It is with great sadness when we loose members of our District 7070 Rotary family this month. Everyone in District 7070 wants to expresses their deepest sympathies to our extended Rotary family.

John Rawson - Rotary Club of Belleville

From the Rotary Club of Belleville: It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of long time Belleville Rotarian John Rawson. John was well known in the local travel business and had join the Rotary Club of Belleville in 1972. John was also a Paul Harris Fellow + 2. For details, please see https://intelligencer.remembering.ca/…/john-rawson-10794739…

It is with heavy hearts and great sadness that we announce the sudden passing of John Rawson on July 2 at Belleville General Hospital. Beloved husband of Betty Rawson and cherished father of Michelle (Mark Peck), Michael (Sheila Maroto), Jill, Robert and Kara (Elliott Cappell). John will be dearly missed by his cherished grandson Joshua Peck. John was a loving brother to his five sisters Diane (Jack), Joanne, Linda (the late Michael), Catherine and Cindy (Alton). John was predeceased by his parents Helen and Fred Rawson and dearly loved by his late mother in law Eileen Lee. John was a proud local businessman, establishing Rawson Travel nearly 50 years ago. He was an active member of the community and belonged to many local organizations, including the Rotary Club of Belleville. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, a private family mass was held at St. Joseph's Church. Arrangements were made through the BURKE FUNERAL HOME (613-968-6968), 150 Church Street, Belleville. In lieu of flowers, a donation to a community organization of your choice would be greatly appreciated. Online condolences can be made at www.burkefuneral.ca.

 

Jan Siegel - Rotary Club of Willowdale

From The Rotary Club of Willowdale:

On July 25th, 2020, our Immediate Passed President Jan Siegel passed away after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Her husband, Courtney Doldron Assistant Governor Rotary District 7070, was with her at the moment of her passing. Our Rotary Club of Willowdale is heartbroken for this loss of an exceptional human being! Jan was a kind hearted person, always ready to help by showing true action and literally serving the community above herself until the very end. Our club members extend our deepest condolences to Fellow Rotarian Courtney Doldron, their children, grand children and family. We love you Jan! We will miss you enormously. Rest in Peace.

Our President Stephen Phillips presents the following letter in honour of Jan Siegel at this heartbroken moment in our club:

It was with untold sadness that I learned from Courtney of Past President Jan’s death. Jan passed away at 7.26 am this morning, 25th July 2020. Jan was one of the bravest and most capable persons that I have had the privilege to know and count amongst my friends. She had an outstanding mind. She was brave in every sense and in every action that she took. She was a brilliant President of the Rotary Club of Willowdale. Jan and Courtney together, as a fantastically capable team brought an untold energy to our Club and set the achievement bar so high that future Presidents will live in their shadow for many years to come.

Jan brought up three wonderful and capable girls and was able to briefly enjoy the adoration of her grandchildren, all of whom will miss her tremendously for the rest of their lives. I am truly thankful that I was privileged to share Jan as a part of my life and my love and best wishes go to Courtney and all the family in the hope that they can now start to rebuild their lives. I am sure that Jan would not want us to mourn, so it is now incumbent on all of us to step up and give to the Rotary Club of Willowdale, in every sense, as Jan would have expected us to do. I mourn Jan and will miss her terribly.

Stephen

 

Jack Marshall - Rotary Club of Willowdale

Rotary Club of Willowdale is in mourning for one of the founders of our club, Jack Marshall age 96, who passed away peacefully in his sleep on July 23rd, 2020. Jack was a kind hearted person always ready to serve the community. Jack was at Sunnybrook in the Veterans Wing when he passed away. Jack was an honorary member and joined Rotary in 1958. He was a professional Accountant and among other, served often as a treasurer in the Board of Directors. In the name of all our members and our President Stephen Phillips, we extend our deepest condolences to Jack's family. Jack was a remarkable Rotarian. Fellow Rotarian Jack, you will be missed. We love you Jack. Rest in Peace.

 

 

 

Mat Caparas - Past Rotary International President

Mateo A.T. Caparas, a past Rotary International president who championed Rotary’s earliest efforts to fight polio and created the program that became Rotary Community Corps, died 15 July. He was 96.

Caparas, known as M.A.T., served as RI president in 1986-87 and used his term to encourage members to inspire hope, through service, in communities around the world.

The only RI president from the Philippines, Caparas also served as vice president, director, Rotary Foundation trustee and chair, committee member and chair, International Assembly group discussion leader, and district governor. A Rotarian since 1959, he was a member of the Rotary Club of Malolos, Bulacan, Philippines.

Caparas was an accomplished labor lawyer. In the Philippine government, he served as a delegate to the constitutional convention and as chair of a presidential commission tasked with recovering assets allegedly looted by the country's ousted president, Ferdinand Marcos. A graduate of the University of the Philippines and Harvard Law School, he also had been director of the Philippine Bar Association and a member of the State Bar of California, USA. He retired as a partner at the law firm Caparas and Ilagan.

Known to many Rotary members for his mild-mannered and genteel personality, Caparas embodied his presidential theme, Rotary Brings Hope, by creating the Rotary Village Corps. This initiative allowed clubs to offer support to the projects and activities that people in developing countries were carrying out. The program later became Rotary Community Corps.

Caparas was awarded The Rotary Foundation's Distinguished Service Award and its Citation for Meritorious Service in 2002-03. For his dedication and service to a polio-free world, he received the PolioPlus Pioneer Award. In 1979, at the launch of Rotary's first polio project, a vaccination campaign in the Philippines, Caparas spoke about his hope for such a world:

"We are here to mark the beginning, a very small beginning, of what we hope will be a great thing — the total eradication from the face of the earth of a dreaded disease, poliomyelitis," he said. "Great things always have a small beginning. When Paul Harris founded Rotary almost 75 years ago, there were just four people, and yet that organization which he founded has now flourished to cover 153 countries. It is our hope that in this small beginning, we would have, as I said, the great thing — the eradication of one of the scourges of mankind."

More recently, Caparas was a member of various corporate boards where he promoted Rotary programs. He was also involved in promoting universal literacy with the Megumi Reader, an electronic device that aimed to improve students' reading ability. He also previously had been director of a local Boy Scouts council and a trustee of the Caloocan chapter of the Philippine Red Cross.

Caparas is survived by two sons, Jorge (Charissa) and Mateo (Chona), and one daughter, Pilar de Villa (Jovy), as well as eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

 

From The Manilla Bulletin : 

Lawyer Mateo Armando “M.A.T.” T.  Caparas, the first and only Filipino to become president of Rotary International, has died at the age of 97. 

Caparas served as RI president in 1986-87 with the Rotary theme, “Rotary Brings Hope.” In a Viber post for Peace Presidents of District 3780, past Gov. Penny Policarpio cited the impact of Caparas’ outstanding performance as head of the international civic organizations during his one year-term.

Caparas launched the worldwide anti-polio drive aimed at eradicating the deadly disease that has killed and paralyzed tens of thousands of people.  The campaign has become a huge success and has drawn the strong support of Microsoft’s founder and philanthropist Bill Gates.

Policarpio recalled that it was also during Caparas’ term that the RI board allowed membership of women in Rotary.

The Filipino socio-civic leader was instrumental in the acquisition of the One Rotary Center in Evanston, Illinois.  He led the two-year fund raising campaign for the project and was able to raise $130 million, surpassing the target by $70 million. “Past R I President MAT considered the start of the Rotary Year as a New Year, to be celebrated with children, whose welfare he deeply espoused,” said Policarpio. Born on December 28, 1923 in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija, Caparas graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Law and received his Master of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1950. He specialized in labor and tax law. He was a charter member of Rotary Club of Caloocan City that was organized in 1959. When he transferred his law practice in Manila, Caparas joined the Rotary Club of Manila, known as the first Rotary Club in Asia for having been chartered in 1919. 

Watch This Video: M.A.T. Caparas, 1979-81 RI Director and 1986-87 RI president, speaks about the significance of Rotary International’s first polio immunization project in the Philippines in September 1979. Representatives from Rotary International and the Philippine Ministry of Health signed an agreement on that day committing them to a joint multiyear effort to immunize about 6 million children against polio. Here is a video of President Mat talking about the early days of polio immunization. Please watch this video: https://vimeo.com/showcase/2178249/video/360593795