If you went to Tucson High School and served in the military, you could have your name in bricks.
The Tucson High Badger Foundation wants to expand its Walkway of Honor to include engraved bricks for veterans from the school’s entire 117-year history, including the past 99 years at its current location on Sixth Street and Euclid Avenue.
“The goal is to get as many veterans as we can,” said Badger Foundation board chairman Jerry Strutz.
The foundation started honoring Tucson High’s veterans in 2019 with a display of engraved bricks for each of the 143 former students who were killed in World War II, including at least three members of the school’s 1940 football team.
The dedication ceremony for the display outside the Tucson High Magnet School gymnasium was finally held in October of 2021 after being delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Patches of sunlight hit engraved bricks outside of the gymnasium at Tucson High Magnet School on June 13. The Tucson High Badger Foundation is expanding its effort to honor former students for their military service. After successfully honoring World War II-era service members with engraved bricks, the foundation hopes to do the same for all other Tucson High graduates or attendees that served in the military over the past 65 years.
Judy Ann Mares Redmond graduated in 1974 and now chairs the foundation’s veteran tribute committee. She said the idea to “expand the brick-print” of the Walkway of Honor was inspired by her father, Arnulfo Mares, who served in the Korean War and died last year at the age of 92.
Each brick costs $150, with the proceeds benefiting the foundation’s endowment fund.
Anyone, living or dead, who attended the school and served in the armed forces is eligible for the Walkway of Honor. You don’t need to be a graduate of the school, and you don’t need to have served in the military during wartime.
“You just have to be a Tucson High vet,” said Strutz, who is a Badger only by way of attending the University of Wisconsin but is married to Tucson High graduate Margie Navarro Strutz from the class of 1964.
Jerry Strutz, chairman of Tucson High Badger Foundation, talks about a plaque that was found which has the names of three former students who were killed in action in World War II, located outside of the gymnasium at Tucson High Magnet School on June 13. The Tucson High Badger Foundation is expanding its effort to honor former students for their military service.
All the bricks are engraved by long-time Tucson business Proios Sandblasting & Engraving.
Thanks to “some generous donors,” Strutz said, the foundation has some money available to subsidize the cost of a brick for families that might need assistance.
The foundation also oversees a second section of Badger Bricks engraved with the names of other Tucson High graduates and supporters who aren’t necessarily veterans.
The bricks serve as an important revenue source for the group, which was formed in 1982 and established the endowment fund in 2008.
Strutz said they used to hand out three college scholarships to Tucson High graduates every other year or so, but the group now presents five or six scholarships totaling about $40,000 each year.
The endowment also provides grants to the school and its teachers for special projects or basic operations and assistance to individual students who need help paying the fees for school activities.
Redmond
The foundation hopes to dedicate the next round of bricks for veterans during a ceremony on or around Veterans Day in 2024.
By Strutz’s estimates, there could be a thousand or more former students who qualify for the Walkway of Honor. Depending on how many bricks are sold, the foundation may need to take out some more concrete in front of the gym to accommodate the growing tribute.
“We’re prepared for that,” he said.
“The more the merrier,” Redmond added.
Applications for the Walkway of Honor and the general Badger Bricks program can be found at www.BadgerFoundation.org.
For more information, contact Strutz at jstrutz1@cox.net, Redmond at badgerfoundation.vatribute@gmail.com, Chris (Tellez) McNair at ths66@cox.net or Rick Villegas at rickvillegas1950@comcast.net.
