Madeline Giacoma Wyatt was one of the oldest continuous residents of Tombstone, and served the community as a teacher and principal at Walter J. Meyer Elementary School for many years.

She was, however, much more to the longtime residents of the town during the nearly 95 years she lived there. She and her family were the cornerstones of an era defined by friendship, community and caring.

Wyatt, born on March 10, 1913, died in her hometown of Tombstone on Jan. 10, 2009. 

“She was a wonderful lady who devoted her life to the people of this town,” said Robert Devere, principal of Tombstone High School.

“She was a born teacher,” said Betty Rich, her longtime friend and former student. Wyatt briefly left Tombstone to attend school at Tempe Normal, now Arizona State University, and later to earn her Master’s of School Administration from the University of Arizona.

Wyatt returned to Tombstone to teach music, dance and P.E. for third-graders. Many of her former students still live around Tombstone, and have warm memories of their teacher.

Rich remembers being 6-years-old and meeting Wyatt for the first time. Rich had just moved to Tombstone with her parents, and was called to the principal’s office. 

“I started to cry; I thought I was in trouble,” Rich said. Wyatt brought Rich in to tell her that she would be skipping from first-grade straight into third.

Another student, Jean Kennedy, met Wyatt in 1939, when the public school was a simple wooden structure.  Kennedy was in fourth-grade, and her teacher was, Madeline’s husband John L. Wyatt. He left teaching shortly after to fight in World War II.

Kennedy remembers Madeline Wyatt as an educator and principal, and much more than that to the people of the town. 

“She took care of so many children,” Kennedy said. “During the Depression she made sure they had food, shoes and milk. People don’t know her family history and what her family did for the town.”

Her uncles and father were on the city council, and her father was instrumental in building a pipeline to bring water from the Huachuca Mountains to Tombstone, Kennedy said.

Wyatt’s family built a theatre where Kennedy sold tickets in high school. The entire second story was a dance floor, which suited Wyatt perfectly, according to Kennedy.

“She loved to dance; she danced every Saturday night,” said Burton Devere, Robert’s uncle and was in Wyatt’s third-grade class.

Burton Devere knew Wyatt for as long as he could remember. Wyatt was the maid of honor in his mother’s wedding before he was born, and he remembers her as a close family friend and a remarkable woman.

“She was very involved with her students,” he said. “She kept track of them over the years.  Many came back and visited.”

Rich agreed.

“She made each student feel special,” said Rich, “When she saw them later she always told them, ‘You were my favorite student.’  She had hundreds of favorite students.”

Wyatt was also involved in the social events in town. She organized the annual Candlelight Tea, a formal high tea and pageant sponsored by the Women’s Club, at Christmas.

Burton Devere said some of her favorite performances were “The Littlest Angel” and ‘The Story of the Small One,” about the donkey that carried Mary to Bethlehem.

Wyatt was a devout Catholic who played the piano and organ for the church. Her favorite song was Ave Maria, said Kennedy.

Though she and her husband never had children, Wyatt considered all her students to be her own.

“She used to say, ‘I have hundreds of children,’” Rich said.

Madeline Wyatt was active in Tombstone for more than 70 years, including 45 years of teaching, Rich said.

“She marks the end of an era,” Rich said.

She touched the lives of countless families during her years as an educator. Wyatt taught not only Kennedy and Rich, but their children as well. 

“We never needed a PTA. She took care of all our kids,” Kennedy said.

Rich remembers Wyatt saying that it was time she retired when she started seeing the grandchildren of her earlier students coming to school.

Her friends say the town should not grieve for their beautiful and elegant matriarch, but strive to celebrate her life and remember her contributions rather than her passing.

“She was so wonderful, I can’t say enough about her,” Kennedy said. “We miss her so much but it was time for her to go.”