Tom Mortimer shared his story. Tom was born in Sherman, TX and his father served in the Army, so Tom was an Army brat. His father was a test pilot. They moved to Nebraska after his father got out of the Army forces. His father worked for a Farm Implement dealer, so Tom did go to school in Nebraska for a while. His father became Vice President in the Moline Company which met moving to Minneapolis, MN. While in Nebraska, Tom attended a school that had only 400 students, but moving to Minneapolis that met around 800 students in a school. Tom had to move once again in Minnesota and there he encountered only 500 students in a school. With the new move that met his father was sent overseas for 4 or 5 months at a time. His dad didn’t care much for that because he wanted to be with his family. Since the President of the company was a friend, Tom’s dad had two choices, resign or be re-assigned. He chose to be re-assigned and moved to Des Moines, IA where Tom finished school.
Tom graduated in 1963 from a high school in Des Moines, IA and then joined the U.S. Air Force. Tom thought it might be fun to become a computer tech, but the Air Force thought otherwise. Tom took a position that allowed him to earn 30 hours credit toward college, purchase his dream car (only paid $1800), and hold down a part-time job. Tom did spend one year in Thailand and enjoyed it very much.
Tom went to college, married Sheryl in 1988. During that time, his father passed away at age 50 and the company contacted Tom to ask him to take over his father’s position. They offered to train him. Tom did take the job and ended up living in St. Paul, NE. After a time, Tom changed jobs and started working for the Farm Bureau in the St. Paul, NE area.
Tom joined Rotary in 1989, served as President of the St. Paul, NE club during the 1995-96 Rotary year. He served on almost all of the District Committees possible in Rotary, except as the R.I. Foundation Chair. He was invited to attend a Zone Institute where District 5630 was a part. He found that the more you do in Rotary, the more you feel you need to do it. Tom served as District 5630 Governor in 2016-2017 Rotary year.
Tom enjoys golf when he is not doing anything else. Sheryl and Tom have six children, 16 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.
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Darrel Huenergardt shared one short story with us about something that he did while in Williamsburg, VA. Darrel has been to Williamsburg, VA about 100 times. Whenever he had meetings in Washington, DC, he would always end up visiting Williamsburg, VA. One Easter, Darrel played the Easter Bunny at the Williamsburg Inn. He did share with us a photo of him in the Easter bunny outfit. Darrel will be sharing more of his life story later.
NOTE: Our regular scheduled speaker for August 3rd, Treva Haugaard, who is with the Independent Nebraska Colleges Foundation will be rescheduled at a later date. She canceled because she tested positive for COVID-19.