Thomas Jefferson McMichael III |
| Posted 2022-12-15 by mhenderson |
| Published by The Miner on Dec. 13, 2022 - Kingman, Arizona - T. J. “Jeff” McMichael – “T.J.” to colleagues and “Jeff” to family and friends – Thomas Jefferson McMichael III died on November 16, 2022 after a three-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Born on Jan. 30, 1940 to T. J. McMichael Jr. and Thelma Violet Lewis in Kingman, Arizona, Jeff was a true Arizona native. In territorial days his maternal grandfather settled on a mining claim near Kingman. Jeff grew up prowling the mountains and deserts around Kingman, often sporting a shotgun to bag a rabbit or two for family dinner. He attended grammar and high school in Kingman. A Rotary Scholarship took him to the University of Arizona for a B.S. (1962) and M.S. (1964) in Wildlife Management. As a graduate project he studied the competition between desert bighorn sheep and feral burros. For a year of his field work Jeff camped and hiked the Black Mountains of Mohave County documenting the habits of two animals that vied for food and water in a fragile region. In 1964 he went to work for Arizona Game and Fish Department as a research biologist. While at UA Jeff met Susan Harrison who became his wife in 1961. After working in wildlife for eight years Jeff had an opportunity to join a family business. He took on managing Chandler Stationers, an anchor shop in the heart of old town Chandler, becoming an expert on filing supplies and bookkeeping systems before the computer revolution. He raised a family and kept abreast of the wildlife world. He instilled in his three daughters love of the land and the creatures that inhabit it. During the last quarter of his life Jeff returned to his beloved field work, conducting surveys and monitoring sites for endangered plants and animals. He shared his knowledge in environmental education through Elderhostel and youth programs, and in bringing Aldo Leopold (the “Father of Game Management”) alive in Chautauqua presentations. Jeff is survived by Susan; daughters Heather, Mary Beth, and Katie; grandson Jade; and sisters Jane Marshall, Rose Cobb, and Jessie Peevey. Memorial services are planned at First Presbyterian Church, Mesa. |
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