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HISTORY OF THE UNITED VETERANS’ COUNCIL
AND NM VETERANS’ FOUNDATION
By Mary Cox
December 8, 2022
Sometime in the 1980’s a meeting of the Bataan Veterans Organization in Deming, Ralph Rodriguez, Jr. publicly asked Lou Hoffman during a board meeting if it would be possible for the City of Albuquerque to do something as significant as the obelisk that had been dedicated to Deming Bataan Veterans which was erected in the
Deming Museum courtyard.
July 1991, Meetings were held in Albuquerque to discuss establishing a memorial to honor Albuquerque Veterans.
March 1992, City staff was authorized by Mayor Louis Saavedra to proceed with development of a veteran’s memorial. The Veterans Memorial Planning Committee was created and met to work on a work plan.
April 1993, Gordon Church informed the Planning Committee that the Governor had signed a capital outlay Bill # 18 to appropriate the first $600,000 for design and construction of the memorial.
October 1993, The City of Albuquerque held the first general obligation bond election to include funding for the Veterans Memorial. The design contract was awarded to Cherry/See Architects.
November 1994, Phase I construction contract was awarded, and groundbreaking began on November 11, 1995.
November 1995, Phase I included the dedication to Amphitheater seating, parade grounds, “The Fallen Friends,” The Call,” and “The Battle.”
March 1996, Robert Crotzer, President of the United Veterans Council (UVC), held a meeting between city officials and the UVC member organizations.
1999, Phase II, Phase III, and Phase IV, and the Visitors Center was to be built in two phases. Dedication of the Visitors Center was held in May 2001.
2001, UVC contracted with the City of Albuquerque to operate and maintain the Memorial. UVC established the NM Veterans Memorial Board of Governors to oversee day to day operations.
October 2001, UVC President, Tom Daubert, appointed individuals to the NM Veterans Memorial Park of Governors. The Board met and elected the Standard Operating Procedures for the Volunteers Program and open Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays. He asked members to volunteer and to have a place to celebrate and honor the sacrifices of all veterans and their families on special days such as Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and POW/MIA Recognition Day.
May 2002, the grand opening of the Visitors Center was held.
2002, The Visitors Center started accepting uniforms, hats, books, and other artifacts. According to the minutes of the Board of Governors, Leo Davis brought up the subject of setting up a foundation. Shortly after, the NM Veterans Memorial Foundation was established to contact with the City of Albuquerque to operate and
maintain the Memorial.
July 2006, Letters form IRS came for review of tax-exempt status under 501 (c) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code.
Examples of organizations the UVC can honor are:
Pearl Harbor
Help Korean War Veterans for the end of the Korean War
Vietnam Veterans Commemorative event in 2025
The New Mexico Veterans Memorial is a 25-acre city park located at
1100 Louisiana Blvd NE,
Albuquerque, NM 87108.
The Visitor’s Center is open 7 days a week from 9-3.
Support Veterans and active duty organizations through networking at our 2nd Thursday monthly meetings.
We meet at NM Veterans Memorial Park
1100 Louisiana Blvd NE
Albuquerque, NM 87108
Meet the Board
President: Tom Dawe,
MOAA
Tom is a native New Mexican who graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1967. He began law school in Florida in 1967 but his law school was interrupted by a tour with the U.S. Army. He is a graduate of Infantry OCS with a tour on a MAT team in MACV in Vietnam in 1970-71. He finished law school in 1973 and was admitted to the New Mexico Bar in 1973. He served on the Board = of the New Mexico Veterans Memorial for many years. He has also served on other non-profit boards throughout his tenure in New Mexico including, most recently, the United Veterans Council of Greater Albuquerque.
Vice-President: Steve Overman,
AUSA
Retired military Veteran at the rank of Sgt. Major with 40ys of service. Active Duty, Reserve, National Guard. USMC 1970-1976; 2nd,3rd, 4th Marine Divisions. USA Special Forces, 1977-2010; 5th, 10th, 12th, 19th Special Forces Groups (Abn). Special Operations Command-Korea, Special Operations Command-Africa, US Special Operations Command. OIF/OEF Veteran.
Treasurer: Kay Coleman,
Rio Grande Valley Blue Star Mothers
Secretary: Kathryn Henderson,
Daughters of American Revolution
Kathryn Henderson is a retired microbiologist and a military spouse for over 50 years. She serves as the Chair of the Service for Veterans Committee for the NM Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NMSODAR). She is also the DAR State Representative for the VA Voluntary Services (VAVS).
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Director: Mary Cox,
New Mexico Veterans Memorial Foundation
Director: Jan Jourdain,
New Mexico Women Veterans
Jan Jourdain served on active duty in the Army 1978-1981, retiring from the Army Reserve in 1994. Simultaneous to her career as an academic librarian, she volunteered more than 15 years on her Massachusetts hometown’s Veterans Services Advisory Board. Since retiring to New Mexico in 2021, Jan joined the board of Women Veterans of New Mexico as well as the board of UVCGA, and served as an Honor Flight guardian; she’s also a member of the American Legion Post 13 Honor Guard.
Director: Barbara Santillanes,
VFW Auxiliary Post 401
