Roger was born in Saginaw Michigan.  He attended the same high school as his parents and actually had some of the same teachers.

 

He grew up reading, collecting rocks and minerals and spent inordinate amounts of time “looking for arrowheads” along the many prehistoric sites in the Saginaw River basin.

 

Roger graduated high school in 1960 and began as a freshman at the University of Michigan that Fall.  He started in anthropology, then switched to geology, then to forestry as a major.

 

Undecided and underachieving, he left school for a year which he spent in California working in the spacecraft industry. 

 

In 1963 he returned to the U of M and majored in education with majors in Science, Math and English.

 

His first job was in Ann Arbor as a 6^th grade teacher.  That was followed by a year in Fort Defiance, Arizona teaching 6^th grade to traditional Navajos.

 

Frustrated with an administration locked in the 1950’s or before, he left to get his masters in Educational Administration and Leadership at State University of New York at Brockport.

 

He returned to Arizona, this time Tucson and the University of Arizona, to begin a doctoral program in Anthropology and Education, a program that ended for him in ABD (all but dissertation). He had begun work as an elementary teacher in TUSD.

 

After classroom teaching 8 years, in Tucson and Singapore (2 year leave of absence), he was assigned to a number of increasingly responsible administrative positions: ombudsman; elementary principal; middle school assistant principal; middle school principal; assistant superintendent (Vail, AZ); superintendent (Vail, AZ); assistant superintendent (Tucson Unified) and superintendent (Tucson Unified).

 

Roger retired, finally, in 2008.  In 2009 he became involved with a group trying to preserve the cultural assets on the west side of the Santa Cruz River. This involved the preservation and re-creation of those assets in what is called Tucson Origins Heritage Park.

 

He has had that as his passion to this day and continues on the Board of the non- profit organization Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace.

At our meeting on January 19th, our club will be hosting some of the 40 Under 40 recipients.  We want to help Rob Elias, CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to engage this incredible group of young professionals.  Our program will be Kasey Hill with the Greater Tucson Leadership and HSL Properties will be sponsoring this program.  So far we have had about half of the 40 Under 40 recipients respond of their attendance.  Hoping you all can attend this meeting.  Below is a list of these rising stars:

 

 

Interfaith Community Services’ (ICS) new east side central office was one of our two Centennial Secondary Beneficiary projects.   As you will note in the following invitation, they will have a grand opening on Thursday, January 20, 2022.  If you would like to attend as a Rotarian from our Club, please let Jim Murphy, RCOT Foundation Grants Committee Chair, know.  Jim can be reached at jmurphytsn@gmail.com.

 

Dear Friends of ICS,

 

 I am so pleased to be celebrating the grand opening of our new central office, located at 122 N. Craycroft Rd on the campus of Rincon Congregational United Church of Christ.

 

 From this new location, ICS will assist the community by providing the opportunity for individuals to apply for emergency financial aid, workforce development support, and senior services. The vision for this central location is coming to fruition after much hard work and perseverance. We did not complete this journey alone. It took the wider community and a lot of dedication and support from Rincon Congregational UCC, the Rotary Club of Tucson and ICS staff working behind the scenes to launch this vibrant new ICS presence in the heart of Tucson.

 

 Representatives from ICS, Rincon UCC, Rotary, and the mayor’s office will be present for this exciting event. We will also have the new ICS Mobile Food Bank on site.

 

 I hope you will join us for refreshments and celebration on Thursday, January 20, 3-4pm at our new central offices. Remarks and ribbon cutting at 3:30 pm.

 

 Happy holidays,

 Tom McKinney

Interfaith Community Services

If you have a new addition to your Family whether it be a child, grandchild, niece, nephew, etc., for a “Happy Jackson” and one minute of mic time at an upcoming meeting, not only do you get a stuffed animal, but also you will receive a certificate welcoming them in as a Rotary Club of Tucson potential new member. You may pick a stuffed bear or hound dog for your little one (pictured here).  And, the original purchase of these stuffed animals helped St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.  So reach out to the Rotary Office for details.  We'd love to hear of your new additions to your Family!

There are only 21 opportunities that remain before the end of Irv’s Centennial year.  You will not want to miss the chance to showcase your fish, or better yet your Kids and Grandkids with a fish!  Don’t let the Wall of Fame escape you.  Join these other folks who have made it to the Wall of Fame and donated to Rotary charities.  Please reach out to Dorinna or Irv for all the details. 

To view videos on the RCOT YouTube channel go to our Home Page of the Club website and click on the YouTube link on the right hand side of the page.  Or, go to YouTube and type in Rotary Club Of Tucson.  You will be able to click on the video you wish to watch once they are posted.  Here is the link to do this: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rotary+club+of+tucson