Robert Leslie Finch
28 May 1897 - 7 May 1941
bornTempe, Arizona, USA
diedLos Angeles, California, USA
SchooltblData
BiographyGraduated from Tempe Normal School in 1917.Enlisted in the army at the age of 20 and served in France as a 1st Lieutenant with the 158th Infantry.
Received the Distinguished Service Cross and the French Croix de Guerre.
In 1919, he was elected president of the new Tempe Normal School Alumni Association, and served three terms, 1919, 1920, and 1924.
Kyrene School Dist. Governing Board, 1920-1922.
Respresentative from Tempe in the State Legislature, 1923-1928.
Charter member of American Legion Post #2, c1920.
He moved to Clarkdale to work for the Phelps Dodge Corp., in charge of public utilities. He served three more terms in the House from Yavapai County. In the 1930s, the mine in Clarkdale was closed, and he moved to California as manager of Phelps
Dodge's electric and water departments. The Veterans of Foreign Wars named its Post No. 3632 after him in 1941.
Lived on Mill Avenue in 1910; lived on a ranch east of Tempe in 1924.
BIO-Finch
OSB 16
Federal census (Tempe), 1900, 1910
Old Settlers Collection, THM
Hopkins and Thomas, The ASU Story, p. 197
Furlong, Story of Kyrene, p. 24
Painter Scrapbook, p. 46
Tempe CD, 1914-1919
Tempe Telephone Directory, 1924
Person TypeIndividual
