
As a youngster she spent a lot of time with her grandfather who had a heavy hand with the spicy sauce. She said, “God forbid, if anything happened to me and I had to become a vegetarian, I couldn’t do it as I very rarely eat salads!” She also sprinkles hot sauce on most things she does eat.

Tammy said she couldn’t live without eating cheese or beef at least on a daily basis. “It’s truly a joyful experience,” she added. Tammy laughingly said that everyone should attend a soccer game where five-year-olds are playing. When she’s not at work, she spends her time with her family. Tammy has two children, a 20-year-old son, Soren, and a five-year-old daughter, Isabella. After graduation, she worked in IT at a hoist crane company as well as an insurance company. While attending college, she worked at a variety of jobs, including as a bartender, to support herself and her son. Tammy said one of the smartest things she did was to go back and get her degree as she values the importance of a college education. She also received a master’s degree with an IT emphasis from the same university. But she chose an honorable discharge and returned to Tucson to start the next chapter in her life.Īfter leaving the military, Tammy enrolled at the University of Phoenix to earn a business management degree. Tammy said she probably should have stayed in, as she loved the experience. When she was stationed in Korea, she was the catcher on the base’s softball team, and the team traveled to other bases in the Pacific. Through this commitment, Tammy was able to see the world in five years as she served in Korea, Guam, Philippines, England, and even Denver. She was kept busy repairing and performing scheduled maintenance on aircraft avionics. She shared that many people probably don’t know she served in Desert Storm, the first Gulf War and a successful U.S.-Allied response to Iraq’s attempt to overwhelm neighboring Kuwait.

She enlisted soon after graduating from high school in North Carolina.

The mission of the United States Air Force is to fly, fight and win in air, space and cyberspace, and Tammy served her country as an avionics mechanic on A-10s. There are at least SIX things you may not know about Tammy Klipfel, the Catering Manager at Reid Park Zoo.
