Eugene Anthony Nelssen, (died May 26, 2010) was a third-generation Arizona native, and a Scottsdale, Arizona city councilman from 2006 until his death from cancer in 2010. He is the only Scottsdale city council member to die while in office. [1]
Nelssen earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (1973), Master of Arts - Secondary Education (1975), and a Master of Fine Arts (1976) from Arizona State University (ASU). He taught Computer Arts and Photography at ASU's College of Architecture and the ASU Art Department; Phoenix College; Scottsdale Community College; and at Paradise Valley Community College. [2]
As an outdoorsman, photographer, and educator, Nelssen was always keen to share his love of the Sonoran Desert and capturing images of it to share with others. [3]
Tony Nelssen was elected with the highest number of votes in the March 2006 election. [4] While in office he continued his legacy of volunteer public service, and continued to attend city council meetings telephonically even after falling ill, until his death on May 26, 2010. [5] Nelssen was campaigning for re-election at the time of his death.
Nelssen was survived by his widow, Margaret Elizabeth Widing "Marg" Nelssen; son Ian Anthony Nelssen; and daughter Hannah Nelssen. [6] Marg Nelssen was appointed by Tony's colleagues on the City Council to fulfill the remainder of his term. [7]
After his death, the City of Scottsdale expanded its WestWorld Equidome equestrian facility and renamed it, "The Tony Nelssen Equestrian Center". [8]
Arizona State University is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the United States. It was 1 of about 180 "normal schools" founded in the late 19th century to train teachers for the rapidly growing public common schools. Some closed, but most steadily expanded their role and became state colleges in the early 20th century, then state universities in the late 20th century.
Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott, a retired U.S. Army chaplain, the city was incorporated in 1951 with a population of 2,000. At the 2020 census, the population was 241,361, which had grown from 217,385 in 2010. Its slogan is "The West's Most Western Town". Over the past two decades, it has been one of the fastest growing cities and housing markets in the United States.
Edward Lopez Pastor was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona from 1991 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Arizona's 2nd congressional district from 1991 to 2003, its 4th district from 2003 to 2013, and its 7th district from 2013 to 2015, all of which were anchored in downtown Phoenix.
Sparky the Sun Devil is the official mascot of Arizona State University. Originally the ASU athletic teams' mascot was an owl, then became a "Normal". It was later changed to a bulldog in an attempt to make the school – Arizona State Teacher's College at the time – appear more in line with Yale and other universities that held a higher level of respect. The State Press, the student newspaper, ran frequent appeals during the fall of 1946, urging the Bulldog to be replaced by the new Sun Devil. On November 8, 1946, the student body voted 819 to 196 to make the change. On November 20, as reported by the Arizona Republic, the student council made it official. The following day, the first Arizona State team played as the Sun Devils. Two years later, Stanford Alum and Disney illustrator Berk Anthony designed "Sparky", a devil holding a trident. Anthony is rumored to have based Sparky's facial features on that of his former boss, Walt Disney.
Phoenix Municipal Stadium is a baseball stadium, located in Phoenix, Arizona. It is often referred in short as Phoenix Muni. The stadium was built in 1964 and holds 8,775 people. It is currently the home to the Arizona State Sun Devils baseball program, having relocated to Phoenix Municipal Stadium at the start of their 2015 season. It is the former spring training home to the Oakland A's, having played their home games from 1982 to 2014. The San Francisco Giants held spring training at the ballpark from 1964 to 1981, when they moved to Scottsdale Stadium.
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Mary Manross is an American politician who served as the 10th Mayor of Scottsdale, Arizona. First elected in June 2000 until September of 2009, she served two terms and lost her campaign for a third term as mayor in the November 2008 runoff mayoral election to her opponent, former Certified Public Accountant and businessman and former city councilman Jim Lane.
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Susan Bitter Smith is currently the vice-president of Technical Solutions, and executive director Arizona/New Mexico Cable Communications Association. She is a registered Republican in the state of Arizona, and has held multiple public offices. She served as Chairman of the Arizona Corporation Commission., but resigned in December 2015 amid controversy. Prior to serving on the ACC, she was president of the Central Arizona Project. Prior to that, she was Vice Mayor of the city of Scottsdale, Arizona. She also served as a member for American Society of Association Executives. Her other memberships have included service on the St. Theresa Catholic School Development Board, and presidency of the ASU Walter Cronkite Endowment Board (1998–1999)
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Susan Harnly Peterson was an American artist, ceramics teacher, author and professor.
Louise Lincoln Kerr was an American musician, composer, and philanthropist from Cleveland, Ohio. She wrote over 100 music compositions including fifteen symphonic tone poems, twenty works for chamber or string orchestra, a violin concerto, five ballets and incidental music, numerous piano pieces, and about forty pieces of chamber music. She was known as "The Grand Lady of Music" for her patronage of the arts. Louise Kerr helped to co-found and developed The Phoenix Symphony (1947), The Phoenix Chamber Music Society (1960), The Scottsdale Center for the Arts, The National Society of Arts and Letters (1944), Monday Morning Musicals, The Bach and Madrigal Society (1958), Young Audiences, The Musicians Club, and the Phoenix Cello Society. Kerr was also a benefactor to the Herberger School of Music at Arizona State University. She was inducted into the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame on October 21, 2004 and was nominated by conductor and musicologist Carolyn Waters Broe.
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