02/20/2025
✨Meet Our Founders - Pt. 2✨
Conrad “Tim” Rodgers (1919-2008)
Conrad “Tim” Rodgers was the oldest child of Lester Case & Mahme Rodgers, born in Evans Port, Ohio on September 23rd, 1919. He worked alongside his father for many years, building luxury homes and developing numerous subdivisions on & around Camelback Mountain, in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and North Central Avenue in Phoenix. Tim was also involved in many commercial projects in the Valley (and beyond) throughout the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s, some of which still stand today. With the help of his son Jim and their partners, Tim built the Beeline Dragway, and he also worked with Max Biegert in the reopening of the Grand Canyon Railroad. Tim’s most significant contribution to the Valley was his involvement in the development of the , with his good friend, Bob Maytag. Tim worked on Bob’s house in Paradise Valley, and that’s how they met. Tim and Bob, both conservationists & sportsmen, believed that the Valley needed a first class zoo. Together they worked diligently on the concept for several years, until Bob’s untimely death in March 1962, months before the zoo’s opening. Tim worked tirelessly with the Arizona Game & Fish to obtain the land (including the 7 lakes of Papago Park) that we now know as Papago Park & the Phoenix Zoo. He helped build the original animal enclosures for the first gorilla, elephant, tiger and zebra to call the Phoenix Zoo home, as well as the original “children’s zoo”. Along with his brother Charlie, Tim transported “Heffalump,” the baby elephant, in a horse trailer from Los Angeles to Bob Maytag’s house in PV, where the 3,000lb baby was housed with a sheep (to keep her company) until the completion of her enclosure. The opening of the Phoenix Zoo in November 1962 fulfilled the vision of both Tim Rodgers & Bob Maytag, and left their legacy for all of Arizona to enjoy for many years to come.
