The Dynamic talleys

During the semiannual meeting of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, Mrs. Mae Sue Talley visits with Col. Wm. Brown, Commander of the Ist Composite Wing, Andrews AFB and Col. Billie Bobbitt, Director of Women in the Air Force.

reflect a rich variety of excellences based on meaning, purpose and commitment.

Arizona has hundreds of varieties of magnificent cactus, an enormous supply of copper and minerals, gemstones, and the Grand Canyon. It also has many industrious and intelligent people who make up a lion's share of our human resource. Some are native born, some have adopted Arizona as their home state. All have achieved a part of the American Dream, and after examining the past, now look forward to the challenge of the future.

Mae and Franz Talley are a unique and exciting couple! Every minute of their lives seems to be filled with energy and joys of life. They are partners in the true sense of the word in marriage, in business, devotion to community service, and love of their adopted state. Each recognizes and has a realistic appreciation of the other's intelligence, capabilities, likes and dislikes, founded on a base of mutual respect.

Early in 1953, Talco Engineering Company, their privately owned enterprise, caused a sensation in the world of aerodynamics with the rocket catapult and other ballistic devices for ejection seats in the then-new military jet aircraft. Until this developement, the pilot was doomed if there were an emergency situation, because it was impossible for him to eject from his craft. Thousands of American fighter pilots are alive today because of the life-saving ejection seat, which is now manufactured in Arizona.

Along with the ejection seat equipment, Talco Engineering was also testting and developing ballistic devices and solid fuel propellent. All of Talco's products were vital to the Government.

Mae Sue and Franz Talley's mission, in 1953, was to leave New Haven, Connecticut, and find an ideal area where conditions would be just right for conducting tests. They needed dry air, low humidity, and wide open spaces. After exploring areas of Nevada, California, Utah and New Mexico, the Talleys decided on central Arizona!

They had only intended to stay for three months to set up company operations. That was twenty-two years ago.

They were enchanted with the culture and heritage of the state. Indian, Spanish, Mexican and Anglo traditions had merged to create an atmosphere of freedom and casual living that they had not found anywhere else in the country. The scenery and climate were unsurpassed; and they felt they could really get involved in community activities.

Twelve years ago Talco Engineering Company became a part of the newly formed, Arizona based, Talley Industries. One of Fortune Magazine's top five-hundred industries in the United States, it is a highly diversified corporation serving worldwide markets. Their products include clocks and watches (the world's largest manufacturer of these items), ladies apparel, outboard marine motors, hotel services, and a number of other items, including the patented rocket catapult.

The Talleys like and care about people, and people like and care about the Talleys. An example in point, in June 1973, Talley Industries acquired the Arizona Biltmore, one of the state's most renowned and historic hotels. Shortly thereafter a devastating fire almost completely gutted the four-story structure. It was just three months until the start of the season, and the Talleys didn't believe they would be able to open the doors for at least a year.

The entire community rallied. The hotel staff, construction workers, union officials, designers, suppliers and the Talleys worked seven days a week with no vacation in order to reconstruct and restore the luxurious Biltmore.

"It was a great example of the real Yankee Spirit! People from every walk of life loved the Biltmore. It seems to have had a special meaning to them, and they were not about to let it die," says Mae Sue.

Also included in the Biltmore acquisition were approximately 1,100 acres of desert land adjacent to the hotel. It had been zoned as residential property many years before, but to the Talleys it represented a problem. The old zoning allowed for twice the desired population density. The Talleys wanted the development to include hiking and bike trails, bridle paths, and preserve as much natural flora and fauna as possible. They wanted to provide an area filled with scenic beauty and wide open spaces. A master development plan, prepared and designed by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Taliesin West, was approved by the planning commission and construction is slated to begin in the near future.

Regarding community involvement, the Talleys jump in with both feet! They have spearheaded fund raising drives for everything from cancer research to child care centers. Mae Sue was a founding member of the Golden Gate Settlement Auxiliary, which specializes in helping the families of migrant farm workers by providing services for childcare, bilingual instruction in kindergartens, instructions in cooking and sewing, and libraries for teenagers.

They are both founding members of the Barrow Neurological Institute, which provides services for the greater part of the western United States, Alaska, Canada, Mexico and South America.

Mae Sue is the founder of the Phoenix Country Day School, and is active on the Arizona State University Foundation Board.

Franz and Mae Sue were a major force in creating the Phoenix Symphony Guild; founding members of the Art Museum Auxiliary Board; Mae Sue was the first woman on the Junior Achievement Board; Franz is active on the Board of the American Graduate School of International Management.

In 1974 Secretary of Defense Schlesinger appointed Mae Sue Talley as one of thirty women to serve on the Defense Department's Advisory Committee on Women-in-the-Services. These women travel on regular inspection tours of military installations and act as a sounding board for women in the services. They then return to the Pentagon with valid problems facing the women, and with possible solutions.

The Talleys are optimistic about the future.

"We seem to attract the finest contributors in the fields of medicine, sciences, education and arts," says Franz, "the atmosphere here seems stimulating for young and old alike. Perhaps it's the beautiful surroundings, and the casual life-style... Solar energy is still in the pioneer stages. We need a substantial scientific break-through before it becomes a reality. It is one of the great hopes of the 'energy crunch' and Arizona should be its capital. The sun, of course, is the greatest natural resource that is not controlled by any major corporation or country."

Mae Sue adds, "there are very encouraging signs. The people who live here, or want to live here, love the land. Their love insures the caring for the land, pride in the heritage of the Southwest, and thus insures the life-style. Enjoyment of nature and the outdoors, the relaxed and friendly community, and so many things to do in sports, arts, and education, as well as business, give me great hope for the future."