(Editor’s Note: The questions and answers have been paraphrased for brevity and clarity.)
I know your roots run deep in Arizona, give us your family background.
My grandfather on my mother’s side came to territorial Arizona during the 1880s Silver Rush. He settled in Florence where he was a grocer and a baker. My father came out here in 1914 from Ohio. He went back to Ohio and served in World War II before coming out for good, and also settled in Florence.
My dad was a jack of all trades, working on ranches as a builder and a carpenter.