Arizona couple inducted into the Arch C. Klumph Society
By Tiffany Woods & Maureen Vaught
Rotary International News - 15 October 2007
Alyce Henson/RI Images
Jim and Mary Kay Patmos add their portrait to the Arch C. Klumph Gallery.
Jim and Mary Kay Patmos have made Rotary a part of their lives since Jim became a Rotarian in 1967.
Their commitment to the organization was recognized on 1 October, when they were inducted into the Arch C. Klumph Society, which honors people who give at least US$250,000 to The Rotary Foundation. The ceremony took place at RI World Headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, USA, where their portrait now hangs in the Arch C. Klumph Gallery.
Over the years the couple has hosted several Rotary Youth Exchange students as well as members of Group Study Exchange teams from other countries. They’ve also attended district conferences and the 2007 RI Convention. At his former club in New York, Jim implemented a program to award college scholarships, and now he helps select candidates in Arizona to receive Rotarian-funded scholarships for vocational training.
Rotary is a tradition in the Patmos family. Jim’s grandfather Emory James Hyde and father, Bernard Patmos, were Rotarians. Jim, who is a retired science teacher, first joined the Rotary Club of Grand Island, New York, and is now a member of the Rotary Club of Chandler-Horizon, Arizona. He has 40 years of perfect attendance. The couple’s son Brent will be inducted into the Chandler-Horizon club later this month.
“Things like Service Above Self, the Object of Rotary, The Four-Way Test have added an incredible amount of quality to my life, and I could not have lived the kind of life I’ve lived if it had not been for Rotary and the principles that go along with it,” Jim said at the ceremony.
A defining moment of his Rotary career was when he first received Paul Harris Fellow Recognition and realized that the dollars he had contributed would immunize hundreds of children against polio.
Jim was born in Adrian, Michigan, in 1938 and earned a master’s degree from Michigan State University in 1962. He began his teaching career in Port Huron, then became a science teacher and science department chair in Grand Island. He and Mary Kay, who owned a florist shop and was a human relations consultant for 25 years, have been married for 45 years. They have two children and six grandchildren.