12/15/2009 2:55:00 PM Chief of concessions to retire from park Rebecca Rhea to retire in January
Patrick Whitehurst/WGCN
Rebecca Rhea, pictured above at the Dec. 13 Rotary Holiday Dinner Dance, will retire from the National Park Service after 30 years.
GRAND CANYON, Ariz. - After 30 years of working for the National Park Service, Grand Canyon's Chief of Concessions Management Rebecca Rhea is finally calling it quits. Rhea will retire Jan. 3. She began her NPS career in 1973 and has since worked at a number of the nation's parks, including Mount Rainier, Grand Teton, Sandy Hook and Shenandoah National Park. She's been at the Grand Canyon since 2005. During her career, Rhea has worked in the fields of interpretation, law enforcement and public relations.
She called her Grand Canyon detail an "extraordinary experience."
"I feel so fortunate that, in my lifetime, I got to spend part of my life here. It's such an amazing place. It's almost like stepping back in time to live in an isolated community. I feel very lucky," Rhea said.
She said some of the more enjoyable moments of her career came when she worked at the Sitka National Historical Park and when she worked at Albright Training Center as Acting Superintendent. Her many duties have also taken her to Alaska and the Pacific Northwest Region.
At Mount Rainier, more than a thousand inches fell over the course of the winter during Rhea's posting there.
"Just to live in those conditions was really exciting. It was really memorable. Not that I would still want to do that, however," Rhea said. "That was the third highest amount that they ever recorded there."
Rhea said working in concessions has been rewarding for her. She said she has enjoyed watching new employees begin jobs with the National Park Service and, knowing that they will continue where she left off, is a source of pride for her. As part of her job in concessions, Rhea was in charge of oversight for all the commercial operations at Grand Canyon, which includes backpacking, special use permits for burials and weddings, the clinic, daycare, and other commercial operations.
"It's a pretty complex job," Rhea said.
Upon her retirement, Rhea and her husband Steve Spear, also retired, plan to move back to Jackson, Wyo.
"I really don't have any plans," Rhea said. "I'm going to start out with some home remodeling projects, visiting family and just being on our own schedule sounds really wonderful. I came to the Grand Canyon from Grand Teton National Park and lived there for 20 some years, not always with the park service. I've kept a home there and it's where my husband and I met, and it's where my kids live. That's going to be our initial staging area for retirement."
Rhea said she feels very fortunate to have worked in so many interesting places during her career.
"I will miss the National Park Service in ways I can't even imagine; it has been such a huge part of my life," she said, adding that women were not always as welcomed in the park service as they are now.
"When I started there was a group of women that came in at the same time. It was a struggle to be accepted within the organization," she said.
