Flags to fly at half-staff in honor of Arizona tribe Chair Ronnie Lupe

PHOENIX – Gov. Doug Ducey has ordered flags on state buildings to fly at half-staff Thursday in honor of former White Mountain Apache Tribe Chairman Ronald Lupe, who died this week.

Tribal officials said Lupe died Monday.

Lupe, 89, led the tribe for 36 years and was the youngest chairman they ever elected.

He decided in October not to run for a 10th term.

“From driving economic development to helping secure safe drinking water for the Tribe, Ronnie served as a champion for his people,” Ducey said in a prepared statement.

“My sincere condolences go out to his family and loved ones.”

The flags will remain lowered from sunrise to sunset.

Lupe was a major force behind the development of Hon-Dah Resort Casino and Sunrise Park Resort.

“I was able to meet some of the top leaders in the nation due to the (representation) of my people back home,” Lupe told the White Mountain Independent in 2017.

“The joy that I have had, the energy that everybody has. This country has given me a lot,” he said.

Lupe joined the Marines in 1951 and served in the Korean War.

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