Rose (Perica) Mofford (1922 - 2016)

Born 10 Jun 1922 in Globe, Gila, Arizona, United States

Wife of Thorald Robert Mofford — married 25 Mar 1957 in Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona, United States

Died 15 Sep 2016 at age 94 in Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona, United States

Preceded by
Evan Mecham

Governor of Arizona
1988 - 1991

Succeeded by
J. Fife Symington

Biography

Rose (Perica) Mofford is Notable.

Rose Mofford (née Perica; June 10, 1922 – September 15, 2016) was an American civil servant and politician of the Democratic Party who served as governor of Arizona from 1988 to 1991. Her career in state government spanned 51 years, beginning as a secretary and working her way up the ranks to become the state's first female secretary of state, serving from 1977 to 1988, and the state's first female governor.

Rose was born in 1922 in Globe, Arizona, the daughter of John Perica (1889-1954) and Frances (Oberstar) Perica (1892-1970). She married Thorald Robert Mofford (1907-1982). She passed away in 2016 in Phoenix and is interred in the Saint Francis Cemetery.

From FindaGrave:

18th Arizona Governor. She served as the Governor of Arizona from April 4, 1988 to March 6, 1991. After graduating from high school, she began her career as a secretary to State Treasurer Joe Hunt. Two years later when Hunt was promoted to the Arizona Tax Commission, she followed her boss to this position. In 1945 she left to work as business manager for Arizona Highways, but came back to work at the Tax Commission two years later. She would work there until 1960 when a new commissioner came in to office. She then went to work for Secretary of State Wesley Bolin as executive assistant and continued in this position until 1975 when she became executive director at the State Revenue Department (formerly the Arizona Tax Commission). In 1977 she was appointed to succeed her old boss Wesley Bolin as secretary of state after he became governor. She continued to serve in this position until 1988 when she assumed the office of governor after Governor Evan Mecham was impeached and removed from office. She was the first woman governor in Arizona's history and served in this post until 1991 when she was succeeded by Republican Fife Symington. After leaving office, she continued in civic and charitable activities. She passed away after suffering a fall at her home.

Bio by: Mr. Badger Hawkeye

Sources

• Rose Mofford on Wikipedia
• National Governors Association Biography
• "Arizona, Birth Certificates and Indexes, 1855-1930", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:8B2P-QBW2 : 3 September 2020), Rosie Perica, 1922.
• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHBT-CJ4 : accessed 23 July 2021), Rosie J Perica, Globe, Gila, Arizona, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 14, sheet , line , family , NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll ; FHL microfilm .
• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VYWL-WPM : 4 January 2021), Rosie Perica in household of John Perica, Supervisorial District 1, Gila, Arizona, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 4-9, sheet 2B, line 62, family 35, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 102.
• Ancestry.com. U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-1999 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2020. Publication Date: 8/ May/ 1957; Publication Place: Phoenix, Arizona, USA; URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/117225295/?article=9aa4eb18-7cad-4496-87e0-7a2d0e989e3d&focus=0.1418512,0.6748975,0.258289,0.84064966&xid=3398
• "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2DN-8MXT : 9 June 2021), Rose Perica Mofford, ; Burial, Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona, United States of America, Saint Francis Catholic Cemetery; citing record ID 169960453, Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/169960453/rose-mofford.
• Rose Perica at FamilySearch