Past Presidents
McCurdy J.E.                 1923
H.W. Amphlett                1925
Walter H. Cambridge      1926
Raymond Lane               1927
Linval H. Castle              1928
P.A. Oliver                       929
Albert A. Rochex            1930
F.J. McConville              1931
Martin Poss                    1932
Vern Davis                     1933
Bill Murphy                     1934
Lin Miller                        1935
Earl Wilsey                     1936
Olin M. Holmes              1937
D.A. Raybould                1938
Mervyn E. Hitchcock       1939
J.P. Robinson                1940
Robert F. Wisnom          1941
L.G. Owen                     1942
W.E. Soule                     1943
T.J. Hallinan                   1944
Joseph H. Acheson        1945
Philip S. Pope                1946
Dr. Howard L. Mawdsley 1947
Elmert Ross                   1948
Dr. Carl Benninghoven    1949
Walter A. Jack                1950
Harold Koerber               1951
A.L. Stoner                     1952
Arthur W. Tyo                 1953
Jack Dreyfuss                1954
Al Wisner                       1955
Edward Stollery              1956
Ray Hartzell                   1957
Dennis Hession              1958
G. Cameron Hurst          1959
J. Hart Clinton                1960
James I. Stewart            1961
J. Hart Clinton                1961
Kenneth W. Van Gundy  1962
Paul F. Kelly                   1963
Clark C. Madsen            1964
Donald A. McLachlan      1965
Ernest A. Elliott              1966
George P. Newlon          1967
Herbert R. Meyer            1968
Richard Randolph           1969
Tom D. Harris                1970
James Chalmers            1971
Cecil H. Wells                1972
George D.                      1973
Sharninghouse
T. Jack Foster                1974
Edwin Johnson               1975
E. Dawn Nuckles            1976
Sam N. Mercer, Jr          1977
William F. Kenney          1978
Richard M. DeLuna        1979
Monte W. Dayton           1980
Oscar E. Lopez-Guerra   1981
Wallace A. Krone           1982
Leland O. Osborne         1983
Frank J. Crupi                1984
Richard A. Orr                1985
Thomas G. Bormes        1986
Glenn P. Smith               1987
Thomas H. Vocker          1988
Richard J. Romanski      1989
Gerald T. Haugh             1990
Walter J. McCullough      1991
Frank A. Baldanzi           1992
Hans Eide                      1993
Anne H. LeClair              1994
William W. Hill                1995
Gregory L. Schwitzer      1996
John Norton                   1997
Arne Croce                    1998
Barbara Evers                1999
Donald C. Leydig            2000
Donald E. Hanson          2001
Larry Ivich                      2002
Lynn A. Armenio             2003
Larry Atkinson                2004
Donald E. Shoecraft       2005
Margaret Taylor              2006
Mark Avelar                   2007
Shawn DeLuna              2008
Peter K. Webb                2009
Linda Asbury                  2010
Kitty Lopez                     2011
Tom Thompson              2012
MIchael Peterson           2013
Sheila Canzian               2014
Ed Phillips                      2015
J. Anthony Villanueva     2016
Bruce H. Bean                2018
Anne E. Campbell          2019
Susan Winks                  2020
Club History

San Mateo Rotary's History

It was, perhaps, inevitable that San Mateo would found a Rotary Club in 1924, following the footsteps of its sister club in the north. San Francisco’s was the second Rotary Club in the movement, formed after the earthquake and fire of 1906 as a tool of recovery for that city. It adopted all the guiding principles Paul Harris established when he created the first club in Chicago in 1905 as a way to boost business.

San Mateo was located in the center of the grand estate area favored by San Francisco’s business, banking and financial elite. Though it was not exactly a hub of urbanization in 1924 — only 37,000 people lived in the entire county at the time — San Mateo accounted for nearly a third of the area’s population, was a distinct business hub and counted among its denizens several who were active in the San Francisco group.

Founding era Rotary clubs were “booster” clubs organized to build a network of business for a closed circle of members. A strictly-enforced roster rule limited membership to only one practicing business man from any particular business category. Members solicited one another; the San Francisco club of the early 20’s even made certain members’ wives knew who was in the club so they would patronize only members’ businesses.

World War I changed Rotary clubs, adding an element of community service that prevails to the present era.

The San Mateo Times of Dec. 15, 1923 first mentioned the possibility of a new club forming. The paper announced the club would meet each Thursday for lunch, for the purpose of rendering “unselfish service to the community in which it exists in accordance with the teachings of its motto.”

Eighteen prominent men in the community petitioned Rotary for a charter, which was granted on Jan. 25, 1924.

Oscar Boldemann of San Mateo Park — which continues today as one of the most desirable districts in the city to live — presided over the founding meeting of the club. Boldemann owned Boldemann Chocolat Company at 444 Townsend St. in San Francisco. First club president was attorney J.E. McCurdy, who also served as a very active member of the local Elks Club. Secretary W.L. Glascock, another Elk, was superintendent of the San Mateo Union High School District and San Mateo Junior College. Treasurer P.A. Oliver was President of the Peninsula Building and Loan Association. First Sgt.-at-Arms, still a highly valued position in the club, was Albert A. Rochex of Rochex and Rochex Real Estate.

Rounding out the roster of 16 of the known founding members were Horace W. Amphlett, owner and publisher of the San Mateo Times newspaper; Fred. E Beer, owner of the local Ford automobile dealership; Walter E. Cambridge, Rector of St. Matthew Episcopal Church and President and Resident Manager of Mills Memorial Hospital; Charles J. Ekinhardt, optometrist; Walter T. Kelly, manager of the local PG&E office and president of the Sequoia Union High School District; N.D. Morrison, a physican; G.S. Perkham, manager of the Dairy Delivery Company; Fred. J. Smith, owner of the Frederick Smith Furniture Company; George W. Snieder, owner of George W. Snieder Mortuary; R. J. Wisnom, owner of Wisnom Hardware; John R. Fairbanks, superintendent of Leslie Salt Works and Mervyn A. Hope, manager of California Pacific Title Co.

Though many things have changed, the distinction of San Mateo Rotary membership has always been valued in the community.

In 2007 the club still has representation from Mills-Peninsula Health Services, successor to Mills Hospital, the San Mateo County Times, successor to Amphlett’s San Mateo Times, the community college district, the high school district and even Wisnom Hardware.

Women were first accepted for club membership in 1987, with three joining that year. They were Barbara Evers, representing Borel Private Bank & Trust Co., Lynda Poulton, office manager of Leasemobile/California, and Anne LeClair, at the time executive director of the San Mateo Chamber of Commerce.

LeClair became the club’s first female president in 1994.

Sister Club Exchange with Toyonaka Japan RC

(picture taken after the signing of the sister club agreement)

Top Row (L to R): Hiroshi Yokota, Jeff Lowenstein, Masatsugu Tsuji, John Barrett

Front Row (L to R): Eiko Yokota, Carole Groom (Mayor) , Mark Avelar (SM Club President), Brian McLeran (5150 District Governor), Teruaki Furusawa (Toyonaka Club President), Masamitsuu Sawaki, Taeko Sawaki

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