On Saturday, October 22, the 24th annual Hall of Fame Cougar Foundation ceremony and breakfast was held at Sahuaro. At this breakfast the newest Hall of Fame members are inducted, give a speech, receive a medal, and get their picture put up in the Harry and Fran Johnson Hall along with their name inscribed on a brass plate.

This year Dea Caid, Joel Estes, Richard Fleming, Mary Harrington, Tad Simons, and Robert Smith were all inducted.

Dea Caid worked at Sahuaro from 1978-2001 as a teacher assistant, department secretary, copy room supervisor, note taker and worked as Sahuaro’s party planner. She illuminates the quote ” Once a Cougar-Always a Cougar!”

Joel Estes graduated from SHS in 1982 and was the Student Body President, Homecoming King, was a member of NHS, and graduated Valedictorian. He attended the U of A on a baseball scholarship and also was a member of the 1986 National Championship Team. As of today, Estes is the Vice President of Investments at Wells Fargo.

Richard Fleming  graduated from SHS in 1979 and participated in basketball, football, track, and cross country. According to the SHS Cougar Foundation program, “In 1979 he set the school record in the triple jump and finished 2nd in State in the decathlon.” He passed away in August of 2016 and “will always be remembered as a soft spoken person who competed and showed his Cougar pride in all he did.”

Mary Harrington graduated in 1975 and was involved in volleyball and track and field. In 1980 and 1984 she competed in the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials. “In 1987 [she] returned to Tucson [from Colorado Springs] where she was the first female to teach fitness to the cadets in the Tucson Fire Department.” And in 1987 she was “selected as the assistant women’s track team coach for the World Games in Sicily.”

Tad Simons graduated in 1971 and was involved in student government and yearbook.  He graduated number two in his class and attended Stanford University. “In 2011 [he] was the Co-Founder of Pyxera, a healthcare and life sciences strategy design medical devices, some of which include better drug delivery systems for diabetes, bone repair and cancer patients.” He is a “well-published author in many medical and pharmaceutical journals.”

Robert Smith graduated in 1971 and was very into his architectural drawing class that was held here at Sahuaro. “In 1994 he became the UA Campus Architect and he is currently the Vice President of the University of Arizona planning, design and operations.” Smith is also ‘responsible for the State’s largest Green Roof on a public building.” Today, “he is in charge of campus operations, facilities, risk management, parking, planning, design and construction of the new downtown Phoenix Biomedical Campus.”