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As a child, Mark Duncan spent the first 10 years of his life in Taylor. But when his dad, who worked at the Cholla Power Plant in Joseph City, was transferred to the Four Corners Power Plant, near Kirtland, N.M., Duncan found his niche and made New Mexico his home for the next five decades.
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A successful businessman and mayor of Kirtland, Duncan and his wife, Becky, are looking to come back home to Snowflake, seeking a place to invest the rest of their lives both by building Beehive Assisted Living Homes and creating scholarship funds for nursing students.
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After reviewing options in New Mexico and Arizona, Duncan realized that Snowflake was the perfect place to build his first Beehive home as well as a great place to start a scholarship program not only for high school students but also for older women who want to return to school.
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The idea behind two of the scholarships was born out of watching Becky return to school at the age of 50 to get the nursing degree she had always dreamed of.
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Duncan began to realize the sacrifices so many women make. “Becky wanted to be a nurse from day one when we got married,” shared Duncan. “But life gets in the way. By the time I finished school, the babies had started coming.”
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Once her kids were in high school, Becky made the transition from mom to student. “The other students in her classes would call her mom or grandma,” shared Duncan. “She graduated when she was 53 and is now doing the job she loves.”
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Duncan said he and Becky started talking about scholarships and wanted to reach back to the students and women in the Snowflake area. In total Duncan established four $1,000 scholarships through his new venture in Snowflake: Beehive Homes of Snowflake.
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Two of the scholarships are for high school students at Snowflake High School (SHS) pursuing a nursing degree and two of the scholarships are for older women over 30 years old and returning to school for a nursing degree.
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The application for the scholarships opened in March this year, with SHS seniors Hope Bateman and Halli Wood receiving theirs in May. The big reveal for the over 30 scholarships will be in August.
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Duncan noted that with this being the first year for the scholarships, only two high school students applied, while there were several applicants for the over 30 scholarship. “Both of the high school girls are good students. The guidance counselor called me and said we will probably have 20 next year.”
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With the Beehive Assisted Living Home in Snowflake set to open in September, Duncan said he is already looking for land to build another one in Show Low and a third in Payson. “Arizona has a fast-growing population of assisted living facilities that will continue to grow for the next 40 years.”
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Built on Porter Drive near the Snowflake Municipal Golf Course, the Beehive home features 9,000 square feet of family-style living with a large open dining room and living room as well as 15 private bedrooms each with its own bathroom. According to Duncan, it already has a waiting list.
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Not only will the home provide quality care for the elderly with a ratio of seven patients to one caregiver but it will also provide 12 full-time jobs for the local economy and four annual Beehive scholarships.
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With lots of family in the area, Duncan is looking forward to returning to the towns he loves. “Coming back to Taylor and Snowflake will be a chance to come back to where I started.”
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