Back in January, 2009, Bob Beckwith had a Trust prepared by his attorney John Orr. He set up various provisions, including successor trustees, and I was surprised when I was asked to serve as successor trustee.
 
Initially I was not involved very much, but sometime during 2010, I became involved in the accounting records of his business. Bob was still coming into the office every day, although he pretty much stayed at his desk and delegated tasks to others. Over time, he became more and more infirm. His store manager, Paul Polacek, spent additional time personally caring for him. One morning, during breakfast, Bob had a stroke. He was taken to the hospital, then to convalescent care for several weeks, then he returned home. He never went back to the store after his stroke. He remained at home with 24-hour care. Later he was moved to a very nice residential care facility in Camarillo. After another stroke, his health declined further and he died there. I was glad I went to visit him the day he died.
 
Bob’s life revolved around Rotary. He had 59 years of perfect attendance and was very proud of that. He enjoyed participating in Rotary events and special projects. He was always ready to drive his bobtail truck to pick up a few hundred boxes of poinsettia flowers for our plant sale.
 
Bob had been married once, for a fairly short period. There were no children from the marriage. However, he always enjoyed hearing stories from high school students who came to Ventura-East to receive an honor and those who received scholarships for the Ventura-East Foundation.
 
You can see how Rotary was a way of life for Bob. Rotary became his primary family. The students were, in a way, like nieces and nephews (or grandnieces and grandnephews). He believed in the high school students and wanted to encourage them through Rotary.
 
And therefore, when he planned his bequests, he left certain amounts to family and friends, and also remembered so charities. He then left the rest and remainder of his estate to the Rotary Club of Ventura-East Foundation.
 
I am pleased to announce that Bob’s bequest to the Rotary Club of Ventura-East Foundation will exceed $1.9 million. I have already transferred $1.5 million, and today I have another check for $250,000.
 
 
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