Meet Your Board Members
Kaja-Anne Jezycki - President
Kaja-Anne Jezycki (pronounced “Kiya”) realized a life-long dream when she and her husband began building a cabin in the amazing community of Ponderosa Springs in 2011. After years of working as an inhouse counsel for a variety of companies involving lots of work travel, Kaja yearned for a place easy to access from the Valley where she could relax from the moment she opens the door of her car and smells the pine trees. Kaja and her husband Steve enjoy the outdoors working on their property, riding and hiking local trails, fishing the Rim lakes, learning about the history of the area and watching the summer monsoons gather while relaxing on their deck. (If you listen closely, you can hear them ring the “rain bell” when a measurable amount of rain is detected in their weather station!) They have rescue dogs who all love the cabin.
​
In addition to being an attorney, Kaja is a real estate broker with a focus on helping people find their dream cabins. Her husband is an engineer and an A&P mechanic specializing in electrical systems on aircraft. When they are not at their cabin, they are down in the Valley in Queen Creek. In addition to frequent trips to the Rim, they enjoy planes, trains and automobiles.
Susan Keown - Vice President
Susan is an Arizona native and has lived in Christopher Creek over 30 years. She opened the Christopher Creek office in 1991 after originally vacationing in the area with her family. She soon fell in love with it and made the decision to relocate and live her dream among the tall pines. Susan became involved in the community serving as a past volunteer member of the Christopher Kohl’s Fire Department and the Tonto Rim Search & Rescue. Susan also helped establish the Christopher Creek Visitor’s Association and served as the secretary/treasurer of the Christopher Creek Homeowner’s Association and was a past member of the Payson Kiwanis Club.
​
Susan has a daughter and identical twin grandsons who she enjoys visiting with often. Susan and family also hike and have explored hundreds of miles of trails from the Highline Trail to the old Hunter Creek Trail and many in between.
​
​
Tom Hiscox - Secretary
"I’ve been associated with Ponderosa Springs since the early 1960s when my parents bought their lots, and after my high school graduation in 1965 I spent the summer here working with the carpenters framing in the original cabin. When settling my parents estate, my wife and I decided we wanted to retire here and purchased the property. We expanded the original building and moved here in late 2004 from Connecticut. I was born in New York and moved to Scottsdale while still in grade school and graduated from Scottsdale High School in 1965.
I have three grown children and five grandchildren. I’m a US Army veteran. I had a wonderful 40+ year career in minerals engineering working for mines worldwide involved in extracting base metals, precious metals, uranium, and industrial minerals. It was a great career, but retirement is even better! I now spend my time with my camera chasing trains and shooting the milky way in our beautiful part of the world."
Dave Duprest - Treasurer
I was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. Growing up, my family spent summer vacations camping in northern Arizona. My parents bought a trailed and we ended up in Oak Creek Canyon. After a few years there it became to crowded for us so my parents started looking for someplace new. In 1962, they found Ponderosa Springs and purchased lot 12. With no electricity or water, we hauled everything from the valley and started building our cabin in 1964. That construction is still ongoing! Everyone here at that time were the first owners of the properties. It was always fun getting to know everyone.
There were weekends when everyone got together and did work on all the roads. When the work was done, there would be BBQ's at John Morris's, the original land owner, for everyone. My parents both passed in 2005, so my wife, Darcy, and I took over care of the property. We decided we had had enough of the valley and sold everything and moved up her full time in 2012. There is never a lack of something to do here. We have met many great new friends and neighbors. We enjoy our lifestyle and wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
Armando Felix - Board Member
My wife Lin and I moved to Ponderosa Springs approximately 15 years ago. I was in the title business for 20 years and I was a real estate broker for 30 years. I am partially employed managing shopping center in Phoenix We enjoy traveling all over the world My age is 82 and a have been a member of the Phoenix Midtown Lions club for 52 years.
John Eager - Board Member
I was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. I first came to the Rim Country when I was two years old. Trips then took 8 to 9 hours to get to camp sites on Horton and Tonto Creek. We made our beds out of pine needles covered by a canvas with a sleeping bag on top. I spent every summer in the Rim Country either with my parents on vacation or attending Camp Geronimo. My Dad helped build the old Camp Geronimo on Tonto Creek and I helped build the new Camp Geronimo off the control road. During the summer of 1959 myself and two of my friends worked for John Morris helping cleanup the place, starting with the road building and what ever chores he wanted done.
My parents purchased an acre from Mr. Morris in 1959 and we rehabbed the old bunk house, which is still standing (barely). I purchased the second acre in 1965 when it had become Ponderosa Springs. I have lived all my life in Arizona except when I joined the Marine Corps in 1966. I spent 20 years in the Corps before retiring in 1986. I had two tours in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968 and 1969 to 1970. I consider the Rim Country as God’s Country. I am the oldest homeowner in Ponderosa Springs as we have had our cabin for 63 years!
Keith Dompier - Board Member
Don't Have.
