Page 4 - 50th Alumni Success Stories Book

History of

Pima Medical Institute

Founded in 1972 inTucson, Arizona

In January of 1972,
Richard Luebke, Sr.
(fondly known as
Senior) and his wife
JoAnn, a dynamic
husband and wife
team, started Pima
County Medical and
Business Institute.

They rented a 1,600
square-foot space in
a strip mall in Tucson, Class of 1974
Arizona where the institute’s first programs included:
Hotel Front Desk
Senior and JoAnn’s secret to success was founded on the
Hotel Management approach of always putting people first. Supporting their
own large family of nine, Senior knew firsthand the strug-
General Secretary gles most of his students faced. His philosophy was to treat
people right, give them value for their money and seek out
Medical Receptionist
people of honesty and integrity to become the backbone
Nursing Assistant/Orderly of his professional “family.” This is still the goal and mission all
of these years later.
The most popular program was the Nursing Assistant/
Orderly program (at a tuition cost of $350) and it wasn’t
long before Senior was inundated with requests to
educate Nursing Aides. He began increasing the medical You will often hear both employees
side of the institute and eventually decided to focus
solely on medical programs. He renamed the school and students saying, “Pima Medical
Pima Medical Institute.
Institute is like family to me.”

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