AARP Hearing Center
Helping Out, One Question at a Time
At 93, AARP Arizona volunteer Arlene Rieber still goes ‘the extra mile’ at the Tucson Information Center.
AARP volunteer Arlene Rieber volunteering at the AARP Tucson Information Center in Tucson, AZ on Tuesday May 19th, 2026.
Cassidy Araiza
When Arlene Rieber was 11 years old, a doctor told her she wouldn’t live to see 30.
She had a leaky heart valve and knew she needed to be careful and get her doctor’s OK before trying new activities, such as playing sports. But after her doctor hesitated to give approval one day, she bridled.
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“I hung up,” Rieber recalls. “And I said, ‘I’m not going to live like this. This is ridiculous. I’ll just enjoy myself and do what I want to do, and if I die before 30, then so be it.’”
She decided to try field hockey and loved it.
Now, at 93, Rieber is still living life to the fullest — and with purpose.
As a volunteer at AARP Arizona’s Tucson Information Center, she draws on a trove of knowledge and connections to answer questions from people who call or walk in seeking help.
The center provides resources such as AARP Driver Safety classes and educational presentations on Medicare, health and other issues important to older adults. It also hosts caregiver support groups, board game days and other types of events. In March, it received 264 phone calls and 98 walk-ins.
“People are so appreciative,” Rieber says of the individuals she helps.
Rieber also manages volunteer schedules, makes sure resource materials are up-to-date and ensures there’s always a fresh pot of coffee.
“She basically taught me the ropes,” says Angela Schultz, AARP Arizona’s associate director for community outreach in the southern region.
“She is just always willing to go the extra mile for people. For anybody,” Schultz says.
'A Wealth of Information'
In her professional life, Rieber ran a preschool nursery and then taught middle and high school. In her final 15 years at the high school, she worked as the school district’s liaison with a Tucson-based nonprofit that provided services to teens who were homeless. Rieber helped them find places to live, access medical care, search for jobs, enroll in school and find tutors.
When she retired in 2004 and saw a newspaper ad seeking volunteers for the AARP information center, she decided she should take on a new age group — her own.
Rieber is the last of those 2004 volunteers still working. The ones who are still around keep in touch through lunches, FaceTime calls, concerts and local theater events, she says.
Mary Scott, 72, met Rieber earlier this year at one of the free coffee gatherings the center hosts once a month. Scott was at a time in her life where she was glad for a new venue to meet people, so she asked to volunteer. Rieber helped her sign up.
Scott described watching Rieber answer question after question from callers and walk-ins. If she didn’t know the answer, she looked it up.
“Arlene is a wealth of information,” Scott says. “She knows everything front and backwards and in between.”
Rieber has family in North Carolina and Kansas, but she lives near the information center.
For Schultz, the AARP staffer who oversees the center’s volunteers, Rieber is her go-to person. If the center is supposed to have an event but a volunteer is sick, Rieber will head over herself to make sure the doors are open, Schultz says.
Rieber says she has only had two negative experiences at the center that she can remember. One time, a decade ago, a man refused to believe she was a volunteer, barking, “Nobody works for free!”
“I said, ‘Well, maybe I’ll get fired,’ ” she recalls, chuckling.
But what sticks in her mind most are the times she has truly helped people.
Once, a couple called in deep financial trouble, frantic and lost about what to do next. Rieber connected them with a legal aid office that could walk them through the pros and cons of filing for bankruptcy, as well as resources on budgeting going forward. Afterward, the couple called back.
“They were so grateful,” Rieber notes. “They just said they were going crazy before then, but now they felt like it was the beginning of a path where they could be back on their feet again.”
Rieber says she doesn’t know when she’ll really retire.
“I can’t seem to give up the ship,” she says. “I still feel like I’m contributing something to the world.”
More on Volunteering
- Explore AARP Volunteer Opportunities
- Read Stories of AARP Volunteers Making an Impact
- Learn How to Nominate Someone for AARP's Top Volunteer Award
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