Getting to know you: Tanya McArtor

Tanya McArtor can be found at the Perkins County High School most days of the week, though being the school’s Business Manager was not originally in her plan for her life. 

McArtor was born in Fairfield, Iowa in 1962.

“Yes, that does mean I will be 60 years old in a few months,” she said.

Her family moved to Wahoo, Neb. when her parents were offered positions at John F. Kennedy College. Her dad was a Presbyterian pastor and a religion professor and her mom was the head of the theater department.

Her dad later became the dean, and then the president of the college.

“I loved growing up with the freedom of a small town,” McArtor said.

Though she loved her small town life, she said her family took advantage of the many opportunities offered in Lincoln and Omaha, such as plays, concerts, lessons, “and of course, Husker football.”

In the fourth grade, McArtor she convinced herself she was going to be an astronaut until she found out astronauts had to have perfect eyesight. This, she noted, was before the age of Lasik surgery.

She changed her mind in junior high and decided she would be a lawyer.

“I loved to argue about something I was passionate about,” she said.

McArtor graduated from Wahoo High School in 1980 as the salutatorian of her class. She said the only B she got in high school was in Driver’s Ed because she backed into a car during class while parallel parking.

“To be fair, it was the first time I had tried that challenging maneuver!” she argued in her defense.

She then attended Hastings College and said she loved every moment of it.

At this point in her life, her dad was the Executive Director of the Nebraska State Bar Association, and she was told by a couple of lawyers that she should major in Political Science while at college.

“Let me tell you, Intro to Poli Sci was the most boring class I ever took!” McArtor said.

Fortunately, she noted, the college made freshmen interview someone connected with their future goals. McArtor met with a law professor who told her, “Learn to write and learn to speak and we will teach you the rest.”

She then “eagerly” switched to a double major in English and Speech, and it was a decision she said she never regretted.

McArtor graduated from Hastings College in 1984, and the University of Nebraska College of Law in 1987. She was then hired as an associate with McGinley, Land, Mueller & O’Donnell in Ogallala.

“There were parts about practicing law that I greatly enjoyed,” she said, one in particular was the opportunity this gave her to work as the City Attorney for four years, as the City of Ogallala was one of the firm’s clients.

“I absolutely loved any trial work I did on my own or on a team with my gifted senior partners,” she added. “But I discovered that trial lawyers actually spend a lot of time arguing with the opposing counsel, trying to settle a case.”

She said she did not enjoy the “constant negotiating and boasting and half-truths,” and decided that the practice of law just wasn’t for her.

“But I did find someone who was perfect for me!” she said.

Her lawyer friend Lori Zeilinger set her up on a blind double date with a long-time friend of hers, Mike McArtor, who was the Guidance Counselor at Grant High School at the time they met.

She said he swears she spent the evening ignoring him and talking to George, the other man present on the double date.

“The truth is, I told my parents two weeks later that I had met the man I was going to marry,” McArtor said. “A year and a half later, my prediction came true!”

McArtor then worked for several years for the firm Curtis & Associates as an Employment Communication Consultant. She found the job fulfilling, traveling the state giving motivational workshops for welfare recipients, teaching them life and job skills.

“But I couldn’t turn down Gregg Aten in 1994 when he approached me about the manager’s position that was open at this year-old retirement community in town,” she said, adding she was honored to work alongside an amazing staff as the manager of Westview for the next 16 years.

In June of 2010, she started parking her car two blocks away at Perkins County High School when she accepted the position of Business Manager.

To read the full story, subscribe by calling the Tribune at 308-352-4311 or sign up for an e-edition by clicking here.