James (Jim) D. Kriegh – Oro Valley Founding Father and Much More

It’s hard to know where to begin when writing about Oro Valley’s most prominent residents. Jim Kriegh. Our previous article highlighted Jim’s dogged effort to incorporate Oro Valley.  It’s only fair to give Jim his proper due by having a series of articles covering his community service, personal interests and life story. 

This article is a follow-up to our last article. In it, we highlight Jim’s life and community service to the Town of Oro Valley.

Jim’s Early Life 

Jim was a native of Kansas born in Dodge City on December 29, 1928. “I don’t think he ever lost the small-town boy in him from Kansas,” noted Dick Eggerding in a past interview. Dick, along with Jim and Pat Spoerl, founded the Oro Valley Historical Society (to be addressed in a future article).

Education and relocating to Tucson
Jim attended the University of Colorado and earned an undergraduate degree in civil engineering followed by a master’s degree. Jim taught at Boulder and then followed an engineering colleague to Tucson. 

In 1958, Jim took on a teaching position at the University of Arizona. Jim met his future wife, Marjorie, in the casita development where they both lived. They wed in 1960 . Homes at that time, typically included the laundry room as part of the kitchen. If not for Marjorie’s dislike for that design feature, Jim might not have ended up in the then unincorporated area northwest of Tucson. Their realtor was able to meet Marjorie’s requests (sans laundry in the kitchen ) at what became their lifelong home on Calle Concordia. They reared two children, Kevin and Kathleen in our town. The couple were loving partners for 31 years until Marjorie’s death in 1991.

The idea to incorporate Oro Valley began with a conversation at a service station
The LOVE article on April 8, illustrated Jim’s dedication and long, hard work in the effort to incorporate the town. How did it start? An article in the Arizona Cracker Barrel, April 1982 states: One morning in 1969, a Country Club (Estates) resident was getting his car serviced at the Mobile station at Ina and Oracle when a man approached him asking, “Aren’t you Jack Spaulding?” “Yes, I am,” said Jack. “I’m Jim Kriegh,” said the man, “and I’ve been thinking it might be a good idea to incorporate and make a town out of Oro Valley.” “Why?” asked Jack. “The main reason,” said Jim, “is Tucson. It’s gone about as far to the East as it can go and you can bet it’s going to spread to the North and Northwest, and there goes country living.” “Country living is why I am here,” said Jack. “What do we do?” Through persistence, patience and time, Jim’s dream of incorporation became a reality.

The ”No property tax” promise
One of the main opposition arguments to incorporation was that “Our property taxes will go up.” The incorporation proponents assured the opposition that Oro Valley would never have a property tax (Oro Valley residents pay property tax to Pima County). Oro Valley relies on sales tax (at the time of incorporation it was 2%) and revenue that now additionally includes its legal share of state and county taxes, and Town of Oro Valley licenses, permits and fees, and grants.

Oro Valley’s first General Plan – Core Value: Protecting the environment
A preeminent factor in the first General Plan for Oro Valley was environmental concerns that were very near and dear to Jim’s heart. It listed objectives as:

• Insure that development is compatible with the area’s topography, natural landscape and resources
• Promote physical forms which are in harmony with the natural environment and reflect a design quality appropriate to the area
• Protect the natural beauty and qualities of the existing desert environment
• Encourage the preservation of the mountains, foothills, and hillsides
• Promote efficient resource utilization through careful design of the physical environment
• Provide for a comprehensive, interconnecting, open space system based on natural environmental features such as the natural wash system and other areas of significant vegetation and wildlife
• Plan limited and contained locations for economic activity that respect the characteristics of existing and planned land uses

Oro Valley Town Engineer and a town council member
In 1976 after the town’s incorporation, Jim was appointed the town’s engineer, a volunteer position at that time. He was elected and served on the town council from 1978 until 1981. Jim continued to work in the field of engineering, including overseeing the construction of the Hilton El Conquistador Resort. In 1989 he became the “paid” town engineer (by appointment) until he retired in 1991.

Oro Valley’s oldest park named in Jim Kriegh’s honor
On April 18, 2001, coinciding with Oro Valley’s birthday, the town honored Jim by naming its oldest park in his honor [ed note: Prior to that it was named for a Pima County Supervisor, Dennis Weaver]. This naming was particularly fitting as it was the park that Jim regularly frequented with his dog and coupled with his love of nature. James D. Kriegh Park is located at 23 W. Calle Concordia in the vicinity of Jim’s former home. Jim was both surprised and humbled at receiving the honor.

Jim’s wife, Marjorie, was the first town historian
Jim was a huge champion of community volunteerism. When speaking about the town’s origin and staff, Jim said, “The reason this town is so successful is because we had volunteers from the beginning to make it successful.” In the early Oro Valley days before a revenue stream was established many key positions were on a volunteer basis. Jim served as a volunteer in many capacities through the years. Jim and Marjorie began collecting and archiving documents, photos and articles, in an effort to keep the pre-incorporation history of Oro Valley alive. Marjorie was the first designated town historian and Jim continued her effort after her passing.

Oro Valley lost its founding father on October 10, 2007 at the age of 78
Jim’s legacy will live on and is one that the Oro Valley Historical Society wants to keep at the forefront.

Future articles will include Jim’s creation of the Oro Valley Historical Society as well as his livelihood of rock and meteorite collecting.

If you would like to hear a past interview with Jim visit: www.ovhistory.org. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to “Find what you need”. Then select “Videos.”

References for the article:
Oro Valley Magazine April 2006.
Arizona Daily Star October 13, 2007
The Explorer Oct. 15, 2014
The Explorer April 25, 2001

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Interested in local history? Stop by Steam Pump Ranch on April 24 for our last outdoor tour of the season. The Oro Valley Historical Society presents docent-guided tours from 10 a.m. to Noon. No reservations are required for the 50-minute tour that leaves on the hour and every fifteen minutes thereafter. Tours leave from the OVHS tent that is located just south of the Farmer’s Market. Suggested donation is $5 to assist in the cost of our displays and exhibits and ongoing programs. We hope to see you!

The Oro Valley Historical Society is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit volunteer organization, whose mission is “To promote research, preservation, education, and dissemination of historical information related to the greater Oro Valley area”. We invite you to become a member or volunteer. Visit us at ovhistory.org and help keep Oro Valley history alive!

Happy 47th Birthday Oro Valley!

This is the 5th in a series of articles by The Oro Valley Historical Society. Future OVHS articles will appear on LOVE every other Thursday.

The following article is from the Oro Valley Historical Heritage Guide, April 2009. 
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The Making of a Town by Marjorie K. Kriegh, Town Historian
It is fact that the Town of Oro Valley has been happily incorporated since April 1974. But, perhaps, you have wondered how and why the Town of Oro Valley came to be.

Our story began long ago, way back in 1968. Tucson Mayor “Gentleman” Jim Corbett made a statement, which , to some area residents could be likened to the “shot heard round the world.” Well, ‘round Tucson, anyway. Mayor Corbett said that they (the areas around Tucson) will be taken in (to Tucson’s city limits) “kicking, stamping and screaming, if necessary.” The City of Tucson’s political climate, as it was at that time, was not to many people’s liking and many, many people living outside Tucson’s corporate limits wished to remain so. Some concerned citizens began to look at the feasibility of forming their own town in order to avoid being “absorbed” by the City of Tucson.

Photo Appeared in Arizona Daily Star on 4/26/84

The State of Arizona, however, had done its part to discourage incorporation of areas on the “outskirts” of larger municipalities. A ruling came down from the legislature which stipulated that an area proposed for incorporation must have at least 500 inhabitants who all had to exhibit common goals and objectives. Additionally, to protect the larger cities, an area proposed for incorporation had to be farther than six miles from another incorporated city’s boundaries. If the proposed boundaries were not six miles apart, then permission by the incorporated city must be given. Larger cities and towns lobbied long and hard for these incorporation rulings because they did not wish to be hemmed in by a proliferation of “bedroom communities”; to avoid competition.

Some residents northwest of Tucson were undaunted by these rulings. With the competent legal advice of Mr. Ellsworth Triplett, for whom I served as legal secretary at the time, interested people began to organize. These people came from, not only the area later to become known as Oro Valley, but also from the Catalina Foothills area.

There were obstacles to overcome. The “six mile” rule made incorporation of the Catalina Foothills area impossible, but, as Mr. Triplett advised, the outlying area which included the Oro Valley Country Club Estates and the Highlands Mobile Home Park, could conceivably be incorporated since the area was six miles distant from the City of Tucson limits. (Later, the Highlands Mobile Home Park was dropped from the incorporation effort because less than 50% of the people favored the incorporation.) At this time, the proposed Town was to be named, “The Town of Palo Verde.”

Because the Oro Valley Country Club Estates, under the direction of Mr. Robert Daly, President of the Homeowner’s Association, was undertaking street improvement, interest in the incorporation effort waned for a time, but was renewed when Mr. E. S. (Steve) Engle, the new Oro Valley Homeowner’s President became interested. Together with my husband, Jim Kriegh, they gathered citizen support from all areas proposed for incorporation, including Shadow Mountain Estates East and West, Campo Bello Estates, Linda Vista Citrus Tracts, and Oro Valley Country Club Estates.

Citizens from all these areas worked long and hard for many years, the culmination of their efforts being the filing of a petition for the incorporation of the Town of Oro Valley with the Pima County Board of Supervisors. As may have been suspected, this petition was promptly rejected by the Board, leading to a four year court battle which ended in the Arizona Supreme Court. The decision handed down by the Supreme Court directed the Pima County Board of Supervisors to incorporate our tiny 2.5 square mile Town of Oro Valley.

This decision signified the birth of the Town of Oro Valley on April 15, 1974 and the beginning of a Town which, it is hoped, all citizens may be proud of today.*

*The resolution to incorporate Oro Valley was adopted by the Pima County Board of Supervisors on April 15, 1974. The first Mayor and Council were appointed on April 17, 1974, so April 17th is the official Town birth date.
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Interested in local history? Stop by Steam Pump Ranch on April 10 and April 24. The Oro Valley Historical Society presents docent-guided tours from 10 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. No reservations are required for the 50-minute tour that leaves on the hour and every fifteen minutes thereafter. Tours leave from the OVHS tent that is located just south of the Farmer’s Market. Suggested donation is $5 to assist in the cost of our displays and exhibits and ongoing programs. We hope to see you!

The Oro Valley Historical Society is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit volunteer organization, whose mission is “To promote research, preservation, education, and dissemination of historical information related to the greater Oro Valley area”. We invite you to become a member or volunteer. Visit us at ovhistory.org and help keep Oro Valley history alive!