2026- Chris Edwards
In an era dominated by corporate chains and online shopping, Chris Edwards and Tucson Appliance Company stand out as a beacon of what local business is meant to be; personal, reliable, and rooted in community.
Chris has a strong sense of community. He is a proud supporter of the U.S. Military. In fact, he was an honorary Base Commander at Davis Monthan Air Force Base for 9 years. Chris is also a huge supporter of University of Arizona Athletics. He is a generous sponsor of local nonprofits, youth programs, school fundraisers, and community events. Chris has a strong commitment to providing support to those in need without the need for recognition.
His civic pride has ushered him into local organizations such as The Tucson Rotary Club, The Arizona Multi-Housing Association, The Better Business Bureau, The Institute of Real Estate Management, The American Heart Association, Greater Tucson Leadership, and The Tucson Conquistadors, an organization that was honored as Grand Marshals of the 2018 Tucson Rodeo Parade.
It is this community-first ethos and humble, behind-the-scenes work that inspired the Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee to proudly choose Chris Edwards as the Grand Marshal for the 2026 Tucson Rodeo Parade.
2025- Descendants of Fredrick Leighton Kramer
In 1925, a transplanted New York polo player, Frederick Leighton Kramer, proposed to Tucson businessmen the idea of holding a rodeo to help fund an Eastern trip for the local polo association, of which he was president. Even though many local leaders thought the idea was a waste of time, the idea took hold. The rodeo would be held at the polo fields at Kramer’s Rancho Santa Catalina Ranch, located near the current site of the University of Arizona hospital.
To kick off the three-day rodeo, a parade would wind through downtown Tucson. Many businesses sponsored entries, and all rodeo participants would be required to join the procession. The parade featured two military bands, mounted cowboys, cowgirls, Native Americans, mounted police, the old Butterfield stagecoach, local Native artist Lone Wolf (who created the artwork for the first Rodeo Poster), and the University of Arizona polo team.
The direct ties of this year’s Grand Marshals to the birth of the Tucson Rodeo and Parade bring this year’s Rodeo Parade full circle with the first “Celebration of the Cowboys.”
2024- Louise Thomas
The Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee has chosen Louise Thomas, founder of Angel Charity for Children, Inc. as its 2024 Rodeo Parade Grand Marshal. Louise is an everyday hero, an “Angel” who turned a personal tragedy into a cause that has positively impacted the lives of more than a million children throughout Pima County, Arizona.
The family tragedy was the loss of her 9-year-old son Michael to lymphoma in 1979. From her personal grief, Louise has brought hope for a better life for the children in our community. Since Angel Charity was founded in 1983, the all-volunteer organization she spearheaded has touched more than 1 million children, 129 nonprofit children’s agency projects, and raised more than $31 million to improve lives of children in Pima County, Arizona.
In 1982, she was asked to join the board of directors of the Ronald McDonald House and develop a plan to pay off the property’s mortgage. Facing the challenge full throttle, she and co-founder/vice chair, the late Jane Loew Sharples, started Angel Charity for Children. With Louise’s leadership over 41 years, hundreds of Angel volunteers have annually raised between $750,000 to $1,000,000 to fund nonprofits serving children’s needs by funding brick and mortar projects to build or renovate facilities, retiring mortgages, social services, health care, media research, education, and the arts.
2023- Jessica Cox
Jessica Cox is a native Arizonan, born in Sierra Vista. She is a University of Arizona graduate who holds several black belts in Taekwondo, is a licensed pilot, author, motivational speaker, and a Guinness World Record Holder. She created a foundation to advocate for children with disabilities and has been named 2022 Woman of the Year by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce 40 Under 40 Awards. And she has accomplished all this after being born without arms.
Jessica uses her feet the way most people use their hands. She learned to see the blessings in her life and accept herself as a whole person. Now, Jessica flies airplanes, drives cars, is married, and otherwise lives a normal life.
Her first book, Disarm Your Limits, was published in 2015 and chronicles Jessica’s story to live without prosthetic arms, using her feet as other people use their hands. She is producing a documentary Right Footed, recording Jessica’s journey toward dignity and independence. She now works as a mentor to children with disabilities and their families, helping them overcome their situations just as her mentor once helped her.
2022- Adia Barnes
Adia Barnes has been named the Grand Marshal of the 97th Tucson Rodeo Parade. Barnes is a championship player, coach, sports broadcaster, teacher, mentor, and community leader. In six short years since her return to Tucson, Adia Barnes has captivated the local community. As head coach of the University of Arizona Women’s Basketball program, she has instilled a passion in her team and the local fan base.
Adia played professionally for seven seasons in the Women’s NBA and overseas for an additional six years. In addition to her playing and coaching career, Barnes has been extremely active in the community through the Adia Barnes Foundation, which mentors under-served youth and conducts charitable events and community service projects such as school supply drives.
2020- WWII Veterans
They have been called “The Greatest Generation.” They left family, friends, and loved ones, put their lives on hold and answered their country’s call when it needed them most to help save the world from tyranny. They fought on the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa and in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. At various times, their service was carried out under severe winter conditions, in the harshest of deserts, and in the hottest, most humid tropical climates. They are the Veterans of World War Two.
Their numbers are dwindling. Of over 16 million members of the U.S. Armed Forces during WWII, less than 390,000 are estimated to be alive. To honor these American heroes, The Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee names World War II Veterans Grand Marshals of the 2020 Tucson Rodeo Parade.
2019- Guy Atchley
Guy Atchley has been a part of entertainment and news media for over 50 years. He began his career as a disc jockey and radio news reporter at the University of Tulsa. After graduation, he began his television career as a news reporter in Tulsa, Miami, Milwaukee, and Oklahoma City. In 1984 he accepted a job as news anchor for KGUN TV in Tucson and spent the next 34 years informing Southern Arizona about local events and worldwide news.
Since graduating from the University of Tulsa in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Radio/Television Speech, Atchley received more than twenty first-place awards for excellence in reporting. He received three consecutive Associated Press awards for Best General Reporting in the state of Oklahoma.
2018- Tucson Conquistadors
The Tucson Conquistadores’ first official meeting was in October, 1962, at the El Conquistador Hotel on Broadway. Drachman was elected president and members also planned their first fundraiser, a Sports Award Banquet slated for the week of the Tucson Open.
Over the course of 55 years the Conquistadores have hosted 32 Sports Award Banquets, five professional tennis tournaments, five LPGA golf tournaments and 51 PGA tour golf events. Proceeds have netted over $33 million for youth athletic and charity programs. These organizations include Boys and Girls Clubs, Special Olympics, The Salvation Army, and First Tee of Tucson, which teaches kids life skills through golf.
2017- Jeannette Mare’
Jeannette Maré was born in South Africa and immigrated to the United States when she was just a toddler. Her family moved to Tucson 40 years ago when her dad, a research veterinarian, accepted a faculty position at the University of Arizona. She became involved with 4-H, focusing on goats, market lambs, and breeding ewes. After graduating from Amphi High School, Jeannette studied linguistics and American Sign Language at the University of Arizona.
Life as she knew it ended in March, 2002 when her nearly 3-year-old son, Ben, died suddenly and unexpectedly. From this tragedy she created a movement that is familiar to all of Arizona and many other areas of the country: Ben’s Bells.
2016- Chandler Warren
The Grand Marshal for the 2016 Tucson Rodeo Parade, Chandler Warden, is a transplanted Californian who learned a love for Southern Arizona attending summer camps at Tanque Verde Guest Ranch. He moved to the Tucson area full time in 1993 and has since dedicated his time to supporting charitable organizations and causes in the area.
Over the years, Chandler has hosted a drive time radio show, worked in the cruise industry and for the Roaring Camp Railroad Tour Company. He worked for the California Department of Agriculture, and was Director of Tour Operations at Biosphere 2.
Chandler feels that giving back to the community to create a better place to live and to protect and preserve our cultural treasures is a life’s necessity. His motto is “Protecting the vision, and honoring the privilege.”
2015- Coach Jerry Kindall
Longtime Tucsonan and former University of Arizona baseball coach Jerry Kindall has been chosen Grand Marshal of the 2015 Tucson Rodeo Parade. Kindall is a former player, coach, teacher, author, and baseball broadcaster.
He played basketball and baseball at the University of Minnesota. In 1956 Kindall was an All-American member of the Gophers baseball team that won the College World Series Championship, ironically defeating Arizona, a team he would later lead to three NCAA championships. He spent eight years as an infielder in the Major Leagues with the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins. He coached as an assistant at Minnesota until 1972 when he became head coach at Arizona. He led the Wildcats to the College World Series five times and to National Championships in 1976, 1980, and 1986 and was named National Coach of the Year those same years. He remains Arizona’s all-time winningest coach.
2014- Dan Marries
Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. That’s the mantra of the Grand Marshal for the 2014 Tucson Rodeo Parade, Dan Marries. That’s exactly how Dan feels about working as the evening news anchor at KOLD News 13 where he’s been keeping Tucsonans informed since 1999.
Dan got his start in television news in 1995 while he was still a junior at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colorado. His internship lead to his first job in journalism as the morning anchor and noon weather man. Further news jobs took him to Mankato, MN, Yuma, AZ and finally Tucson.
Dan is a self-proclaimed “wanna-be” cowboy and it’s apparent every year during the Tucson Rodeo Parade and Rodeo. That comes from his time in Pawnee, Oklahoma where he spent the latter years of his childhood and high school. Helping his uncle with cattle instilled in him the importance of putting in a hard day’s work.
2013- Mark Kelly & Gabrielle Giffords
Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, have been chosen as the Grand Marshals for the 88th Tucson Rodeo Parade. They are honored for their community service to Southern Arizona and the nation.
She was re-elected Senator in 2004, but resigned that position in 2005 to begin her campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2006 she became the third woman in Arizona history to be elected to the U.S. congress representing U.S. District 8, and was re-elected in 2008 and 2010. She was an advocate for comprehensive immigration reform that included a secure border, increasing Border Patrol Agents, and a guest worker program. She was also a staunch supporter of the military and increasing the minimum wage. In February 2010, Congresswoman Giffords honored the Tucson Rodeo Parade with an official commendation on the Congressional Record for its 85 years of service to the Tucson and Arizona community.
In January 2011 she was wounded in an assassination attempt, and resigned from Congress in January 2012 to focus on her recovery.
Mark Kelly is a retired U.S. astronaut and former Navy Captain and naval aviator who flew combat missions in the Gulf War. Kelly was selected to become a NASA Space Shuttle pilot in 1996 and piloted the shuttle in 2001 and 2006, and commanded shuttle missions in 2008 and 2001, the latter being his final mission and the final flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour.
2012- Tucson Boys Chorus
The Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee typically honors individuals as its Grand Marshal. This year the Parade Committee is honoring a Tucson institution. The Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus will lead the 2012 Tucson Rodeo Parade. The Boys Chorus exemplifies the tradition, culture, and southwest heritage that are epitomized in the Rodeo Parade. They have always included western songs such as “Ghost Riders in the Sky” “Cool Water” and “Ragtime Cowboy Joe” in their repertoire. The Boys Chorus was founded in 1939 by Eduardo Caso, a nationally known tenor who moved to Tucson to recuperate from tuberculosis. Caso took the boys on tours, introducing them to national audiences at the 1950 Chicago World’s Fair and on television programs such as the Bell Telephone Hour, the Ed Sullivan Show, and the Mike Douglas Show. They became international stars on tours of Europe in 1955, and Australia in 1960. In 1963 they sang at the White House at the annual Christmas treelighting ceremony. They are truly Tucson’s “Ambassadors in Blue Jeans.” The Chorus has had only four Directors in its 72 year history. Caso continued as director until his sudden death in 1965. Jeffrey Haskell, a University of Arizona doctoral student stepped in and served as Director for the next 10 years. In 1975 Dr. John Davis, a former soprano for the Boys Chorus, was named Director and continued the Chorus’ tradition of touring and community representation. The Chorus’ current Director, Dr. Julian Ackerley took charge in 1980 and took the boys to tour the Soviet Union, Germany, Austria and Poland to celebrate their 50th anniversary in 1990. They continue to tour nationally and internationally to locales such as Mexico, New Zealand, China, Southeast Asia, Europe, and South Africa.
2011- Joel D. Valdez
The Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee is proud to announce Joel D. Valdez as Grand Marshal of the 2011 Tucson Rodeo Parade.
At the tender age of nine, Joel was already delivering newspapers and was a contributing member of the community. As he grew older, Joel built up his paper routes until he converted them into an independent carrier service. Joel was born in a house directly across from St. Augustine Cathedral in Tucson. His parents were from Sonora, Mexico and although neither graduated from high school, education was always a priority. After receiving a Bachelors of Science from the University of Arizona, where he was a member of the Wildcat baseball team under “Pop” McKale, Joel spent the next eight years at the Pima County Juvenile Court as a probation officer, eventually being named the Superintendent of Detention Services.
In 1966 the City of Tucson recruited Valdez to serve as Administrative Assistant to the Library Director. It was during his years with the library that his expertise in budget planning and monitoring was formed. One of his major contributions while at the library was the opening of a bilingual branch in Tucson’s south side, a concept in library service that became a model for cities throughout the southwest. In 1970 Valdez advanced into the City Manager’s office. Within a year he was promoted to the position of Assistant City Manager and assumed a supervisory role over the departments of Library, Finance, Parks/Recreation, Community Center, and Federal Programs.
In 1974 Joel became City Manager and for the next 16 years he went on to become one of the premier managers in the country, by effectively administering a budget of $500 million and work force of over 4,000 employees. Valdez supervised the implementation of capital improvements totaling several hundred million dollars in the areas of housing, streets, water/sewer, public safety, buildings, libraries, parks, and public/private ventures.
2010- Big Jim Griffith
The Tucson Rodeo Parade is honored to present, James “Big Jim” Griffith as its 2010 Grand Marshal.
Teacher, founder, anthropologist, author, story teller, award-winning musician, and folklorist all describe the 2010 Tucson Rodeo Parade Grand Marshal, James “Big Jim” Griffith.
For over four decades Big Jim has studied folkways and religious expression throughout the United States-Mexico border region. Griffith’s work as an academic and public folklorist has been extraordinary and his legacy includes founding the Southwest Folklore Center at the University of Arizona and the annual Tucson Meet Yourself Folk Arts Festival.
Jim Griffith was born in Santa Barbara, California, and came to Tucson in 1955 to attend the University of Arizona. He has considered himself a permanent Tucson resident since 1963. He loves Southern Arizona and has said, “I guess I’ll stay in Tucson as long as it gets worse slower than other places.”
He received all three of his degrees from the University of Arizona, the Ph.D. in cultural anthropology and art history in 1973. From 1979 until his retirement in 1998 he ran the University’s Southwest Folklore Center. He is currently a Research Associate at the Center.
With his wife, Loma, he started Tucson Meet Yourself in 1974. The celebration of Tucson’s ethnic and cultural diversity now draws over 100,000 participants annually.
Although he retired as director of the festival in 1995, he is once again heavily involved in this project. Starting in 1985, he wrote and hosted “Southern Arizona Traditions,” a weekly 3-minute spot on KUAT-TV’s Arizona Illustrated program. For 2 ½ years in the late 1980s he wrote a monthly column on “Local Custom” for the now-defunct City Magazine.
2009- Mayor Robert E. Walkup
Mayor Robert E. Walkup was elected to his third term as Mayor of Tucson in 2007.
During his tenure there have been numerous fundamental changes in the way the Tucson region operates.
Under Mayor Walkup’s leadership, Tucson has begun utilizing its share of Colorado River water in 2001 to supplement its potable water supply and reduce its dependence on groundwater.
Mayor Walkup was instrumental in forming our Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) and gaining voter-approval for its $2.1 billion multi-modal transportation plan.
He helped form the Meth-Free Alliance, the Men’s Anti-Violence Partnership, and he led the City Council effort to increase public safety support over a ten-year period with 560 more police officers and 336 more firefighters and paramedics.
Working together with Pima County, Mayor Walkup has engineered consolidations of economic development agencies into one regional entity, the Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities, Inc. (TREO), and consolidation of our regional library system funding. His efforts in economic development have contributed to a net increase of 50,000 jobs and $10,000 per year in average worker earnings during his tenure.
Mayor Walkup was the first Arizona Mayor to sign the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement. His local environmental efforts that have resulted in doubling Tucson’s recycling rate, instituting impact fees to make new growth pay its fair share and requiring LEED certification on all new city buildings.
Believing that mayors can play a key role in reducing health care costs, Mayor Walkup initiated the Healthy Tucson Initiative locally and the Global Alliance for Community Wellness internationally. The Global Alliance commits mayors and city governments to partner with local health care leaders to demonstrate healthy lifestyles and support prevention programs in order to improve the city’s quality of life.
