Mae Sue Talley, 93, passed away on March 9, 2017. Mrs. Talley attended Indiana University. She was married to the late Franz G. Talley until his death in 1978. Mrs. Talley served Arizona and her country as an executive, diplomat and philanthropist. She and her husband founded Talco Engineering in Connecticut after WWII; they moved to Arizona for the founding of Talley Industries in the 1950’s which grew into a diversified Fortune 500 company and was a major employer in the Phoenix metro area for several decades. She purchased and continued publication of the Arizonian, the state's first newspaper. As Director of Interior Design, she oversaw the rebuilding of the Arizona Biltmore after a fire damaged much of the property. The family also owned and ran the historic Castle Hot Springs Resort, which she later gifted to ASU. During Talley Industries' ownership, the Biltmore transferred Squaw Peak and much of the current Phoenix Mountain Preserve to the City of Phoenix. The transfer helped to form the large metropolitan park and prevent further development in this scenic area. The Talley family spearheaded the founding of Phoenix Country Day School in 1960. She served as its first Chairman of the Board and was a major benefactor during the school's early years. Mrs. Talley served as Vice Chair for the Defense Department Advisory Commission on Women in the Services; her efforts there led to the opening of the nation's service academies to women. During the 1980's she served with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. She also was a Commissioner for the United States Commission on Public Diplomacy, UNESCO, the President's Export Council, the Commission on Presidential Scholars and the President's Commission on Executive Exchange and numerous other government commissions. Mrs. Talley was a long-serving board member of the Taliesin Foundation and the Arizona Graduate School of International Management. She chaired or served on over 30 other non-profit boards, such as the ASU Foundation. She was a founding board member for organizations including: Hospice of the Valley, Barrow's Neurological Institute Women's Board, Phoenix Opera Company and the Stillman-McCormick Railroad Park in Scottsdale. She and her daughter donated the family's historic Roald Amundsen Pullman car, originally used by each president from Hoover to Eisenhower, to the park. Mrs. Talley received numerous awards during her lifetime, including an honorary doctorate from ASU. Most recently, she received the Joe Foss Institute's Stars in Service Award in 2014 and induction to the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame in 2016. She is survived by a son, a daughter, a grandson and two grand-dachshunds. A service will be held on March 31 at St. Barnabas on the Desert Church in Paradise Valley at 2:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center Endowment at the Honor Health Foundation  . (Source: Arizona Republic)