Ann-Eve Pedersen, former Tucson journalist, dies at 55

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TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – Ann-Eve Pedersen, a former Tucson journalist and education attorney, died Friday. She was 55.

Her husband Peter Eckerstrom announced this this week, reported the Arizona Daily Star. No cause of death was disclosed.

“I think she had a keen sense of right and wrong, a moral core to her,” said Bobbie Jo Buel, a former editor-in-chief of the Arizona Daily Star, where Pedersen was a reporter and city editor in the 1990s. “She was only outraged when someone who uses taxpayers money doesn’t spend it well.”

Buel recalled how Pedersen was quick to get the newspaper to sue public authorities when they refused to share public records with their reporters and readers.

Born in Tucson, Pedersen began her journalistic career in the late 1980s as a news assistant at Tucson Citizen. She started writing the role for a month or two, Eckerstrom said.

Eckerstrom met Pedersen when she was reporting in court, and he was a young lawyer. He is now the Chief Judge of the Second Division of the Arizona Court of Appeals, which covers Tucson and southern Arizona.

Pedersen also covered the city government vying for shovels against the Daily Star before later moving to city editing and then being promoted to editor.

“She was a great reporter, so we stole her from the Citizen,” said former Daily Star reporter and assistant city editor Mary K. Reinhart.

Pedersen quit the journalism industry in 2003 and focused on education, speaking out at school district meetings, and starting the Arizona Education Network. She also started a petition to get Proposition 204 – which would have introduced a 1% sales tax on public education – on the ballot.

State Legislators and Now Gov. Doug Ducey worked hard to overcome the measure.

“The unexpected death of Tucson journalist and educational attorney Ann-Eve Pedersen is devastating. She was a dedicated community leader and talented journalist – and she cared deeply for the people of Tucson and the entire state, ”said Republican Governor Doug Ducey, who was 2012 treasurer.

He added, “Her passion for what she believed in was evident when we debated Prop. 204 in 2012. While we disagreed, I have always respected her passion, her intellect, and her commitment to the state of Arizona. My deepest condolences go to Ann-Eve’s family and their loved ones. “

Pedersen continued to advocate education funding and social justice as executive director of the Southwestern Foundation for Education and Historical Preservation.

Pedersen leaves behind her husband, son, three brothers, a brother-in-law, two nieces and two nephews.

Funeral services are scheduled for June 12th. A location has not yet been announced.

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