Sunday, October 11, 2020
By: Russ SavageLearn more about club member Richard "Dick" Pyle in this week's member spotlight.
After almost 20 years as a member of this club, many are well aware of my work with Peace Corps. You also probably know that I am a past Rotary Club president in Austin, Texas, where I was employed at The University of Texas at Austin.
What you probably don't know is that I attended my first Rotary Club meeting in 1977 during my tenure as Dean of Students at Georgia College in Milledgeville, Georgia. I immediately knew Rotary would be central to my destiny. Having served as a Peace Corps Volunteer from 1966-68, I saw the strong relationship of purpose and values between the two organizations.
I have been a member of four clubs and one international club. The international club was in Castries, St. Lucia, during the early 90s where I was the Peace Corps Director for the Eastern Caribbean. The other was in Alma, Michigan, in the early 80s where I worked at Alma College as the Director of Counseling.
As the son of a minister, I was drawn to the service values my parents exhibited as I grew up in rural Illinois with a high school graduation class of 17. I graduated from William Jewell College in 1961 with a degree in history and went directly on to Illinois State University and completed a Master’s degree in counseling in 1962.
My first job from 62-64 was as a Director of Guidance for a school district in central Illinois where I also taught American history, psychology, and coached wrestling and track. In 1964 I took a job at DePauw University where I met my future wife, Betty, who shared my interest in Peace Corps. After marrying, we spent two very special years from 66-68 as PCVs in Jamaica. I went on to direct Peace Corps Training for Latin America in Ponce, Puerto Rico, for three years and then completed my Ph.D. at the University of Florida in 1976 in Counselor Education with a minor in Higher Education Administration.
Probably what I am most pleased with regarding the Peace Corps and Rotary connection is that while working in higher education I created and led service projects to my Peace Corps village in cooperation with Rotary Clubs in western Jamaica. Since the program began in 1980 it continues today with approximately 1,000 students participating. Groups spend up to two weeks in service as teacher aids while living with lower middle class Jamaican families. I am also honored to serve on the board of Partners for Peace, a service group made up of Rotarians and Returned PCVs with the goal of enhancing the many opportunities that exist with PCVs working with Rotary Clubs in developing nations.
My wife of 54 years and I have four children (three girls, one son) and four highly energetic and WONDERFUL
grandchildren! I am thankful that I am still vertical. I am a tennis fanatic and last year finally outlived my competition and won the gold medal in the 80 year category!Read More