Cricket and husband Tom, a retired Regional Chief Ranger with the National Park Service, moved from Omaha Nebraska to Tucson in 1998.  Prior to the move Cricket, after 18 years of employment, retired from her position as AVP/Director of HR with one of the largest privately owned direct home improvement sales & installation companies in the U.S. at that time. The company employed over 2,500 employees and sub-contractors nationwide. Cricket and her staff handled all the HR & Benefits related responsibilities & duties associated with a large company with a manufacturing plant and over sixty offices nationwide including the corporate offices in Omaha. They were able to keep the cost down by administering the company’s self insured group health & life plans, group AD&D and disability plans, 401(k), and all the other company retirement plans in-house.

While in Omaha she was a member of HRAM (Human Resource Association of the Midlands) and served on their annual salary survey committee for the Omaha & Council Bluffs area, a member of the Blue Cross/Blue Shield’s Consumer Committee, the founding member of the “Omaha Benefits Forum” (other members included ConAgra, Omaha Steaks, Valmont, Campbell Soup, Omaha World Herald).  She was a volunteer on the membership drive committees for the prestigious AK-SAR-BEN Friends, the Henry Doorly Zoo and United Way/CHAD.  She also mentored students at the Pacesetter Academy for at risk children. Her mentoring included normal school activities plus she assisted in introducing them to an array of outside activities such as museums, art and theater and whenever possible hired the older children part-time in her department so they could learn office skills.
 
After only three months of retirement, Cricket saw an ad for a position at RFS and the rest, as they say, is history. On January 6, 1999 Dave put Cricket’s management and organizational skills to work and saw immediate results. She loves a good challenge in developing new procedures to streamline any and all office activities. She feels that two of her biggest and most rewarding accomplishments at RFS were finding Darlene and Cecille and asking them to join the RFS team.

One of Dave’s goals over the years was to make the office as paperless as possible. In January of 2007 Cricket took on that responsibility and within a two month period they took eighteen file cabinets and reduced them down to two and a half. All of it done with very little disruption to the staff and their duties. Cricket’s duties include office management, marketing, bookkeeping, payroll, computer maintenance & tech support, document management, compliance, licensing and special projects.  

Cricket says that Dave has the best office personnel she has ever been privileged to work with.  The loyalty and team work among the staff is incredible….and after having one of the most tenured streamlined departments at her previous job; she does not make this comment lightly. She said that she attributes this to Dave’s easy going work style and his willingness to give his employees the credit and the freedom to be creative. She likes the fact that Dave presents himself as a team member instead of “the boss” and feels that makes the team stronger.

Cricket and Tom celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary in December 2009.  They have a son “Rich” (and his wife “Terrie”) in California, a daughter “Cheryl” (and her husband “Steve”) in Idaho. Their granddaughter “Raylie” and grandson “Ryan” live in California, and their grandson “Andy” lives with his mom and step-dad “Annamaria & Gigi” in Florence Italy.  Tom loves to golf (Cricket plays but is not very good……actually she is very bad) and they both love to hike and “build” hiking trails on their acreage at Salero Ranch. They live in Green Valley with their cat “Mea Mouse” (who’s greatest joys in life is playing hide & seek and of course sleeping most of the day).  

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