by Barbara Mayer
On July 25th, 2018, our storyteller, our collector of Vail memories, our dad, the patriarch of our family, Fred Mayer, passed away. His family had a small house in Vail so his aunts and uncles could attend school. His grandfather Francisco Estrada would come by horse and wagon to take them home for the weekend to the ranch he homesteaded at the base of the Santa Rita Mountains in the late 1800s. It is at this old house in Vail where our dad was born on Christmas Day, 1930.
As dad grew up at the ranch, his parents eventually got a 1931 Chevy. His mom, Anita Estrada Mayer, was the “school bus driver.” She would leave the Estrada ranch with dad, his sister Betty, off to the Figueroa’s place to pick up Francis, Concha and Charlie. Next stop was the Beach Ranch (Ruperto Lopez was the foreman) to pick up Eddie and Efren Lopez. The school was 11 miles away. Gas and money were scarce, his mom would stay outside the school waiting to take the kids home again. To pass the time she would crotchet. The Trotter sisters taught at the Vail school. There was only one room that had a partition to separate grades 1-4 and 5-8. Some kids rode donkeys to school, which were placed in a pen located in the corner of the school yard.
Ranching was hard, so our dad helped work the family’s ranch and also worked at the Beach Ranch. Wherever his Tio Juan and Tia Helen Figueroa lived or worked he followed to work, including Willow Springs, X9, the old Phoenix race track and Joe Meyer’s race horse ranch.
When dad married our mom (Carmen Rodriguez) they lived and worked in Tucson to raise their seven children, but his home was always still in Vail. We grew up hearing his “back at the ranch” stories, about family, fellow ranchers, the post office, church, the school and rodeo parades. (In 1937 and 1938 dad, sister Betty, Efren and Eddie Lopez, Frances Schmidt were in the parade). Stories about ranching life, hardships and about his hero, his Uncle Ben (Bernardino Estrada) and the fateful telegram sent to the Vail Post office letting the family know of Ben’s death during WWII. Ben was Vail’s and Tucson’s first war casualty.
In 2002, our parents built a new house on the old ranch property. Dad was back home in “God’s country.” Because of all his fond memories, his stories, even the sad ones shaped our love for Vail too.
Dad loved his family, all animals, the beautiful Santa Rita mountain ranges and Vail. He loved talking about Vail and its history with everyone, especially some of the Vail pioneers of his day. He was a supporter of Vail Preservation Society and Save the Scenic Santa Ritas. It is for all these reasons why his children are dedicated to preserving the history of Vail. Dad will be greatly missed. Our lives will never be the same.