Past Presidents of the Belleville Rotary Club

"A work in progress."

E. Gus Porter K.C., M.P. 1920-1921 (Charter President)

Gus Porter K.C.,M.P. was not only one of Belleville's leading citizens at the turn of the 20th century but also one of Canada's foremost criminal lawyers and a well known federal member of parliament.

He was born in Consecon, Ontario on May 28,1859. He received his education at Consecon and Upper Canada College in Toronto. He received post-secondary education at the University of Toronto and Albert University here in Belleville. He was called to the bar in 1884. He became an accomplished civil and criminal lawyer recognized across the province by the legal profession. He defended 13 persons charged with capital crimes, and as a result of his expertise all 13 were acquitted except one who later had his sentence commuted.

Porter declined an offer to serve as judge on the Supreme Court of Ontario.

He took an active interest in all things pertaining to the city's welfare: he was vice commodore of the Yacht Club, ex-chair of the Belleville Harbour Commission , a former mayor of Belleville and for 24 years was the Conservative Member of Parliament for the riding of West Hastings.

From 1920 to 1921 Gus Porter served as Belleville Rotary's first president.

J. Gordon Moffat 1921-1922

J. Gordon Moffat was one of the men involved in getting the Rotary Club off the ground in Belleville. Although a resident of Belleville for only nine years (as a bank manager), he was a prominent member of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, an officer of the Chamber of Commerce, and a popular member of the Bay of Quinte Country Club.

He died in 1924 at St. Andrew's Hospital in Midland after a two-week illness. It was said upon his death that "the community at large will mourn the loss of a man whom it knew as a popular, obliging, and in many ways, unselfish citizen."

W. B. Deacon 1922-1923

William B. Deacon was born in Belleville in 1869 and received his education in city schools and the Ontario Business College. After learning the dry goods business from local merchant W. Flint Jones and an apprenticeship in Chicago, he returned to Belleville and founded Deacon Brothers Ltd., a shirt manufacturer. He was a member of the Albert College Board of Governors, and of Bridge Street United Church. During the Second World War he was county chairman of the Victory Loans Campaign. He also served three terms on Belleville City Council. He died in 1943 at the age of 74.

Oswald H. Scott 1923-1924

Charter member, Oswald Scott served as president, and also as secretary for nine years of the Belleville Rotary Club.

A native of Oshawa, he studied Civil Engineering at McGill University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. Before coming to Belleville in 1913 he worked in Toronto, Portland and Boise, Idaho. In Belleville, he became Manager of the local electricity utility then under control of the Electric Power Company. When the Utility was purchased by the Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario, he continued as Manager, and later Secretary Manager after the municipality purchased the plant in 1929.

Oswald Scott served as a member of the local high school advisory board on vocational education. He also served as a member of the Chamber of Commerce from its inception in 1920 until his death in 1968.

C. M. Read 1924-1925

Doug Ramsay 1925-1926

Charles T. Dolan 1926-1927

J. Owen Herity 1927-1928

Mackenzie Robertson 1928-1929

A. F. Stilman 1929-1930

Ed Worth 1930-1931

Tom Webster 1931-1932

R. J. E. Graham 1932-1933

E. P. Bernstein 1933-1934

Jamieson Bone 1934-1935

An insurance broker, he served as alderman in 1919 and 1920 and later became Mayor of Belleville in 1938 and 1939

He was active in the Ontario Property Owner's Association. He served as Rotary President from 1934-1935.

Aside from this, he is remembered by the street in Belleville's Industrial Park.

J. B. Boyce 1935-1936

J. E. Shortt 1936-1937

F. S. Douglas 1937-1938

Mac Haig 1938-1939

Howard Clarke 1939-1940

P. C. McGuire 1940-1941

W. J. Morrison 1941-1942

Lloyd Hicks 1942-1943

J. W. Deacon 1943-1944

O. A. Pinkston 1944-1945

A. D. McLean 1945-1946

Rev. Dr. Bert Howard 1946-1947

Rev. Dr. Howard was President in 1946/47. "Bert", a United Church minister, began his ministry out west in the lumber camps of British Columbia. Dr. Howard was appointed Principal of Albert College in 1934 and I think it's fair to say that he was instrumental in keeping the College doors open during the Depression.

He also re-introduced co-education to the College which obviously has had a beneficial impact on enrolment. His introduction to College life was a bit tenuous as he arrived in the midst of a donnybrook between Albert students and Belleville youth. I'm not sure if his experience in the lumber camps of British Columbia or the hall of Albert College prepared him best for Service Above Self.

Alex Nathan 1947-1948

R. H. Macklem 1948-1949

Fred H. Deacon 1949-1950

A. J. Ken Griffith 1950-1951

F. Court Miller 1951-1952

George Campbell 1952-1953

Harold F. Mott 1953-1954

Fred Adsett 1954-1955

W. Gault 1955-1956

E. G. Gurnett 1956-1957

Dr. J. G. Demeza 1957-1958

J. N. Yanover 1958-1959

F. Wilson 1959-1960

W. H. Hurst 1960-1961

V. G. James 1961-1962

H. W. Burns 1962-1963

R. W. Cass 1963-1964

S. P. Reston 1964-1965

E. L. Burnham 1965-1966

J. F. McCorquodale 1966-1967

J. E. Marker 1967-1968

Ken Wormald 1968-1969

R. G. Lanning 1969-1970

W. R. MacKay 1970-1971

W. H. McPherson 1971-1972

R. J. Ord 1972-1973

L. G. "Glynn" Reynolds 1973-1974

Glynn joined the Rotary Club of Belleville in 1959. At that time he was the Manager of Belleville Acme Electric, an electrical contracting firm. In 1968, he founded his own electrical contracting business, Andreynolds Company Limited. He purchased a sheet metal business, Bill Bailey of Belleville Ltd. in 1971 and became a mechanical contractor as well.

In 1972, Glynn founded Quinte Kawartha Alarm Systems Ltd. and in 1980 he purchased Telephone Answering Service (Quinte) Co. Ltd. He was the Secretary of the Rotary Club of Belleville from 1979 to 1993. Glynn retired in 1994 and has turned the operations of his many businesses over to his children. Glynn continues to be an active member in Rotary, in particular, Chairing the Camp Merrywood initiative, which he has overseen for more than 20 years.

R. A. Graham 1974-1975

H. N. Britton 1975-1976

M. J. Stotesbury 1976-1977

George Zegouras 1977-1978

R. W. Burns 1978-1979

D. G. Stephanson 1979-1980

C. K. Lear 1980-1981

S. J. Cooke 1981-1982

J. L. "Pete" Acton 1982-1983

D. S. McLean 1983-1984

R. J. McKnight 1984-1985

R. F. "Dick" Baker 1985-1986

T. M. "Max " Dayman 1986-1987

D. L. "Dave" Smith 1987-1988

Rev. Dr. H. A. "Hal" Wilson 1988-1989

C. F. Rendell 1989-1990

R. B. "Bob" Leslie 1990-1991

F. O. "Frank" O'Connell 1991-1992

J. S. "John" Chisholm 1992-1993

K. F. "Ken" Wheeler 1993-1994

W. E. "Bill" MacKay Jr. 1994-1995

R. L. "Rick" Belanger 1995-1996

W. C. "Bill" King 1996-1997

Ted Reid 1997-1998

Jim Pine 1998-1999

Jo-Anne Conley 1999-2000

Dan Dickinson 2000-2001

John Lanning 2001-2002

Stephen McCurdy 2002-2003

Karen Baker 2003-2004

Mike Bandler 2004-2005

Wolf Tausendfreund 2005-2006

David Chatson 2006-2007

Ken Dickson 2008