History of Rotary 43

In the early 1900's, the City of Pueblo was hardly the unified, coordinated city it is now. In 1912, what is now Pueblo was four municipalities with two city halls, two water-supply districts, two city school districts, and lots of inter-community rivalry and competition. In 1911, local business man Bert Scribner happened to visit the newly formed Rotary Club in Salt Lake City where differing factions had come together in friendship "in Rotary." He brought that concept to his community. Pueblo was one of the first cities of under 50,000 to be allowed to join Rotary. Pueblo formed their own club and Rotary then allowed their charter to be granted on June 1, 1912 and Pueblo Rotary 43 was founded. 
 
That first year, twenty-two lines of business and professions were represented and they met at the Vail Hotel. The Club has encouraged and helped facilitate many improvements the City of Pueblo enjoys today - the paving of streets (1915), the placement of Memorial Hall near the river (1919), establishment of the Pueblo Therapy Center, the founding of the Pueblo Symphony (1923), support for the District 60 Stadium (1950) and many more! More recently, the Club's Dictionary project (2004) has provided thousands of third graders with their very own dictionary and the Club funded the Rotary 43 Centennial Pavilion at City Park (2012). The Club has been involved in projects as far as Venezuela, Mexico, Haiti, the Philippines and Vietnam.
 
Pueblo Rotary 43 members strive to live and serve using the Rotary four-way test:
  • Is it the truth?
  • Is it fair to all concerned?
  • Will it build good will and better friendships?
  • Will is be beneficial to all concerned?
 

Rotary 43 Charter Members

  1. H.A. Black - physician

  2. J.C. Brooking - life insurance

  3. Herbert Churchill - jeweler

  4. J.A. Clark - commercial schools

  5. C.W. Crews - dry goods

  6. T.H. Devine - attorney

  7. R.T. Frazier - saddlery

  8. A.A. Herman - groceries, retail

  9. C.T. Hopkins - telephone

  10. J. Will Johnson - laundry

  11. M.C. Johnson - grain

  12. Georg King - lumber

  13. J.D. Moore - dentistry

  14. C.M. Nuckolls - meat

  15. Fred O. Roof - banking

  16. Bert F. Scribner - printing

  17. Wm. Stickney - architect

  18. Asbury White - clothing

"Whatever Rotary may mean to us, to the world it will be known by the results it achieves."


Rotary founder

Pueblo Rotary 43 Past Presidents

1912-13 J. Will Johnson
1913-14 J.A. Black
1914-15 Jesse Rood
1915-16 G.H. Nuckolls
1916-17 Asbury White
1917-18 C.J. Haines
1918-19 W. F. Raber
1919-20 Bert F. Scribner
1920-21 R.G. Breckenridge
1921-22 Frank E. Parks
1922-23 A.A. Herman
1923-24 E.H. Weitzel
1924-25 E.H. Day
1925-26 H.A. Tice
1926-27 Charles W. Lee
1927-28 S.W. Pressey
1928-29 Frank S. Hoag
1929-30 O.F. Faith
1930-31 Harry E. Mitchell
1931-32 Fred H. Bullen
1932-33 W.V. Codding
1933-34 N.W. Calkins
1934-35 Roy J. Weaver
1935-36 George M. Kirk
1936-37 A.V. Fagerstrom
1937-38 D.Z. Philips
1938-39 George M. Myers
1939-40 Ray E. Redmond
1940-41 Charles O. Stephan
1941-42 J.A. Bullen
1942-43 Wilbur M. Pryor
1943-44 Harry S. Petersen
1944-45 Frank S. Hoag, Jr.
1945-46 Charles E. Shumate
1946-47 W.H. Cooze
1947-48 W.H. Cooze
1948-49 Harry Torbit
1949-50 Roy O. Frantz
1950-51 Floyd H. Crews
1951-52 H. Elwyn Davis
1952-53 Samuel T. Jones, Jr.
1953-54 Charles W. St. John
1954-55 William F. Howard
1955-56 Al W. Ferguson
1956-57 Walter DeModuant
1957-58 Harold Davisson
1958-59 Wilbur N. Ladd
1959-60 John B. Farley
1960-61 Edward M. Gaither
1961-62 Simon F. Elliot
1962-63 Arthur J. Greer
1963-64 Garrett Fonda
1964-65 Theodore C. Swanson
1965-66 John Weaver
1966-67 Robin B. Bailey
1967-68 Lee R. Wills
1968-69 J. Victor Hopper
1969-70 E. Duane Strachan

1970-71 William M. Lewallen
1971-72 Rodney D. Townley
1972-73 Walter R. Berry
1973-74 Marvin Stein
1974-75 Paul K. Clarkin
1975-76 Richard D. Cline
1976-77 Straud J. Fredregill
1977-78 Ralph W. Adkins
1978-79 Philip E. Hilvitz
1978-79 Wallace K. Reed
1979-80 Jerome L. Crane
1980-81 James A. Kenyon II
1981-82 Richard T. Matkins
1982-83 David L. Moody
1983-84 Frank P. Tallman Jr.
1984-85 Roger Brandt
1985-86 Alan M. Takaki
1986-877 Charles E. Bates
1987-88 James D. Bates
1988-89 Charles E. Jones
1989-90 Eric Damian Kelly
1990-91 David H. Dolsen
1991-92 Eugene C. Amerman
1992-93 Ralph A. Williams
1993-94 Wallace W. Abbey
1994-95 Burnell “Burnie” D. Zercher*
1995-96 Kenneth R. Conyers
1996-97 Holly V. Hanson
1997-98 Thomas J. Thielemier
1998-99 Patricia “Patty” Erjavec*
1999-00 Frank Sobolik
2000-01 James “Jim” W. Billings, Jr.*
2001-02 Karen K. Lillie*
2002-03 Leslie Nazario*
2003-04 R. William Hendren
2004-05 Jane Rawlings*
2005-06 Walter “Walt” L. Bassett, Jr.*
2006-07 Rex Fuller
2007-08 Mark Swanson
2008-09 Corinne Koehler
2009-10 Dan Henderson*
2010-11 Alice Birch
2011-12 Terry Book
2012-13 Jeffrey “Jeff” Shaw*
2013-14 Priscilla Lucero
2014-15 Jon Walker
2015-16 Bruce Raymond*
2016-17 Michael Salardino*
2017-18 Kevin Keilbach*
2018-19 Laurie Clark*
2019-20 Tamra Axworthy*
2020-21 Tamra Axworthy*
2021-22 Matt Albright*
2022-23 Kenny Rider*
2023-24 Troy Davenport*
2024-25 Jon Broome*
2025-26 Amber Shipley*

*Current Members

Photo Albums
Rotary's founder Paul  Harris in his private office at the Law Offices of Harris, Dodds, and Brown in Chicago in 1909.
The first four Rotarians: Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, Hiram Shorey and Paul p. Harris.
Picture was taken between 1905-1912 in Chicago

  Our ongoing commitment

Rotary members have not only been present for major events in history — we’ve also been a part of them. Three key traits have remained strong throughout our history:

We’re truly international. Only 16 years after being founded, Rotary had clubs on six continents. Today, members in nearly every country work to solve some of our world’s most challenging problems.

We persevere in tough times. During World War II, Rotary clubs in Austria, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain were forced to disband. Despite the risks, many continued to meet informally, and after the war, Rotary members came together to rebuild their clubs and their countries.

We’re committed to service, and we’re not afraid to dream big and set bold goals. We began our fight against polio in 1979 with a project to immunize 6 million children in the Philippines. Today, polio remains endemic in only three countries — down from 125 in 1988.

Rotary will continue to grow and help others around the world.