Citizen Staff Writer

ERIC SAGARA

esagara@tucsoncitizen.com

Faulty wiring is to blame in the electrocution death of 8-year-old DeShun Glover at the Reid Park Annex baseball fields last summer, according to a report submitted to the city by a forensic engineer.

As a result, the city has suspended its contract with the company responsible for maintaining the electrical system there, Fluoresco Lighting and Sign, said Assistant City Manager Richard Miranda.

City officials are planning to overhaul the lighting system at the ballfields and inspect 5,000 electrical “pullboxes” throughout the entire Parks and Recreation system as a result of the report. The ballfields at Reid Park have been closed since the incident occurred July 25.

An exposed wire in one of these “pullboxes,” also known as junction boxes, caused the electrical current that killed Glover, according to the report.

The report blames Fluoresco, 5505 S. Nogales Highway, for the improper installation of electrical equipment and Tucson Electric Power for a failure in its system that would have shut the power off at the time.

“The failure of the Fluoresco workmen to eliminate that hazard was clearly well below the minimum standard of care for a professional tradesman,” wrote George J. Hogge, principal engineer of Engineering Forensics Experts, LLC, in his report to the city.

A representative of Fluoresco did not return phone calls for comment.

Miranda said Fluoresco was the city’s primary contractor for electrical systems at all of its parks. It has two secondary contractors who are being asked to bid on the project to inspect the pullboxes.

Miranda estimates the cost for the inspections will be close to $1 million with another $300,000 to overhaul the lighting system at Reid Park.

He hopes the ballfields can open again in early December.

Glover was electrocuted because an exposed wire splice was touching the metal lid of a buried junction box nearby, which electrified rain water that had pooled around the junction box, the report said.

Hogge wrote in his report that the box had been filled with dirt from prior rain storms. Work crews are supposed to clean out the dirt when preforming repairs, but this was not done the last time the box was worked on, the report said.

Hogge wrote that the splice should have been pushed down into the box to avoid contact with the metal lid, but the dirt prevented it. As a result, the exposed splice was supporting the weight of the metal lid, he wrote.

According to city work orders provided with the report, Fluoresco had a crew working on the junction boxes at the ballfields in September 2007.

Hogge also states that damage to the portion of electrical equipment within a Tucson Electric Power transformer that reduces the voltage in the ballpark’s lighting system prevented the circuit breakers from tripping, which could have prevented the death.

Steve Lynn, vice president of communications and corporate affairs for TEP, said Hogge’s report contains inaccuracies that should have been corrected before being made public by the city.

He said the damaged equipment in the report is actually owned by the city but contained within a TEP box. The city has a responsibility to maintain the equipment, he added.

According to the report, the damaged equipment was reducing the voltage for the grounding wires. One of the wires had been removed, Hogge wrote.

Lynn said a TEP crew disconnected the wire after the July 25 incident as a safety measure.

Miranda said city technical experts and attorneys are discussing the report with TEP officials in an effort to iron out differences between TEP’s assertions and the report.

Some people had reported to media organizations that they had been shocked in the same area in the past while it was raining, but no reports were filed with the city, according to Hogge’s report.

However, city officials said “there had been a number of issues in the last couple of months with some lights dimming and others brighter than normal and an abnormal number of bulbs failing,” Hogge wrote in his report.

Glover was at a youth baseball game with his family when it started to rain, city officials said at the time.

Hogge said in his report that other media reported that after players and spectators sought cover in the dugout from the rain, DeShun remained standing next to the pole.

He collapsed and family ran to him but were driven back by electrical shocks. He was finally separated from the current by his father.

Calls to Glover’s family were not immediately returned.

Citizen Staff Writer
RealFAST LOCAL NEWS

Funeral services for Salvatore “Bill” Bonanno will begin at 11 a.m. Monday at Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 1946 E. Lee St.

Bonanno, a longtime Tucsonan and son of the late Mafia crime family patriarch Joe Bonanno Sr., died New Year’s Day of a heart attack at age 75.

Funeral arrangements are being made through Bring Funeral Home, 6910 E. Broadway.

A.J. FLICK

ajflick@tucsoncitizen.com

Citizen Staff Writer
REMEMBERING THOSE WHO DIED IN 2007

RYN GARGULINSKI

rynski@tucsoncitizen.com

More than 1,000 people died in Tucson this year, according to Tucson police statistics.

Ages ranged from newborn to 100, occupations ranged from banker to Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and contributions to society ranged from public art to cancer support groups.

With too many people to mention, the Tucson Citizen chose one person from each month’s deaths to profile and honor.

JAN. 25

Adelita Camacho-Bedoy

Adelita Camacho-Bedoy was only 4 but she already had decided on a career goal.

“She always said she wanted to be a rock star or celebrity,” said her grandmother, Rosa Camacho-Bedoy. “She was the type of child that loved being the center of attention.”

From her friends to her teachers to her family, especially her big brother, Carlos, Adelita had the power to touch many hearts in a short time.

Her grandmother said everyone loved the feisty little girl who liked to dress up, speak up and dazzle.

“We called her our princess,” Camacho-Bedoy said. Others agreed on the child’s superstar status. She was even chosen as the centerpiece for the children’s altar for this year’s Procession of the Little Angels, a miniature version of the adults’ All Souls’ Procession in November.

An image of her dressed as a “corpse fairy,” in the manner of Tim Burton’s animated movie “Corpse Bride,” for her Halloween costume in 2006 was the main image at the procession.

Three months after she dressed as the corpse fairy, Adelita was dead. Her baby sitter accidentally ran her over while backing out of a driveway.

FEB. 10

Michael Herman

When Michael Herman, 62, was diagnosed with tongue cancer in 2002, he didn’t raise his arms in surrender.

Instead, he founded the Southern Arizona Head and Neck Cancer Support Group to give other cancer patients a place to turn.

Then he co-founded the Laura Ray/Mike Herman Southern Arizona Head and Neck Cancer Foundation to help raise public awareness.

Helping others was natural for Herman, who spent his career in the hospitality industry. Until his retirement in 2006, he served as banquet captain at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort and was once named employee of the year.

But if anyone had talked to Herman about it, he wouldn’t have boasted.

“He was an extremely modest person,” said Mindy Herman, who met Michael 34 years ago and was married to him for 24 years. “He cared more about helping other people than helping himself.”

The Chicago native also was big on family, friends and food.

The couple’s annual Christmas party included some 60 guests, and they also had a bash for last year’s Super Bowl, which featured his favorite team, the Chicago Bears.

Even when his tongue cancer progressed to the point where he could no longer eat, he made sure no one went hungry.

“He didn’t care that he couldn’t eat what he made you,” Mindy Herman said. “He got such joy out of cooking for people, watching people eat.”

Herman also received joy and strength from running the support group.

“He was such an inspiration to me, and very inspirational to all these people,” Mindy said of the 70-member group. “I am far better person from having been with him.”

MARCH 16

Victoria Vancza Folsom

Victoria Vancza Folsom started her life on a New Jersey dairy farm, struggling to learn English.

The daughter of Romanian immigrants died 89 years later speaking seven languages. A graduate of New York University with a law degree, she was regarded as an expert in international treaties and law and a pioneer for women in the legal profession.

Oh, yes, she also played a mean round of golf.

“It wasn’t just enough to learn to play well,” said her stepdaughter Georgia Vancza. “She had to be an expert. She had that drive to be excellent at whatever she did.”

Vancza Folsom held local and state golf championship titles for several years. She expected others to be as serious as she was at excelling.

As serious as she was, the striking beauty had a wry sense of humor and could charm just about anyone, her stepdaughter said.

Victoria met her husband, Victor Vanzca, at the law firm where they worked. A law library at the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade in Tucson is named for them.

APRIL 24

Patricia A. Bubb

Being a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader in the 1970s may have been the most public claim to fame for Patricia Bubb, 52, but her family said that wasn’t her only one.

“You name it, she could do it,” said Bubb’s mom, Nancy Renaud. “She could do a little bit of everything.”

The eldest of four children, Bubb was born in Melrose, Texas, and lived in Ohio, Dallas and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, after her marriage to Alan Bubb in 1993. Then they moved to Tucson.

She was a community activist, loved nature and was skilled in drawing, writing and cooking.

Bubb founded Tucson’s Duffy Estates Neighborhood Association and made some major changes, such as adding speed bumps, to make the neighborhood safer.

Although she had no children, Bubb had plenty of affection for her two nieces and other youngsters, her husband, Alan, said.

“She would never let a birthday or holiday go by without getting presents for our friends’ young children,” Bubb said. “She’d see to it they got something under the tree from her. That’s where her heart was during the holidays.”

The 52-year-old Bubb died in April of a heart attack. While it is slowly recovering, her family still lives with the shock. Her dog, Pepper, seems to be lost without her.

“For a long time he would look at the door, waiting for her to walk in,” Alan said. “But the dog’s getting better, and so am I.”

MAY 2

Anthony Lombardo

At age 90, Anthony Lombardo was still going strong, laughing with his large, loving family, sharing his World War II adventures at local elementary schools and even mowing his own lawn.

One would expect nothing less from an Army veteran who received the Purple Heart and four Bronze Stars during World War II.

“He never knew what he got them for,” said his wife of 58 years, Lucille Lombardo, commenting on his modesty. “He was a real sweetheart.”

She said the tank driver, commander and gunner probably would have had a military career if he hadn’t been injured in one of the many battles and four invasions in which he participated.

A shell hit the side of his tank north of Rome shortly after its liberation June 4, 1944.

“His whole left side was full of shrapnel,” she said. But in Lombardo fashion, Anthony kept going.

The couple met through family. Anthony’s mother was on the same ship out of Italy as Lucille’s grandmother, and their marriage thrived despite the 13-year age difference.

“A lot of people said the marriage would never last because I was so young,” Lucille Lombardo said. “We would have been married 59 years on Sept. 1.”

The two Connecticut natives moved to Tucson in 1958 after falling in love with the city during a visit.

They trekked west in an old car, with a trailer full of goods they didn’t sell back East.

“We camped out all the way over,” Lucille Lombardo said. “We didn’t have a lot of money for hotels.”

Once in Tucson, Lombardo worked at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and later spoke at area schools about WWII.

“He had a really good personality,” his wife added. “Everybody loved him.”

JUNE 2

Frank Allen Sr.

Frank Allen Sr., 62, was doing one of the things he did best – helping when needed – when he died in a car crash June 2.

Allen was called to an early-morning emergency at his GW Plastics job when another vehicle slammed into his car.

Allen died in a hospital. The other driver was later found to be drunk, and the Pima County Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case.

“My father’s death was needless,” daughter Sherry Allen said.

Nephew Raymond Allen said Allen was more than just an uncle to him. He was a wonderful friend, he said, a free spirit with an easy-going nature who will be missed.

His daughter pointed out her father’s big heart and love of children. Every year he donated $2,000 to the Tucson Fire Department’s Toys for Tots to buy bicycles for kids.

He gave to a number of charities, pitched in to buy Thanksgiving meals for needy families and took schoolkids to the store once a year to buy shoes.

“He was a great man,” his daughter said. “He loved everyone. My father was not a saint, but he worked hard at the end of his life to be like one.”

JULY 12

Deborah Anne Sprecker

The generous, determined and go-getting Debbie Sprecker, 63, kept working after she retired from the U.S. Air Force, even though she had nothing more to prove.

Her 30 years in the military took her to Germany, Turkey and other places. She became a chief master sergeant in the 1980s.

“That rank makes up only 1 percent of the enlisted rank, and for a female to make it back then, that was really quite an accomplishment,” said her brother Tim Sprecker, three years her junior.

Chief Master Sgt. Sprecker also was an avid bowler, holding the title of U.S. Air Force Women’s Bowling Champion.

In 2003, Sprecker ended up as residents’ advocate, as well as a resident herself, in Mountain View Retirement Village where she earned the 2007 Volunteer of the Year Award.

“Management was very grateful,” her brother said.

Sprecker was loyal to her family and traveled to support her niece during horse competitions.

Although Sprecker was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 27, the disease progressed slowly and she kept going.

When MS took away her bowling, she turned to golf. When it took away her golf, she remained a fan. When it made it hard for her to travel for her niece, she bought a motor home for easier mobility.

“That just shows you the kind of person she was,” her brother said.

AUG. 4

Angela Knoche and Timothy Hahn

Hikers Angela Knoche and Timothy Hahn were swept to their deaths Aug. 4 when a flash flood ravaged Seven Falls in the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area.

Knoche, 19, and Hahn, 25, both had jobs that dealt with saving the lives of others.

Knoche, an avid swimmer, worked as a civilian lifeguard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and had been a member of the Palo Verde High Magnet School swim team until she graduated last year.

Hahn was an Air Force staff sergeant assigned to the 563rd Maintenance Squadron, part of the 563rd Rescue Group, a combat rescue unit.

Knoche’s brother Jeffrey Knoche said Hahn tried to save his sister by reaching out to grab her hand while she was flailing in the Bear Canyon flood but ended up getting carried away with her instead.

In addition to dedicating their lives to helping others, both were well-loved.

Knoche was described as a jovial woman with a luminous smile.

“She (was) energetic and always very positive about things,” her brother said. She loved music and taught herself to play guitar and mandolin.

Knoche would have been a sophomore at Pima Community College this fall and was majoring in public relations after switching from sports medicine.

Hahn enlisted in the Air Force in October 2001, and transferred to D-M in April 2004. He left behind a wife and 4-year-old daughter.

Wing commander Col. Kent Laughbaum said both were respected members of the Davis-Monthan team. “More than (our) co-workers, they were our friends, and both will be deeply missed.”

SEPT. 25

Paul Edwards

Paul Edwards, 53, may have died, but his legacy of public art lives on in Tucson.

You can find “Sand Trout,” which he created with Chris Tanz, along Tanque Verde Road near the Rose Hill Wash. “Sun Circle” was developed with Tanz and artist Susan Holman on the Rillito River Park pathway just east of North La Cholla Boulevard, and “Many Color Mountain” by the three artists was installed at Ajo Way and Mission Road.

“Sand Trout” is adorned with children’s handprints.

“He had a lot of fun with kids,” said his first wife, JoAnn Sheperd, who was married to him for 14 years. She said kids were invited to put handprints in the “Sand Trout” sculpture, and they tried to get their baby daughter to do the same.

“She balled up her fist,” Sheperd said, “so her fist print is in there.”

Tanz appreciated working with Edwards on public art because he embraced a variety of ideas and materials.

“He was open to getting out in the field, with his sleeves rolled up,” she said. During their creation of “Sun Circle,” they went to the site with six huge refrigerator boxes with holes cut out to see how a sunset would filter through.

Edwards, who knew he wanted to be an architect by age 8, was an avid hiker who would take off for a week with just his backpack.

“He was a very talented man,” Sheperd said. “He could rewire a house, build a house, do plumbing, draw, design.”

Edwards’ second wife, architect Joyce Kelly, said the key to his success was his method.

“He came up with a concept first, then worked out all the details,” Kelly said. “That set him apart from the other architects.”

OCT. 8

Frank “Pancho” Laos Gonzales

Frank Gonzales, 67, charmed just about everyone he met. He also whipped up a pretty mean burrito.

In the restaurant business for 41 years, Gonzales ran several restaurants bearing the “Pancho” name.

He steered to automobile sales in 1994, revving up business at Royal Buick, 4333 E. Speedway Blvd., until his retirement in 2007.

Even more than for his cuisine and his sales, Gonzales was known for his big heart.

He was a life member of the Tucson Conquistadores by 1988, after joining in 1971. Conquistador Bill MacMorran said Gonzales engaged members in friendly, yet “ferocious” pancake duels on the mornings before the last round of golf at the PGA tournament the group hosted for decades.

Cooking was always in his bones, and Gonzales said he missed the business but not the hassle of restaurant regulations.

He was quoted in a Tucson Citizen article saying he no longer had to worry “about who burned the beans or why the refrigerator didn’t work. ”

Gonzales had said he was happy selling cars. With his ready wit and easygoing nature, Gonzales seemed like a man who would be happy doing just about anything.

NOV. 28

Ken Herman

Financial maven Ken Herman, 83, worked his way from bank messenger to senior executive vice president and the nickname of the “$60 million man” for his ability to make prudent and safe deals. His rise to financial fame, however, did not come without hard work and a couple of close brushes with death.

The first was on Christmas Eve in 1953. Herman was branch manager of Southern Arizona Bank when two robbers bound him with adhesive tape and held him at gunpoint.

“He remained calm and survived with his usual aplomb,” said friend Chuck Pettis. Herman even stayed to finish his work for the day.

His second brush with death was on the way to a fishing trip with three others in March 1969. Their small plane crashed in subzero weather, killing the pilot and trapping Herman, who had a broken back and femur, beneath a seat for four hours while the other two went for help.

“His intelligence, integrity and honesty earned him a respected reputation in the national banking world,” Pettis said. Herman also was on a number of community boards.

Herman’s father was William Henry Herman, manager of Tucson’s first radio station in 1930, and his grandfather was Frank Schmidt, the developer of Colossal Cave.

DEC. 20

Ralph Valdez Castillo

Ralph Valdez Castillo, 19, was on the brink of starting his career when his life was cut short Dec. 20.

Valdez Castillo was riding his motorcycle west on Drexel Road when he collided with a sedan that was making a left turn onto Columbus Boulevard. No citations were issued.

Friends said Valdez Castillo had just joined the military and was home on leave when he was killed.

“This is a tragedy,” said high school teacher Stacy Haines. “Ralph had so much promise.”

Haines taught the teen journalism at Desert View High School, 4101 E. Valencia Road, where Valdez Castillo graduated last spring.

Haines said Valdez Castillo was an excellent athlete who won all-southern Arizona volleyball honors last year.

Valdez Castillo was noted in many news articles about high school volleyball,

Nicknamed “Titi” by his large, extended family, those close to Valdez Castillo said he was a good kid who loved life and laughter and will never be forgotten.

Citizen Staff Writer

RENÉE SCHAFER HORTON

rshorton@tucsoncitizen.com

During the holidays, the last issue people want to talk about is actually the one Kenney F. Hegland thinks should take top priority.

“End-of-life concerns are the elephant in the room,” said Kenney, the James E. Rogers professor of law at the University of Arizona. “A whole lot of denial goes on about this topic and that prevents people from having better relationships.”

While it may seem counterintuitive to bring up long-term nursing care over a Christmas ham or New Year’s toast, Hegland said it is actually a “perfect opportunity.”

“The key point is that if you haven’t had these conversations, things will be harder on the family” if someone unexpectedly dies or becomes incapacitated, said Hegland, who has co-authored “Alive and Kicking: Legal Advice for Boomers.”

What happens then is family members are left arguing about medical treatment, distribution of assets or long-term nursing care.

Hegand, 67, said one way to ease into this difficult conversation is for a family member to write a living will in the form of a letter to his or her relatives.

Then, sometime during the family holiday gathering, the person who wrote the letter can pass it out and say, “I’d like everyone to read this and sign off on it.”

“What happens then is you find out that someone really doesn’t want heroic measures if he’s in the hospital or that someone else doesn’t want to be cremated,” Hegland said. “It gets people involved and then, hopefully everyone else opens up about their wishes and beliefs.”

The professor said these conversations also allow parents to talk to children about why they might be leaving more money to Jane instead of Sammy (they loaned Sammy money years ago) or where all the important papers are.

Conversely, it allows middle-aged children to discuss with elderly parents sensitive topics such as long-term health insurance or durable medical powers of attorney.

“The worst thing would be to have it be an official event,” Hegland said. “A child could say to her parent, ‘You know, I read a story in the paper about long-term health care and I was wondering if you’d thought about that.’ Starting with something like that will bring up the other end-of-life issues.”

Hegland said everyone thinks about these concerns, especially as they age, but because there is no protocol for discussing them, it makes the conversation awkward.

“It’s a very unpleasant subject, but it doesn’t have to be,” he said. “It can lead to reminiscing about great things. People get together at funerals and talk about how wonderful someone was – wouldn’t it be great if you could do that at Christmas 10 or 15 years before a funeral?”

Hegland said he and his sister had an end-of-life conversation about their parents “and it started out gruesome, but it became a very loving experience and opened up lot of topics we’d put off.”

“The hardest part is getting it started,” he continued. “But once you do, it is good. So have a little bit of wine and bring it up. Then you can enjoy the football game more.”

Citizen Staff Writer
OBITUARY

CARLI BROSSEAU

brosseau@tucsoncitizen.com

Emory Sekaquaptewa, an educator and advocate of preserving Hopi culture and language, died last week at the age of 78. He was laid to rest Saturday.

Mr. Sekaquaptewa was described by researchers who worked for him as “the best champion the Hopi language will ever have” and “the grand old man” of efforts to preserve American Indian languages.

He devoted his life to ensuring the language was not lost, and to do so pushed to transform what was an oral language to a written one.

He wrote the first Hopi dictionary, titled Hopìikwa Lavàytutuveni, developed a Hopi language curriculum for schools and a scholarship program for Hopi students to attend the University of Arizona.

He founded and served for more than 30 years on the Hopi Appellate Court.

In the process, he codified Hopi speech and grammar, incorporated traditional beliefs into the tribal legal system and won a slew of awards.

He was a member of the tribal priesthood society and an accomplished silversmith, credited with developing a technique that made the oxidized background typical of Hopi overlaid jewelry more permanent.

Mr. Sekaquaptewa’s wife, Mary, called him a passionate man of many facets.

“He always tried to tamp down his titles and credentials,” Mary Sekaquaptewa said. “He may have been most proud of his 38 years of service with the university and BARA (the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology). He never retired.”

Ken Smith, a researcher who worked with Mr. Sekaquaptewa starting in the 1980s, said that he once suggested that his co-worker retire from the court, but Mr. Sekaquaptewa said: “I can’t. It’s my baby.”

His work was personal. He brought friends and acquaintances with him to the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona and invited them into his home.

Ginny Healy, senior director of development for the university’s College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, remembered her trip as monumental.

“On that trip, he put a dollar in my daughter’s hand, and he said, ‘I want you to know this does not belong to you. This belongs to everybody. It belongs to the Earth,’ ” she said. “It changed all our lives.”

Arch Brown, who helped fund some of Mr. Sekaquaptewa’s projects, described a similar experience.

“After the trip, I asked him, ‘How can we help you?’ ” Brown said. “You couldn’t help but want to help him.”

Mary Black, a former student of his, worked with Mr. Sekaquaptewa on the dictionary project.

“He educated every person he ever met about the Hopi culture and language,” she said.

The date for memorial services has yet to be set.

The family asked that donations be made to the Hopi children’s word book project in lieu of flowers.

For more information, call 621-6282.

Citizen Staff Writer

RYN GARGULINSKI

rynski@tucsoncitizen.com

Death is never easy, be it from murder, natural causes or suicide. But a small handful of Tucson companies can help with the immediate aftermath.

They clean up the death scene.

While the companies interviewed this week said the work can be hellish, it’s definitely heaven-sent for their clients.

“There are people who don’t even realize we do this type of work,” said Kristy Seydel, office manager of Quality Residential and Restoration Services, 2880 N. El Burrito Ave. “They are so grateful they don’t have to go in there and clean it up themselves.”

People first learn about these services when they are referred by law enforcement or organizations such as the Pima County Attorney’s Victim Witness program or Homicide Survivors.

“No one, no one should have to clean up after their loved one’s murder,” said Homicide Survivors president Gail Leland. “They’ve been traumatized enough.”

Crime scenes, suicides and natural deaths often come with drastic cleanups, especially if nobody notes the death for some time.

“You don’t use chemicals on body fluids,” said Abracadabra Restoration president Breck Grumbles. “You remove the drywall. In some cases we have to cut out concrete slabs.”

Both Quality and Abracadabra, 4814 N. Shamrock Place, said about 10 percent of their overall business comes from trauma scene cleanup, not enough for their sole vocation.

“Tucson’s not like Las Vegas where there’s six suicides a week,” said Tom Hamilton, whose business, M&M Professional Cleaning, gave up cleaning trauma scenes last year. He said too much of it was a hassle, including getting paid.

Homeowners insurance covers some of the expenses, but often only the cleaning of the premises, not its contents.

“We think it’s outrageous that victims should have to pay for this,” Leland said.

Homicide Survivors uses an emergency fund to help families with such expenses.

It’s also why the organization pushed for a change in Arizona law, which takes effect early next year. Victim compensation money from the state will help pay for crime scene cleanup.

Hamilton’s cleanup rates ranged from $300 to $1,000 per hour. Abracadabra’s minimum is $750. Seydel would not name a rate, saying every situation was unique.

Others have had no problem receiving payments but have faced other challenges.

“The hardest part of the job is the emotional component,” Grumbles said. “We have to be sympathetic and professional to the customers, who are considered victims as well.”.

Then there’s the smell.

“When the guys first start working here, they’re kind of freaked out by the smell,” Seydel said.

Gas masks, full-body suits and gloves make up the personal protection equipment, or PPE. Steam cleaners, buckets, mops and plenty of biohazard bags are also necessities.

The companies must meet Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards or face a hefty fine.

Not wearing proper equipment to deal with bloodborne pathogens can cost them $7,000. If they don’t properly dispose of biohazard materials, the penalty is $150,000.

In addition to being trained in the latest standards, technicians receive regular vaccinations.

“We have to handle any body fluid as if it were contaminated with a virus,” Grumbles said.

As gruesome as the work may be, it has its humorous moments.

A longtime partner was retiring from a prominent Tucson insurance firm, Grumbles said, and colleagues wanted to make the event memorable.

“They brought a horse inside the building to play a joke on the partner,” Grumbles said. “They never dreamed the horse would get nervous and defecate all over the front lobby.”

Citizen Staff Writer
CARLOCK COLUMN

Editor’s note: Assistant City Editor Judy Carlock reviews the news, her usual cheek tempered by the week’s focus on death.

I had hoped we would grow old together – if not in the same state, then not too far away.

Instead my brother Jim’s funeral was held Nov. 1, 1996, in Boulder, Colo.

That was on the eve of All Souls’ Day. Also the start of the regular NBA season. I wondered if he would come back for tipoff.

Jim’s ashes ended up in San Francisco, in the Himalayas, in the Andes, in the Rockies and under the Rockies (in the outfield at Hi Corbett).

The Halloween-into-All Saints’ Day-into-All Souls’ Day period is celebrated as the Day of the Dead, or El Día de los Muertos, in Tucson and elsewhere.

GOODBYE: To Lorraine Lee, 51, longtime leader at Chicanos Por La Causa, and to Molly Batten, a community volunteer who lived to age 108.

PUPPY DOG TALE: Opinions vary on whether purebred puppies are worth thousands of dollars. Without papers, they are definitely worth less.

Someone did the smart thing, as well as the right thing, in leaving three stolen puppies at an East Side fire station. A fourth puppy was recovered separately.

Wanna say something mean about puppies? I double-dog dare ya.

VERBAL FENCING: Environmentalists say a law passed by Congress in 2005 is unconstitutional. They’ve filed a lawsuit over the REAL ID Act, which gives the secretary of Homeland Security broad power to waive environmental-protection laws. Michael Chertoff exerted that authority last week to restart work on a border fence across the San Pedro River.

The point of the REAL ID Act was to force states to adopt standards for tamper-resistant IDs. We’ll all need new driver’s license pictures. Talk about scary.

MACY’S MAULED: Demolition of a former Macy’s at Tucson Mall started this week. Then Macy’s confirmed it will leave El Con Mall, further changing the nature of El Con.

Two Macy’s remain, at Park Place and Tucson Mall.

BATTLE FATIGUE: Fear of being blown up at any second has proved traumatic for some Tucson veterans, who expected to play military support rolls but were always in danger from roadside explosive devices. “I would be in a nuthouse right now or suicidal or homicidal if the VA was not helping me,” said Lisa Hernandez, 38, who recently returned from a yearlong tour of duty in Iraq and Kuwait.

Post-traumatic stress disorder has been diagnosed in 31 percent of the combat veterans who have come to the Veterans Administration for medical care since last October.

Help is available.

MAKING PEACE: You can’t counter the sarcasm that frequently shows up in story comments online with sarcasm. That just ups the stakes. The prayer of St. Francis that one posted this week might help:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

To be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.

It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

Contact Judy Carlock at 573-4608 or jcarlock@tucsoncitizen.com

Citizen Staff Writer

A woman’s body was found Tuesday in the desert about four miles south of Arivaca, a Border Patrol spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Reports did not note whether any identification was found on the woman, said Border Patrol Agent Dove Haber.

She is the third suspected illegal immigrant found dead in southern Arizona since Oct. 1, the beginning of the federal fiscal year, according to Border Patrol and Tucson Citizen records.

Haber said the body was found under a blanket about 11 a.m. Tuesday by a Border Patrol agent on patrol.

It appeared the woman died of exposure, Haber said.

DAVID L. TEIBEL

dteibel@tucsoncitizen.com

Citizen Staff Writer
LAW AND ORDER REPORT

After smelling a foul odor for two weeks, a Marana couple in their 20s went looking for its source Monday.

They found a body so decomposed it was unidentifiable, Marana police spokesman Sgt. Bill Derfus said Monday.

Police couldn’t tell the sex, race, cause of death or even whether the person was an adult, Derfus said.

Animals had dragged the body more than 10 yards from its initial position, he said.

The couple, who live near Tangerine Road and Miggity Lane, just south of Dove Mountain, thought the unpleasant smell might have been from a dead animal, Derfus said.

They found the body in the desert east of their home, a quarter mile from the nearest house, he said.

Derfus said there were no leads yet, but area agencies were looking into the case.

“They’ll do DNA or dental (to identify the body) if there are any good leads,” he said.

Police are also looking at recent missing persons reports, Derfus said.

CARLI BROSSEAU

brosseau@tucsoncitizen.com

Citizen Staff Writer

HEIDI ROWLEY

hrowley@tucsoncitizen.com

Cristy Zamorano, 27, will never again look at a positive pregnancy test with high expectations.

The Tucson native lost two babies this year, and while she and her husband Andre, 26, believe they will someday make wonderful parents, those dreams are now plagued with fears.

Cristy Zamorano had two miscarriages, one in April, and another in July. On Saturday, she and her husband will participate for the first time in the “Walk to Remember,” an annual event designed to help parents memorialize the children they have lost through miscarriage, stillbirth, newborn death and ectopic pregnancy.

After five years of marriage, the Zamoranos decided they were ready to have children. Four weeks later, they learned Cristy was pregnant. Seven weeks into the pregnancy, she realized the baby wasn’t growing and didn’t have a heartbeat.

Six weeks after she lost the baby, she learned she was pregnant again. The second pregnancy was shrouded in fear as the couple tried to be hopeful. During two sonograms they were able to hear the baby’s heartbeat, something that didn’t happen during the first pregnancy.

However, 11 weeks into it, the heartbeat was gone and the baby wasn’t growing anymore.

This time Cristy underwent surgery to have the baby removed. That is when the nurse attending her told her about Footprints, a support group for parents. Footprints sponsors the “Walk to Remember.”

Through the support group, the Zamoranos have found an outlet for their grief.

“Grief at the death of a newborn, or a baby who has died during pregnancy, is generally not acknowledged or accepted as the major life event that it is,” said Mina Rose, the St. Joseph’s Hospital nurse who started Footprints.

“Parents are expected to move on and pick up the pieces of their lives fairly quickly. The baby is quickly forgotten by others; leaving the parents alone in their grief,” she said.

• For more information about Footprints, go to www.tucsoncitizen.com and click on this story.

IF YOU GO

What: sixth annual Walk to Remember, sponsored by Footprints support group and St. Joseph’s Hospital’s Women and Infant Services

When: 10 a.m. Saturday

Where: Children’s Memorial Park, North 15th Place and Edgewater Drive

Price: free

Info: 873-6590

OBITUARY

RENEE SCHAFER HORTON

rshorton@tucsoncitizen.com

Richard J. “Dick” Roberts died Saturday doing something he loved to do – hike in the Rincon Mountains with his long-time friend Ronald Kovar.

Mr. Roberts, 61, was assistant vice president and budget director for the University of Arizona. He died of unknown causes while hiking on the Douglas Spring Trail in the Saguaro National Park-Rincon Mountain District. He had worked at UA for 22 years.

Kovar, who was associate controller for UA from 1980-97, said he and Mr. Roberts hiked “just about every Sunday” and frequently did longer hikes.

Over the Labor Day weekend, the two joined Mr. Roberts’ two sons to hike to Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

“I wasn’t feeling well,” Kovar said, “so I didn’t go down. But Dick and his two sons did, and I caught them on their way back out.”

Kovar wouldn’t go into details about Mr. Roberts’ death, except to say, “We were just doing our thing Sunday” when Mr. Roberts collapsed.

“He was an outstanding person. He had lots of friends and for something to happen to happen like this is just terrible,” Kovar said.

Jim Florian, UA assistant budget officer and a co-worker of Mr. Roberts’ for 18 years, said Mr. Roberts was “first and foremost a teacher and a great mentor.”

“His institutional knowledge was so great and he was so passionate about the university. He always took the opportunity to explain anything and everything about the budget and how it worked to anyone who wanted to listen,” Florian said.

Services for Mr. Roberts will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at East Lawn Palms Mortuary, 5801 E. Grant Road.

The school’s budget director dies while hiking in the Rincons

OBITUARY

Citizen Staff Writer

RYN GARGULINSKI

rynski@tucsoncitizen.com

Popular tour company owner and Green Valley resident Char White died Thursday after she broke her neck in a snorkeling accident in Mexico last weekend.

White, 62, had just entered the water near Bird Island, about 25 miles off shore from Puerto Peñasco (Rocky Point), when the tragedy occurred.

“She was adjusting her mask when a kid who worked on the boat came down the slide (from the boat to the water),” said Bonnie Vining, a friend of White’s. “He landed right on her face, broke her neck and crushed her lungs.”

White’s son, Peter White, who had been in training to work for her company, Tour of the Month, rushed to help his mother. A powerboat took them to shore, Vining said. It took about seven hours to get her from Mexico to University Medical Center. The trek included a helicopter ride from Why to UMC, Vining said.

White spent several days in UMC with a spinal cord injury, paralyzed from the neck down, but treatment was not enough.

Vining said White’s body was too weak to fight an infection in her lungs.

“Farewell to a beautiful lady who touched so many of our lives,” said Vining, owner of Javalina’s Coffee and Friends on East Valencia Road.

Vining circulated many photos of White in Javalina’s online newsletter: White at the microphone, with coffee shop pals, on tour, cutting cake. In every photo she is beaming.

The photos were taken by Javalina’s photographer, Bob Block.

Block first met White on a tour she headed to Douglas and San Bernardino Ranch. It turned out they had a lot in common. Both were the same age and originally from Chicago, growing up only a few miles apart.

Their friendship grew when her Green Valley home, which she shared with her 55-year-old brother, Michael Aksamit, was in need of repair.

Block helped her spruce up the place, from inner closets to the outer yard.

“It kind of looked like Disneyland at night,” Block said.

While part of her heart was at home, the other part was definitely touring.

“Many people can talk to you on a tour and just show you something,” Block said. “But she made it always special. She brought all kinds of things to add to the event.”

One example was the Mexican tradition of breaking eggs over people’s heads, Block said. The trick was the eggs were hollowed out and filled with confetti. Vining said she also added a historical angle to every trip.

“Little touches like that,” Block said. “She made the tour different. She made it her tour.”

“If you’ve met Char, you’ve been touched by her grace and charm,” Vining said.

She recalled a time at Mexico’s Rancho Esmeralda, when a bus couldn’t get back up a hill, that summed up White’s style.

“I just remember how calm she stayed during all that, how much concern she showed,” Vining said. “A lot of the people on the tour were elderly. Char made sure they were comfortable and not worried.”

Peter White said he hopes to keep the tour business going, with tours scheduled to Tombstone and New Orleans.

Funeral plans are pending.

Citizen Staff Writer
LAW AND ORDER REPORT

A man found dead in an apartment complex pool Tuesday has been identified, but the circumstances of his death are still unknown.

Brian K. Harmon, 22, of Tucson, was found at a complex in the 3200 block of East Seneca Street before 8 p.m. Tuesday, said Sgt. Decio Hopffer, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.

Hopffer said Harmon was visiting a resident of the complex, which is near North Country Club and East Grant roads.

Police will not know how the man died until an autopsy is complete, Hopffer said. He said that could take four weeks or more.

Anyone with information about the man should call 88-CRIME.

LA MONICA EVERETT-HAYNES
lmhaynes@tucsoncitizen.com

Citizen Staff Writer
OBITUARY

SHERYL KORNMAN
skornman@tucsoncitizen.com

One of the tragedies of Adalberto Padilla’s death in the flooded Rodeo Wash was that he won’t see his beloved grandson, Ben, start kindergarten next week, family members say.

The 5-year-old “was his life,” said Francisca “Panchita” Padilla, 59.

She and Mr. Padilla raised eight children in Tucson and enjoyed their family – 24 grandchildren, one great grandchild – and many friends, she said.

“He was alive. He was with us. He did not want to die,” she said. “He could have had more years.”

Ben – Benjamin Moreno Jr. – is the son of one of Mr. Padilla’s seven surviving children, Benjamin Moreno, 21.

Moreno said he and his wife, April, haven’t had the heart to tell their son his grandpa is dead.

“They were so close. (My father) gave him all his love. He loved him more than life,” Moreno said.

The boy was with cousins Wednesday, shopping for school supplies, as more than 35 family members and friends gathered at Mr. Padilla’s home, near East Fort Lowell Road and North First Avenue, for menudo.

Mr. Padilla’s only sister, Irma Hernandez, had a big pot boiling on the stove at his home early Wednesday evening, filled with tripe, hominy, onions and cilantro.

Friends, nephews, nieces and grandchildren filled the home and sat on picnic tables outside, sharing their tears and tales of the joy he brought them.

Francisca Padilla met Adalberto through his mother, she said. They both worked in Sahuarita in the 1980s at a pecan farm. Mr. Padilla’s mother told Francisca she had a son: “I wish that you could meet him. He’s a good man.”

Mr. Padilla, 60, was a union construction worker, a 20-year employee with Granite Construction, which builds roads, tunnels and bridges, his family said.

He helped build a bridge in Red Rock and worked on industrial projects in southern California and Arizona, Francisca Padilla said.

In the late 1990s, he injured his spine – he worked with a jackhammer – and had two surgeries. They didn’t help ease his chronic pain and he retired in 1997.

In 2005, he helped look after his mother as she suffered her last illness in her late ’70s.

Her next-door neighbor, Jesus L. Haro, Mr. Padilla’s friend of more than 30 years, said Mr. Padilla brought her food nearly every day during her final year.

It was her grave site at South Lawn Cemetery on South Park Avenue he was visiting Wednesday, just before he died.

“Now he can join her. She probably took him with her,” Haro said of his friend.

Mr. Padilla left the cemetery when it started to rain and a short time later, his Ford Explorer stalled in the Rodeo Wash.

A sudden wall of water from heavy rains pushed the vehicle 100 yards and into a bridge.

He was submerged in 10 feet of water. His body was recovered by swift-water rescue workers.

Mr. Padilla will be buried alongside his mother. Funeral services are pending as the family tries to raise money for burial costs. An account in his name was to be opened Thursday at Bank of America.

Mr. Padilla became the family patriarch when his stepfather, Gilbert Miranda, died in 1979.

His door was always open to everyone, family members said.

He cooked carne asada and bread pudding and was a boxing fan.

He had two recreational vehicles the family used for camping and fishing trips to Rocky Point as well as Patagonia and other Arizona lakes.

He also enjoyed fishing in Tucson’s urban lakes with his grandchildren.

“He was like a father to us,” said sister-in-law Clara Carpio. “He was like a brother to me, not like a brother-in-law.”

Mr. Padillas’s nickname was “Bombillo,” or incandescent light, according to the dictionary. But he was a “firecracker” in the eyes of his family. The Agua Prieta, Son., native was the light of their lives, they said.

“He always had handfuls of candies for all the kids,” said daughter Cecelia Padilla, 32, whom he called “Negra.”

He cherished his 4-month-old Chihuahua mix, Paquita, and enjoyed naps with her and Francisca Padilla’s 2-year-old Chihuahua mix, Guerra.

The family said they are still grieving from the death on May 11, 2006 of Mr. Padilla’s son Mario Moreno, 31. He was killed when the car he was driving overturned on Golf Links Road and he was ejected.

Michael Graham, spokesman for the city Transportation Department, said a city worker had posted one barricade at the north side of Rodeo Wash and was placing multiple barricades at the south side when floodwaters slammed into Mr. Padilla’s vehicle. He said a permanent warning sign is posted on the north side of the wash: “Do Not Enter When Flooded.”

Mr. Padilla’s family said funeral arrangements are being handled by South Lawn Mortuary & Cemetery.

In addition to Francisca Padilla, he is survived by two brothers, Victor Padilla and Adan Padilla; sister Irma Hernandez; eight children; 24 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Citizen Staff Writer David L. Teibel contributed to this article.

The Associated Press

An Arizonan was arrested in northern Mexico on Thursday after police said they found the body of his girlfriend in the trunk of his car.

Ryan John Chronis, 24, was stopped in the resort city of Puerto Penasco, also known as Rocky Point, because he was speeding, Sonora state police said in a news release.

The body of his girlfriend was found wrapped in a white, bloodstained blanket in the trunk, police said.

U.S. Consulate officials in Nogales, Son., were not immediately available to comment on the case.

The Associated Press