The Apache Junction Parks and Recreation Commission recently received an update on a memorial planned for a longtime city employee who died and discussed how to recognize the work of a longtime volunteer who also died.
Plans are in place to dedicate the city of Apache Junction softball fields at Prospector Park in honor of Jeff Bell, former parks and recreation director. The recognition could be done this fall, Parks and Recreation Director Liz Langenbach said during the commission’s Feb. 4 meeting.
“Renaming, putting all that stuff there at the softball complex,” she said.
A sign could be put on the main building stating it is Jeff Bell Ball Field or Jeff Bell Softball Complex, Langenbach said.
“Using his whole name was kind of what was suggested to me because over time, while it might be meaningful to us, there will be people who would never know who he is until they read maybe something that’s there. Or maybe there’s other Bells and people wouldn’t know it was him versus somebody different,” she said.
In addition to the sign there is to be a storyboard showing the history of the parks department, which started with Bell, she said.
“That storyboard would talk about his history through the 35 years he was there,” she said.
Bell — the city’s only parks director until his retirement in 2016 — died in 2019 after an illness. He was 61. Bell steered the city’s parks department for 35 years and oversaw the development of more than 2,000 acres of park and open space, it states in an August 2022 Apache Junction/Gold Canyon Independent article.
The city’s parks and recreation commission on July 6, 2022, voted to recommend to the council that the fields at the park, 3015 N. Idaho Road, be dedicated to Bell, it states.
The 2022 article also quotes Commission Chairman Wayne Standage recalling Bell’s work to build Prospector Park.
Standage died late in 2025, and the commission Feb. 4 briefly discussed possible ways to mark what he had done for the city.
Wayne Phillips Standage Jr. was 74 when he died Nov. 6, 2025, in Apache Junction, according to an obituary at legacy.com posted by Mountain View Funeral Home & Cemetery.
A tree, bench or other memorial could be placed to honor him, Langenbach said during the commission’s Feb. 4 meeting.
“I just wanted to talk briefly and get some of your perspective on where we might put ... a tree or a bench or something like that,” she said. “Wayne Standage — he was very involved with the multiuse trail, really with anything related to (Bureau of Land Management). He was on a lot of our open-space boards with Pinal County. He drew us many wonderful maps. He went and met with lots of people to kind of get historical map data.”
Vice Chair Felicia Madrid suggested having art as a focal point at a horse staging area at the rodeo event center.
“It would be amazing to have something as a focal point when you come in. So maybe the memorials can tie into that as well. And maybe we can do something that still mimics nature so the horses aren’t scared,” she said.
Commissioner Frank Schoenbeck said Standage had a collection of saddles.
“He mentioned that to me at one time. I don’t know how we could tie that into a memorial... Just throw that into the mix,” he said.
The city of Apache Junction is working on a brochure that explains how a memorial can be placed, including what the cost may be, Langenbach said.
“It is much more costly than it ever used to be,” she said. “Things have just really increased.”
The memorials are not done by the city but through the nonprofit Friends of Apache Junction.
“It is a donation to the department... Friends of AJ actually cuts the check for the amenity that’s getting purchased,” she said.
Area residents can have two types of memorials placed without going through the commission and council, Langenbach said.
“The only two memorials the public can do without bringing it and having an entire process is benches and trees,” she said. “Usually a person has a place they want it to be, and we determine whether or not it is possible... Sometimes it’s not.”
Bricks can be placed at the focal point through Apache Junction Community Development Corp.
“They have a spot on their website; we’re adding that to this brochure as well so that people will know how to get there for that,” she said.
The seven-member parks and recreation commission is an advisory board that works closely with the parks and recreation director. The board recommends regulations, policies and improvements of public parks and programs in Apache Junction. The commission also recommends fees for the use of public facilities, programs and services administered by the department.
Richard H. Dyer can be reached at rdyer@iniusa.org, or on X @rhdyer. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines, https://www.yourvalley.net/civility-checklist/.
Meet Richard Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.
Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions.
Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.
Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.
Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.
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