Dr. Connie Mariano holds the certificate of appreciation presented by Col. Kurt McMillen
Deborah McGeehan, Lt.Col.,United States Army (Ret.)
The Catalina Mountain Chapter (CMC) of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) held its recent meeting on Saturday, March 21, at SaddleBrooke Ranch. The meeting began with a business session presided over by CMC’s president, retired Col. Kurt McMillen, US Army.
Our speaker was Dr. Connie Mariano who is a retired Navy Admiral and a former White House doctor to three past presidents serving nine years in that position. “Dr. Connie” started her presentation with her life as a Navy dependent child born in the Philippines, to being the first Filipino-American in United States history to become a Navy Rear Admiral, to becoming the first woman White House physician and finally describing her overall forty-four years as a physician.
Her life was filled with many achievements: High school valedictorian, graduate with honors at the University of California at San Diego, obtaining a medical degree from the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine and having a distinguished 24-year career in the U.S. Navy. After leaving the White House in 2002, Dr. Mariano became a consultant to the Executive Health Program at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale and in 2005 founded the Center for Executive Medicine in Scottsdale. Her concierge practice provides presidential quality medical care to chief executive officers and their families.
Dr. Mariano left us with many good thoughts: Life should have meaning, believe in your faith, family and friends and find three things every day to maintain an attitude of gratitude! At the end of her presentation she offered her paperback book The White House Doctor to MOAA. It was auctioned off and autographed for CJ Hindman who won the final bid of $110.00. The money will be donated to our MOAA Chapter.
The next regular meeting of CMC will be on Saturday, April 18 at SaddleBrooke Ranch. The speaker will be John Adams, deputy director and chief operations officer for Biosphere 2 in Oracle, Ariz.. His topic will be on the “Biosphere 2 Project” which describes the evolution of the world–renowned facility from concept development to the current enterprise decades later.
For two decades, John has helped drive the evolution of Biosphere 2 through positions of progressive responsibility and oversight. Starting in 1995 he led the terrestrial research initiatives exploring the effect of elevated CO2 on the complex mesocosms of Biosphere 2. John became Biosphere 2’s Media Coordinator and Public Spokesperson in 1999. He was named assistant director of Planning and Facilities and in 2014 he advanced to his current leadership role of Biosphere 2 deputy director.
If you are a former or present officer of the uniformed services interested in joining our organization, please contact the membership chair, retired Lt. Col. Donald Timian, U.S. Army, by email at dontimian@hotmail.com or by phone at 571-216-3679.
The membership of CMC encompasses the areas of Catalina, Oracle, parts of Marana and Oro Valley, Saddlebrooke, SaddleBrooke Ranch, San Manuel, Sun City, and parts of Superstition Mountains. For additional information, please visit our website at catalinamountainsmoaa.org.