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ARTHUR WAYNE RIDDLE

BORN: July 24, 1947

    He was born in the old Victorian house on the SW corner of the Tempe St. Luke's Hospital lot.  The Victorian house was the maternity ward at the time.  He passed away March 1, 2002 at Tempe St. Luke's Hospital in the I.C.U. which is on the SW corner of the lot.  He was born and died almost in the exact location.

    Art was an only child.  He also was the only male child to carry on the Riddle surname.  He attended Creighton Grade School and Phoenix Union High School.  He was active in JROTC.  After high school he joined the army.  he was sent to Vietnam, where he served as his company clerk.  He told many stories to his family and friends about the experiences he had while trying to fill the shipping lists and orders that the captain had given him.  He joked that Radar and Klinger on the TV show MASH were amateurs compared to the things he actually did.

    He was very proud of his military service.  He was in combat situations many times.  He also earned many medals.  His family was grateful he didn't get the Purple Heart.

    Art met Lynnita Phillips at a regional Young Adults potluck and dance held at one of the park ramadas in North Phoenix.  It was about a week after the 4th of July in 1977.  A courtship began.  They were married on Sept. 23, 1977 in the Mesa, AZ Temple.  On Dec. 26, 1978, their only son, Christopher James Riddle was born.  Art was present at the birth.  in those days the sex of the child usually was unknown until birth.  So when the baby was born, he shouted joyfully "I have a son!"  He could hardly wait for Chris to get big enough to play.  Art was active in a reenactment group called the Arizona Bushwhackers.  When Chris was just toddling, his dad bought him a little cowboy outfit.  When the group rehearsed for a performance at one of the charity activities, such as the Special Olympics, Art had Chris right in the middle of everything.  These activities set the pattern for their relationship from then on.  Whatever Art did, he made his son a part of it if possible.

    For many years Art was a professional Santa Claus.  He even took a class called Santa Claus 101.  He was active in the Make a Wish Foundation and visited many sick children.  He was the original Santa at the McCormic Stillman Ranch Railroad Park.  He rode in parades, arrived in helicopters, appeared on TV and even appeared in public performances several times with Wallace and Ladmo as a member of the AZ Bushwhackers and as Santa Claus.

    Art loved model railroading and was active in the hobby most of his life.  He was a founding member of the Maricopa Express Junior Railway Club (now known as the Maricopa Express Youth Railway) for young people who are or wanted to be involved in the hobby of model railroading.  He was an active member of other model railroad clubs over the years and participated with them in many charity and community activities.  One of these activities was building and displaying a Christmas theme layout at park central mall in behalf of the Ronald McDonald House Foundation.  He was one of the original founders of the Annual Rail Fair now held every October at the McCormick Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale.

    For many years Art drove a bus; first a school bus, then city buses, and a dash bus in downtown Phoenix.  Most recently he was a security guard at Carl Hayden High School.  He was respected by his co-workers.  He even had the grudging respect of some of the more troubled teenagers.  His wife Lynnita remembers a few instances that proved he kept the students in line.  Just a few days before Art died he expressed to his wife, Lynnita that being a security guard at Carl Hayden was the best job he ever had.  He also thought that the people of Carl Hayden were great to work with.

    Art is survived by his wife Lynnita of 25½ years of marriage and by his son Christopher.

Art's history was written by Art and Lynnita's Bishop from 1990 to 1996. 

    Art has been an active member of the Maricopa Express Youth Railway since it's birth.  He is a good friend to all of the members of the MEYR.  He will be missed by the many, many people he's helped.  

    Art's last project with the MEYR was taking the donated N-gauge layout out of the donator's garage, when he saw the layout he was what he called "blown away," just as every one of the other members who were there that day.  The layout didn't have a specific name.  When we found out about Art's death we decided to dedicate the layout to the memory of Art Riddle, the layout is now known as the Art Riddle Central Railway (ARCR).

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