By Sam Conner Rose Mofford was Arizona’s first female governor, the first female secretary of state and the first woman elected to that position. Those are just a few of the many accomplishments of this remarkable lady, many of them the first ever for a woman. There were not many things Rose Mofford attempted to do that she did not do with considerable success. She is a role model for anyone wishing to make life better for herself and the rest of us, as well. Born June 10, 1922, in Globe, Rose Perica was the daughter of Austrian immigrants. She excelled academically, ath-letically and, as the first girl to serve as high school class president, politically. She was class valedictorian, won a na-tional typing competition, played basketball and was an All-American in softball. Her father would not allow her to ac-cept an offer to join a professional softball team. She also had an offer to play with the All-American Redheads profes-sional basketball team, but went to work in the government instead. She did play softball with the Arizona Cantaloupe Queens, who traveled and played in Madison Square Gardens in New York, among other places. This team featured many players who later played professionally, including pitcher Charlotte Armstrong, who was an outstanding hurler for the A-1 Queens, one of the best women’s softball teams ever to play the game. Sports were important to Rose Mofford. She learned a lot about life from playing tennis, soccer, softball and basket-ball. She played with some very talented athletes, and gained many friends by playing with or against them. She was instrumental in keeping the Cactus League of Major League Baseball training camps in Arizona and expanding instead of leaving the state, which seemed likely at one time. She had a hand in getting the Arizona Diamondbacks to come into existence in Phoenix. One of her friends from both sports and government was Paul Fannin, who was governor and an excellent fast pitch softball pitcher. Fannin was a Republican, but Mofford lists him as one of her favorite governors. She is a Democrat and has been lauded for what she has done for the party, but that usually is really praising her for what she has done for the citizens of Arizona. She works for the good of the state and all its citizens, and has all of her life. She believes that Fan-nin was a man who also worked for the good of the people of Arizona and the two worked well together. She was work-ing for the secretary of state during Fannin’s term of office. Rose Mofford said she met Fannin when she came to Phoenix to work for State Treasurer Joe Hunt, who was an ex-cellent first baseman in fast pitch softball. Hunt introduced her to all of the players on the Funk Jewels team on which Fannin played. She noted that her brother John Perica was an aide to Fannin when he was governor. She says she could write a novel about Fannin, all of it complimentary. She remains in contact with his family. “He was my favorite governor that I had the pleasure of working with,” she recalled. Dot Wilkenson was an amazingly talented player who joined Rose in getting together a reunion of the League of Our Own group and who remains in close contact. Rose’s contact with this author came when I contacted her to ask for an autographed softball for my granddaughter for her ninth birthday. She not only sent it, but wrote an impressive card for Juliet. Later that year or the next Rose Mofford came to Winslow with a political candidate (probably Carolyn Warner, but maybe Eddie Basha) and was at the Falcon Restaurant with the candidate. My granddaughter and I went to the meeting and after the speeches, Rose sat with Juliet and talked softball. She won both of our hearts and that remains one of my favorite memories of this remarkable woman. Among the many things the governor has shared with me was her opinion that Babe Didrikson Zaharias was likely the best female athlete ever and maybe even the best athlete of either sex. She was an Olympic medalist, a professional golfer beyond compare and an excellent baseball player good enough to play against men at the top levels. She tells of Zaharias coming to play golf at Hayden in the 1940s, and the mines nearby in Ray, Sonora, Globe and Miami closing so their workers could go see this marvelous golfer play. Rose Mofford has an abundance of friends in Winslow and Holbrook, among them legendary Winslow High School football coach Emil Nasser. He was from Miami, which is literally within walking distance of Globe, and the two knew each other and were friends as children. They remain so today. She mentions the O’Haco family from Winslow as a family that put Arizona on the map. She tries to keep in touch with them. She remains in touch with Johnny and Helen Butler, and with Emil and Barbara Nasser among others. She can go almost anywhere in Arizona and meet people she knows and knows well. She keeps information on people she meets and especially those who become friends, and they are legion.