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Tom Turriff to present on The Rotary Foundation
Rotary International's theme for the month of November is Rotary Foundation Month. Our own Tom Turriff will be our presenter this week. Tom will provide an overview of the Foundation, its activities, updates on initiatives, and why the Foundation is an important vehicle for us to make a difference. The Rotary Foundation transforms our gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world. Since it was founded more than 100 years ago, the Foundation has spent more than $4 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects. The Rotary Foundation helps Rotary members to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace by improving health, providing quality education, improving the environment, and alleviating poverty. As our club liaison with the Foundation, Tom is well informed and passionate about the important work of the Rotary Foundation. He personally knows how rewarding giving to the Foundation can be.
Tom purchased his home in SaddleBrooke in 2006, living here part time and traveling in the midwest. Tom joined our club in 2008 and served as president in 2013-2014. He retired and became an official Arizonan in 2013. Tom was born and raised in the Chicago area, and he earned a B.A. in Economics and Chemistry at Marquette University in Milwaukee. He also received a MBA from Loyola University in Chicago. Tom entered active duty in the U.S. Army in 1970 and served in Viet Nam as a platoon leader and commander of line haul truck convoys. Tom worked with TAB Chemicals, Inc., a distributor of food ingredients and industrial chemicals. He was named President in 1984, and in 1988, he bought the company via an LBO, and then sold TAB ten years later. In 2000, his son and two other former TAB execs formed TLC Ingredients. When Tom retired, he sold his shares to his son, Tom. Tom's first marriage was to his college sweetheart, Patricia Barry Turriff in 1968, and they had 3 sons, Tom, Bryan, and Mike. Unfortunately, Pat died in 1992 of leukemia. In 1995, Tom married Barbara, and he says that a very lucky aspect of this is that when he got Barbara, he also got Alison, and her son Riley. Tom and Barbara have 9 grandchildren.
