family throughout most of the 50 states as the children were growing up. Currently she enjoys researching her family’s genealogy, and spending time with her ever growing family. It is very impressive to see the Baker clan when they are able to be together. With that many children and grandchildren it is a large and happy family at holidays and other special events. And the Baker family always makes a point of getting together as much as they can, with even Lynda and her family flying in from Germany as much as possible.
To what does Margaret attribute her successful parenting? She believes strongly in every child being a gift from God and that every child has the right to be himself or herself. In addition she believes children should be treated with respect and have the freedom to make their own decisions and to learn from experience. She also believes that a child sees itself through the eyes of the parents, both the positive and negative. And, as always, Margaret and Larry’s firm foundation in the Catholic Church has been an essential and fundamental part of their lives, especially in the area of raising their children. This spring they will celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary, an event, I am sure, their children are happy to celebrate with them.
It is with great respect, admiration, and appreciation that we present Margaret Truman Baker with the West Valley branch’s Most Influential Woman in Arizona.