Dr. Luther Eugene Finley
Person Type(not entered)
BiographyLuther Eugene Finley was born March 14, 1915 in Sikeston, Missouri. Died April 17, 1992 in Mesa, Arizona. He moved to Arizona in 1922 with his family and was a rodeo star in the 1930s and 1940s. Luther's rodeo nickname was "Chipmunk". He won the world's championship in wild horse racing both in 1937 and 1939. He served in the Marine Corps in the Pacific diring World War II and was wounded. After coming back to Arizona, Luther attended Arizona State Teachers Collegeand earned a degree in engineering. After becoming a Bachelor of Science in 1948, Luther obtained a Master of Fine Arts in Education in 1949. He then worked as an engineering professor at Arizona State College for nine years, from approximately 1950 to 1959. He also did survey work in Tempe during this time. In about 1960, Luther started teaching in El Centro California. He taught in the Imperial Community College District and obtained secondary school administration credentials from California State Board of Education in 1967. While in El Centro, Luther also worked for the U.S. Department of Defense as a nuclear expert. Luther stayed in El Centro until the death of his first wife in 1977. After the death of his first wife Luther sold the house in El Centro and moved to a ranch in Missouri. In 1983, he married his second wife Meity, a Chinese woman living in Indonesia. The couple split their time between Missouri and Scottsdale before permanently moving back to Mesa in 1989. They bought a house in the Dobson Ranch neighborhood, where his father had worked years before.