Awilda Córdova-Edgar, Retired Educator and Health Care Administrator

Awilda Córdova-Edgar, a retired educator and health care administrator, is Gabrielle Giffords’ supporter of the week. She calls Giffords a visionary whose youthful energy reminds her of our nation’s 35th president. “I haven’t been this excited since JFK,” she said.

Awilda was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and moved to New Jersey when she was four. Her father helped with the World War II effort by working in the shipyards there. Her mother’s siblings all served in the armed forces. “Everybody made sacrifices for the war,” Awilda said.

Awilda attended Rutgers University, and during college she spent two years studying at the University of Puerto Rico. She graduated with a major in Spanish.

She experienced one of the most memorable moments of her life in college when she attended a rally with John F. Kennedy at Newark City Hall when he was running for President in 1960. “The way he spoke — the spirit of his love for country and wanting to serve — inspired me and everyone there,” Awilda said. “Hearing him speak is a memory I will always cherish.”

After college, Awilda embarked on an educational career that she would pursue for decades. She initially taught in an inner city school in New Jersey. “Once you get the students’ confidence, and once they all trust you, they all progress,” she said. “Telling kids they can do anything they set their minds on — I would never give up that experience for an amount of money in the world.”

She married her husband, Bill, in 1965, and became a mother in 1966. Bill was a career Army officer and the family was assigned to NASA’s Manned Spaceflight Engineering Directorate in Greenbelt, MD from 1966-1969, where he worked on the Gemini and Apollo programs. During this time, Awilda stayed home and focused on raising their daughter, Lisa Lynn, and their son, Bill.

In the early 1970s, Awilda and her family moved to Southern Arizona so Bill could study electrical engineering at the U of A. The family was then stationed at Ft. Huachuca. Awilda then resumed her educational career, teaching at Cochise College, and, after moving back to Tucson, teaching at Cholla High School.

In the 1980s, Awilda changed careers and entered the health care field. She served as a patient advocate at Pima Health Plan, and then became a patient relations manager at University Medical Center.

Awilda has been following Gabrielle Giffords since she was first elected to the legislature.

When asked why she supports Giffords, Awilda referred to a Spanish proverb that refers to the richness and value of youth: “Juventud divino tesoro,” which means “youth — divine treasure.” She compared Giffords’ youthful energy and inspiration to that which she felt from John F. Kennedy on that day in 1960. “Gabrielle brings youth — but it’s youth that’s tempered in experience,” she said. “It’s youth that’s been tested. A young person brings something to the table that a middle aged person doesn’t have,” she said.

Awilda also cited the Giffords family’s well-known and respected history in Southern Arizona, and referred to her affection for Gabrielle’s grandfather, Giff Giffords, a broadcaster and the original founder of El Campo Tire. She quoted another Spanish saying, “de tal palo tal astilla,” — roughly equivalent to the English expression: “the acorn does not fall far from the tree.”

Awilda particularly enjoys volunteering at the Giffords campaign headquarters because of the diversity of people who participate. “There’s so much intergenerational presence,” Awilda said. “She has such a healthy mix of different types of people here.”

“It’s great to be part of something greater than yourself,” she said. “When you’re working for somebody who has a vision — a dream — it’s exciting to be part of it.”