Last month, Elmbrook Rotarian Kathy Becker gave her Classification Talk that was both inspiring and heartfelt. The following provides the details of Kathy's talk in her own words. She exemplifies what it means to be a Rotarian and like many of our long-time members, we're fortunate to have her in the Club.
 
I was born in Louisville (or Louvall and Lewisville) Kentucky and grew up in a middle class family. My Mother instilled in us an appreciation for the arts even though, as teenagers we balked at going to “Shakespeare in the Park” on a Saturday night. From my Father we received an education in hard work as he owned and operated many restaurants in Louisville.
 
I graduated from Indiana University and worked for the Army Corps of Engineers. Congress voted to close and realign Military installations on a nationwide basis and tasked the Corps of Engineers to accomplish the mission. Fort Sheridan in Highwood, Illinois was one of the installations I was involved in transferring lands to the private sector. Unlike some installations that posed significant environmental issues prior to transfer, Fort Sheridan was a pristine parcel of property located on Lake Michigan with many positive selling points.
 
It was on one of my return trips from Chicago to Louisville on United Airlines that I was seated next to a man who is now husband. The flight was an hour and 10 minutes and I am sure we entertained everyone on the plane with our conversation. Subsequently, a year later we were married in Chicago.
 
Moving to Wisconsin was an easy transition, as Joe, my husband, was active and had lived in the Community for a long time. Thus it was easy to meet new friends.  Since I grew up in a business the transition of working in the Becker Ritter family business was a natural feeling. My job at Becker Ritter Funeral Home includes HR duties, accounting, overall management, purchasing and support to the funeral directors including the individualized set up for visitations. I am proud to be a part of the business as my husband has always set a high standard for the operations of the Company.
 
Why am I a Rotarian? I believe you join Rotary…but become a Rotarian. I have become a Rotarian on many occasions.  For example, In the fall of September 2014, we just finished distributing “Diane’s Dictionaries” to the first graders at St. Martini’s  school. I was standing behind one of the students seated at his desk as we were looking through the pages of the dictionary. Then, all of a sudden he turned to me with his big smile and beautiful big brown eyes and said “we just moved here.” I smiled back and said “oh you did?”. He said “yes we used to live in such and such place, and then we moved to such and such place, but we are very happy here because we have food to eat!" My heart sank and it took a few minutes to talk again. Yes, Rotary keeps me humble and through the service projects Rotary has to offer it takes me out of my safe and comfortable environment and places me in an environment that I can make a difference in the world. It truly has given meaning to my life.  
 
Kathy Becker
 
   
 
 
 
 
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