First impressions of schools and their various departments are often shaped, not by the person one is trying to reach, but the secretary that answers that first phone call.

For the Gilbert district athletic office that secretary was Dawn Martin -- the right-hand woman, if you will, for district athletic director Mark Cisterna. Dawn passed away Monday after a short illness. She worked 16 years for the Gilbert district, some of it as Cisterna's secretary at Gilbert High and the last decade-plus with Cisterna as district AD.

Dawn was the one that answered all the mechanical, day-to-day questions about tournaments, schedules, times. You name it, she knew it. Got the info to you ASAP. Always helpful and most of all courteous and cheerful. One of those people, who even if she was having a bad day, made it seem everything was fine.

I often ended up having longer conversations with Dawn, waiting for Mark to get away from another call or return to the office. Sometimes those conversations were more bountiful than  getting the information I called for. Super helpful. Super genuine.

Dawn was a staple the last decade or so in May at state baseball tournament games at Phoenix Muny where Cisterna and his office were in charge. She was the chief financial officer at those, running the ticket-office/pass gate. She often did that for individual schools in the district as well. The same wam personality in person as she was on the phone.

Dawn is the kind of person any school, business or entity needs as the conduit to the public. They are invaluable as Cisterna will tell you, Dawn was one of those.