EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

W. Mark Clark – President
W. Mark Clark is President & CEO of Pima Council on Aging, a position he has held since January of 2014. He has more than forty years of executive leadership of human service, housing, behavioral health and faith-based organizations. From 2011 to 2013 he served as Associate General Minister of the Cleveland-based United Church of Christ.
He has been active in number community and professional organizations, including the Old Ft. Lowell Neighborhood Association and Arizona Town Hall, and the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona. He is currently the Board President of the Presidio San Agustin del Tucson Museum and the City of Tucson Equitable Housing and Development Commission.
As an advocate for older adults and those with disabilities, Mark has testified before the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging and various committees of the Arizona Legislature. He is honored to have been selected Arizona Social Worker of the Year in 2009, and to have received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Arizona Coalition to End Homelessness and the Arizona Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.
Mark holds an undergraduate degree from NAU and a Masters degree in Social Work from ASU, where he has served as a faculty associate and field instructor. Mark is an Arizona native and has been enthralled with Tucson’s history since moving to Tucson from Phoenix in 1980. He has served on the Board since 2017.

J. Homer Thiel – Vice-President
J. Homer Thiel, M.A., is Senior Project Director and Historical Archaeologist at Desert Archaeology, Inc where he has worked since 1992. His work has included locating the walls and corner tower of the original Presidio San Agustín del Tucson, preparing family histories of all residents of the fortress, and working on numerous other blocks in downtown Tucson.
During his career, he has analyzed over 500,000 artifacts and examined thousands of documents. Information gleaned from these sources has revealed the healthcare concerns, diet, ethnically linked purchasing patterns, and mortuary practices of historical residents of southern Arizona. He has been on the Board for many years serving in a variety of capacities including developing the TPT newsletter, planning the annual member meeting, and acting as recording secretary.  Occasionally he appears as a Victorian gentleman for events. 

John F. Bird – Treasurer
John Bird is a retired accountant and a U.S. Navy Veteran retired. He started on the Board in 2018.  He is “Treasurer for Life” for the Tucson Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Society of the Mayflower descendants in the State of Wisconsin.  He is a Wisconsin farm boy who grew up in a volunteering family and still donates tax preparation time to twenty tax-exempt organizations every year, mostly veteran’s organizations. John served for ten years on the Board of Directors of Sauk Prairie Memorial Hospital in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. He has been a member of the Tucson Presidio Trust for several years and just finished a wonderful season volunteering at the Presidio Museum.  His passion is history and family history. 

Larry LuceroSecretary
Larry Lucero spent nearly 30 years of his career as the senior director of government affairs and economic development for UNS Energy Corporation/Tucson Electric Power where he managed the company’s local, state and federal legislative agendas, governmental affairs, and state-wide business recruitment and retention.
He received TEP’s Lifetime Achievement Award for contributing more than 4,000 volunteer hours to community projects and nonprofit and civic boards and commissions – all to improve the quality of life in the region. In 2019 he received the Man of the Year Award from the Tucson Greater Leadership Council. 
He has served on a number of local boards, most recently as Chair of the Tucson Industrial Development Authority.  He has also served on the boards of the Tucson Metro Chamber, Tucson Youth Development, Alternative Computer Education (ACE) Charter High School, and on the Chicanos Por La Causa Southeastern Arizona Advisory Council. 
Larry is a 7th generation Tucson with roots back to early Presidio families.  The Lucero’s are likely descendants of Spanish explorers that established themselves in the Southwest.  The other side of Larry’s family, the Traslavina’s, originated from northern Sonora.

MEMBERS

Jaynie Adams
Jaynie Adams is the Education Team Lead statewide for the Arizona Historical Society and Museum Educator at the Arizona History Museum in Tucson. She holds an MA in history from the University of Arizona and is privileged to work in Tucson, her hometown. Jaynie is one of AHS’ team of staff historians; her work as a historian is rooted in a place-based practice where she critically explores race, place, and belonging in the American Southwest. Her work as a museum educator centers on diversity, inclusion, and inquisitivity.

John Angiulo
John Angiulo is a pastor and teacher at Casas Adobes Congregational United Church of Christ where he focuses on inclusive educational experiences, family ministry, spiritual growth, and affirmation of God’s diverse people.  He completed his seminary education at Iliff School of Theology in 2017. While in school, he worked in Christian Education and Faith Formation in two UCC congregations, here in Tucson. 
He also holds a B.A. in Art History from the University of Arizona and previously he was employed by Pima Community College in student services where he coordinated the “Fabulous Fifth Graders and the Future” outreach program. 
John is a descendant of Presidio settlers through Petra Santa Cruz and Hiram Stevens whose home is on display through the Tucson Museum of Art and History block. He is also a descendant of the Bojorquez and Velasco families.  He enjoys learning and teaching Tucson’s history and sharing stories of our past, especially with young people.

Jean Baxter
Jean Baxter spent the last twenty-five years of her career as a reading teacher for the Flowing Wells School District and many years as a staff development specialist and teacher trainer.  Before that she worked for the Department of Defense based in Okinawa and Germany. In her retirement, she became a professional storyteller specializing in historically-based presentations. She has two Master’s degrees in Education (Reading and Administration) from the University of Arizona.
Jean has been on the Board since 2011 and as Vice President for Education she has developed the bulk of the children’s educational programming now offered at the Presidio and was awarded a Historic Preservation Award from the Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission.  She also volunteers as a regular docent.

Yvonne Carrasco Clay
Yvonne Carrasco Clay taught and was a school counselor in TUSD for over 30 years. Later she was an Adjunct Instructor at the UA for M.Ed candidates.  She earned two M.Ed degrees at the University of Arizona, in School Counseling and in Elementary Education. 

She was born at The Stork’s Nest, a maternity birthing center, now on the National Register of Historic Places, and just one block from the current day Presidio Museum.  She grew up in Sahuarita which was then a cotton farming community, went to Pueblo High School and the UA. Yvonne is a ninth generation descendant of Arizona Pioneer families dating back to the 1700’s including Carrillo, Coenen, Comaduran, Otero, Sosa and Soto.  In 2024 she was honored to be inducted into Las Doňas, a group that recognizes local women who are strong leaders and supporters of Tucson’s culture and history.

She is a current Board member of Los Descendientes and a volunteer at the Mexican-American History and Heritage Museum at the Sosa-Carrillo House.  She also serves on the Board of the Southern Arizona History Connection and is particularly focused on the Oral and Video History Project. She has served on the Board of Friends of Arizona History and the Southern Chapter Board of the Arizona Historical Society at the Arizona History Museum.  She was instrumental in the engraved brick project to fund the restoration of the Otero Porch in the courtyard at Tucson’s Arizona History Museum.

Albert Elías
Albert Elías was the Assistant City Manager for the City of Tucson before retiring in 2022. During his 37 year professional career, he worked as a planner, administrator and director for several departments including transportation, water, housing and community development, and urban planning and design before serving in the City Manager’s Office the last nearly ten years of his tenure.

Albert is a 9th  generation native Tucsonan whose family have been important leaders in the community since the 1800’s. A UA alum, Albert grew up in the Armory Park neighborhood and spent his youth exploring downtown and helping at his father’s print shop, Old Pueblo Printers. He has a keen interest in Tucson’s history, culture and traditions. Albert believes that storytelling is for everyone and creates shared understanding and connection. 

Mauro Trejo IV
Mauro’s professional experience is in hospitality management. Most recently he served as the General Manager at Hilton’s Home2Suites and the Interim General Manager at the Hilton Doubletree Reid Park.  Mauro is a 7th generation Tucsonan descending from Elias’s and Gallegos. Mauro has a passion for local history and has poured over the Tucson “classics” to learn as much as possible.   Before becoming a Presidio Trust Board Member he volunteered as a docent and Turquoise Trail tour guide (which he still does), becoming one of our most knowledgeable.