The Chandler Museum Officers

Museum Officers

Jim Patterson, Museum President
Jim Patterson was born in Kermit, Texas and moved to Chandler with his family at the age of four. He is a 1959 graduate of Chandler High School and a 1963 graduate of the University of Arizona, with degrees in Agriculture and Business. He did his post graduate studies at Arizona State University. Jim has been actively involved in the Chandler community for many years. He was on the City Council from 1976 to 1980 and served as the city’s mayor for two terms from 1980 to 1984. He has been actively involved in the growth of the Valley’s freeway system and is a member of numerous boards and organizations, past and present, promoting development, youth groups, and education, among others.

Charles Nickell, Museum Treasurer
Chuck came to Chandler, Arizona in 1936, and attended the “old Goodyear School” from 1938-1943. He graduated from Chandler High School in 1950 and was a member of that school’s 1949 undefeated state champion football team. After high school, Chuck joined the U.S. Air Force and was on active duty with the Arizona Air National Guard during the Korean War. He also served in Morocco, Texas and at Luke and Williams Air Force Bases in Arizona. He earned a business degree from Arizona State University, and in 1964 earned his teaching certificate from that school before going on the get his Masters in Education from Northern Arizona University. Previous careers include manufacturer’s representative, auditor for Arizona Department of Transportation, public school teacher in Chandler, Poway, CA, and Buckeye, AZ, and a school board member in Oregon. Chuck retired from the Buckeye School District in 1996. He has owned several businesses in Arizona, California and Oregon. Chuck and his wife, Mary, currently reside in Sun Lakes, AZ and have two sons, two daughters, and six grandchildren.

Marci Navarrete Rittmanic, Museum Secretary
Marci is a native and third generation of a family proud to call Chandler home. Her grandfather, Apolinar Navarrete, arrived in Chandler in 1908 and began working for Dr. Chandler by 1910. Her father, Raul Navarrete, was a lifelong Chandler resident, a city councilman, and mayor for two terms. She attended St. Mary's Basha Elementary School and Seton Catholic High School, then graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in Education and Communication. After living nine years in various parts of the country, she and her husband Steve returned to Chandler in 2004.

Michel Larson, Board Member
Michel Larson has been a resident of Chandler since 1963. Her formal education includes graduation from St. Joseph Hospital School of Nursing in Ottumwa, Iowa as an R.N.; Arizona State University as an Emergency Room Nurse Practitioner and the University of Phoenix with a Bachelors or Science in Business Administration. She has worked in the East Valley for many years in a variety of nursing and supervisory positions. She is a past President of the Chandler Historical Society for three terms, and is the mother of three adult children.