April 4 - Jim Robinson and Rob Buckley

On April 4 we were honored by the presence of two long-time Rotarians who shared their Rotary biographies.  Rob Buckley was an Interact member during his high school years in Tampa, Florida.  After graduating from high school in the midst of the Viet Nam War, he joined the US Navy and was trained as a corpsman.  He was assigned to a Marine unit, saw duty in Viet Nam, and later was able to earn a BS in Nursing in exchange for extra years with the Navy. After retiring from the Navy, he worked for several companies in a variety of places in the medical technology field.  One day while shopping at the HEB on North Lamar, he saw a Rotary banner at the Methodist Church across the street.  That jogged his memory of Interact and his vow to join a Rotary Club when he settled in one place, so the next meeting day he walked in and introduced himself to the North Austin Rotary Club.  As the saying goes, “The rest is history.”

PDG Jim Robinson attended UT law school after his discharge from the US Army.  He spent his career mainly as a lawyer in the insurance field and has always spent evenings (and even more time in retirement) doing pro bono work. A neighbor persisted in his attending a Rotary meeting with him, and once introduced, Jim became a committed Rotarian.  With gentleness and twinkling humor, Jim led us through an interactive Q&A session that helped outline the origin of any Rotary Club in general, and the North Austin Rotary Club in particular.  Later, he was chair of the Extension Committee that guided the formation of the Northeast Austin Rotary Club in 1985.  After a discussion of some of the more memorable fund raisers and service projects of both “old” clubs and the union of the two to become the NxNE Aust Rotary Club, again with the help of the fascinated members in attendance, Jim closed his remarks with a challenge to keep on with the good Rotary work that enriches our history and guides us toward the future.