Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ), an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, and The Arizona Republic have named 21 Arizona senior citizens as Ageless Heroes finalists for their contributions to the community and will honor them at an awards ceremony on February 14 at The Arizona Biltmore Resort.
Extraordinary seniors age 65 or older were nominated for their accomplishments through the Ageless Heroes program in six categories: Against the Odds, Champion for Health, Community Involvement, Creative Expressions, Love of Learning, and Vigor and Vitality. For 2007, an additional "Emerging Hero category was added for Arizonans age 55-64.
During the Feb. 14 luncheon, Honorary Ageless Heroes Sara O'Meara and Yvonne Fedderson, co-founders of Childhelp, Inc., and BCBSAZ will announce the Ageless Hero winner in each of the seven award categories.
Past recipients recognized as Honorary Ageless Heroes have included The Honorable Rose Mofford, The Honorable Polly Rosenbaum, Pat McMahon, Joe Garagiola, Bill Shover, Herman Chanen and The Honorable Jean Williams.
"Seniors have a major impact in improving our community by volunteering their time and contributing their expertise to organizations they support, said Rich Boals, president and CEO of BCBSAZ. "The contributions and achievements of our seniors deserve to be recognized and we are pleased to do so through the Ageless Heroes program.
More than 137 nominations were submitted for the 2007 program. The nominations were narrowed down to 21 finalists in seven categories by an independent panel of community leaders.
The 2007 finalists, by category, are:
|  | Against the Odds: |  | Creative Expressions: | ||||
| -- |  | James Pence, 67, Prescott | -- |  | Lindsay Lafford, Lord of | ||
| -- | Judith Tunell, 65, Phoenix | Ridley, 95, Tempe | |||||
| -- | Thomas Tirone, 71, Glendale | -- | Joan Lincoln, 80, | ||||
Paradise Valley | |||||||
| -- | John Peirce, 79, Phoenix | ||||||
|  | |||||||
| Champion for Health: | Love of Learning: | ||||||
| -- | Robert Wesche, M.D., 72, | -- | Berenice Fenn, 88, Tucson | ||||
Youngtown | -- | Agnes Blair Bowers, 90, | |||||
| -- | Janet Miller, 69, Phoenix |  | Payson | ||||
| -- | Mae Jackson, 79, Glendale | -- | Yale Joseph, 85, Tucson | ||||
|  | |||||||
| Community Involvement: | Vigor and Vitality: | ||||||
| -- | Anita Van Boerum, 72, Phoenix | -- | William "Rocky" Hill, 82, | ||||
| -- | Violet Doskocil, 88, Mesa | Surprise | |||||
| -- | Dorothy Lisonbee, 83, Tempe | -- | Edward McNeff, 84, Pinetop | ||||
-- | Claude Varney Baker, 81, | ||||||
 | Prescott | ||||||
|  | |||||||
| Emerging Hero: | |||||||
| -- | Jane Pence, 61, Tucson | ||||||
| -- | Yvonne Ulrich, 56, Apache | ||||||
| Junction | |||||||
| -- | Myra Guttentag, 57, | ||||||
| Scottsdale | |||||||
For more information about the Ageless Heroes program or the awards luncheon, please contact (602) 864-2240 or (800) 528-0716, ext. 2240.
