Club History

ROOTS:  A LITTLE HISTORY OF OUR ROTARY CLUB.

The Club of Coral Gables was chartered on March 4th, 1946. It was Club Number 6200 on a worldwide basis. The first Rotary Club in Florida was in Jacksonville in the year 1912. It was assigned Club Number 41. Five years later in 1917- The Rotary Club of Miami received its charter and became Club Number 271.

In 1945 the Rotary Club of Miami “gave up” a huge piece of its territory – west of 27th Avenue –extending north and south – to a group who wanted to form a new Rotary Club in the southwest section of the Miami area. W. Keith Phillips–a Miami Rotarian–acted as Special Representative of District Governor Fred M. Bultman; 167th District; in the pre-formative days of days of the Rotary Club of Coral Gables.

Countless meeting were held in the pre-charter months under the leadership of W. Keith Phillips and Dr. Otto J. Sieplein. They patiently explained the aims and objects of Rotary to prospective charter members. These meetings were mostly held at the Country Club of Coral Gables. Gradually a fine group of men was gathered together and application for a charter was presented to Rotary International. W. Keith Phillips acted as Master of Ceremonies.

The Twenty-Four Charter Members of the Rotary Club of Coral Gables

 

By: J. Cleve Allen, A member since May 10, 1946

While I can still remember each of these fine Charter Members, the thought occurred in knowing the names and classification of the twenty-four original ones. In 1945-46 Fred Bultman of Jacksonville was District Governor. He appointed Keith Phillips, Sr. as his special representative in the formation of the new club the territory assigned to the prospective club.

Keith Phillips was well qualified for the assignment being a member and past President of The Miami Rotary club as well as the current Mayor of Coral Gables. The Coral Gables Club was named a provisional club on February 15, 1946, and was chartered as of March 4, 1946. The Charter Presentation was made on April 16, 1946 at the Country Club of Coral Gables. Two hundred were in attendance. Governor Bultman presented the Charter to our first President, Dr. Otto J. Sieplein. It was an impressive affair.

Here is a brief run down on the Charter Members:

  1. OTTO SIEPLEIN, President of the Provisional Club on February 15th, was elected the First President on March 14th. He was a former Rotarian of The Miami Club, Whose business office was in a location west of LeJeune road. He was an engineer by profession, and his firm specializes in testing paints varnishes and other materials for manufacturers. General Motors was one of his principal clients. Otto was is his sixties at that time.
  2. WARREN LEHMAN, a well known Realtor, and active in community affairs was the Vice-President of our Club for the first year He too was in his sixties.
  3. GEORGE B CASTER, President of The Coral Gables Federal Savings and Loan Associations was elected treasurer for 1946-1947. He watched over the finances of the club with an iron hand.
  4. HERBERT W. MAC DONALD  was the First Secretary of the Club. Mac, at that time was the operator of The Coral Way Cleaners, located in the two hundred block of miracle mile. Mac, together, with Keith Phillips, Sr., selected most of the charter members of the club.
  5. THE OTHER CHARTER MEMBERS:
  6. GEORGE C ANDERSON, Retail Merchant;
  7. CLARENCE R. AYERS, Certified Public Accountant;
  8. Dr. ROY T. BOVARD, A well-known dentist, was elected to our Board of Directors seven consecutive times. Roy served as the Club third President, succeeding Cleve Allen. Roy’s year was 1948-49.
  9. UPTON C EWING, Coral Gables Architect.
  10. STEPHEN B. GIBBS, Osteopath, was the Club’s first song leader.
  11. LEE GEBHART, Builder investor and owner of groves.
  12. JAMES J. HELM, Retail merchant.
  13. EDWARD O. HENDERSON, Manufacturers representative specializing in commercial building Materials. Ed was Club President in 1949-50…The Fourth President.
  14. CHARLES F. HUDSON, A well-known Coral Gables Physician.
  15. EDWARD KEATING, Served as Club President in 1950-51, After having served as club secretary in 1947-48; Ed also had the distinction of being elected to the Board for seven straight years. He was active in Civic and Community affairs and, served as President of the Chamber of Commerce for one term.
  16. ROBERT P. KEISER, Well-known physician and a partner in with Weiland, Burbacher and Keiser, he was an Orthopedic Surgeon.
  17. H.D. MCMILLEN, Owned a service station at the corner of Ponce de Leon and SW 8th St.
  18. JOHN M. MONTGOMERY, Owner and operator of the roofing company that bore his name. Jack was an outstanding civic and community leader served as city commissioner for two or three terms and later the Mayor.
  19. LLOYD D. PARK, Owner of a garage and repair shop at 1200 Ponce de Leon Blvd
  20. JAMES PETRECCA,  A florist on Miracle Mile Florist.
  21. DARBY PILKINGTON, Photographer
  22. LELAND C. SHEPHARD, Building contractor, and long-time Board Member of the club. Leland was President in 1951-52.
  23. D.M. “BOB” STUBBS, Surveyor and Nursery Owner.
  24. REV. REX WILKES, Minister, Classification, Religion.
  25. CARL O. WARTH, Owner of the Warth Paint Co.
  26. CLEVE ALLEN, Second President of our club, was its 25th member. In 1940-41 Cleve served as District Governor of District 1650. Cleve become a Director for Rotary International at the young age of 40. He always remembered everybody’s name and had 59 years of perfect attendance.

Women in our Roots!

When Rotary was established in 1905 its rules for membership reflected society at that time. These rules changed significantly in 1987 with the admission of women to Rotary.

Actually changes in membership rules began in 1979 when a California Rotary Club challenged the then male only provision by admitting two women as members. Because the club was in violation of the Rotary International Constitution, its Charter was revoked. The club sued in the California courts. A series of decisions, appeals and reversals, in 1986, brought an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled in May, 1987 that a California state law requiring service clubs to admit women was not in violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution. In response, the Rotary International Boardof Directors immediately issued a policy statement allowing Rotary clubs in any U.S. state to invite qualified women into membership.

The Board resolution allowing the admission of women was promulgated by the Membership Committee and approved in May, 1987, under the leadership of then-President Chip Withers. At the June meeting, Chip’s last, the Board approved Judy’s membership. ). On August 6, 1987, the first woman was inducted into the Rotary Club of Coral Gables. Judy Greene, wife of District Governor Mel Greene, was accepted into membership as an Honorary Member.. At the July Board meeting, under President Bob Strawser, d three community leaders were approved as new Active Members. They were all women: Charlotte Lorber (inducted August 13), Roberta Hulce (September 3) and Betty Metcalf (September 24).  The rest, as they say, IS HISTORY!

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