Who Was The Most American Of Americans
Who Was Really Not An American?
By Paul Whitfield

At age seventeen or thereabouts he was conscripted by Mr. Hitler, thrown into a panzer and shoved off toward the eastern front.

His mom and dad both became ill about the time of his draft notice and he asked Mr. Hitler if he could get permission from the German Army to visit with his mother and father during this time of illness. Denied, Mr. Hitler said. He never had much use for Mr. Hitler after this, but he served his time in the panzer corps, but never had much of a heart for the war and came to despise Hitler, The Third Reich and everything that it stood for.

As soon as the war was over he made a beeline for America. He became it’s proudest citizen. He had a patriotic fervor that was unmatched by most native born Americans.

Over the years he devised a patriotic speech which told part of his war experience and conversion to an American citizenship status. The speech regularly brought grown men to tears. He usually gave it every year in Rotary and before other civic and community and church groups. In short anybody who would listen to it and may be even sometimes if people didn’t want to listen to it.

It was hard not to listen to Dick Frosch. He was as big as a side of a barn, probably 300 lbs.+ with a big booming voice to match and an effervescent personality to top it off. In my time in Rotary and in Charlotte, I don’t think that I have every met but one person who could match him for size and voice and audacity and that was Big Bill Isenhour.

Not any homegrown patriots that I ever knew or ever heard could match Dick’s love for America and his patriotic call to duty. For many years he sat at one of the round tables at the Y with people like Francis Pinkney, with whom he traded jibes on a regular basis, both from the floor of the meeting and from the Health and Happiness platform. Later Francis was replaced by school superintendent Jay Robinson. He was the butt of a lot of Health and Happiness stories, but he always gave as good as he got.

Dick was big and I guess that didn’t matter much except to his pallbearers. When he died I was privileged to be asked to serve in that capacity and what I recall was not only a very big man, but a very heavy bronze casket. The driver of the hearse parked on the drive down hill from the burial site. The entire walk from the hearse to the burial site was all up hill and I was bringing up the right rear with my left arm and shoulder, the very weak side of a very weak pallbearer.

Dick Frosch was one of those special Rotarians and one of those special people, who, if you ever met them, you never forgot them. One of a kind. They broke the mold. They’re not even making any molds anymore.

We all miss Dick Frosch.

Old Faithful
By Paul Whitfield

There is commitment. And a lot of Rotarians are committed. Then there is a level beyond that which we might call faithfulness.

Ed Austin was an example of the latter. Ed was President of Austin Electric and a stalwart at Dilworth Rotary almost from the time of its beginning. Ed was faithful to his family, his church, his lodge, Scottish Rite Masonic Bodies, the Shrine Organization as well as Dilworth. He is the father of Bill who continues the family tradition.

He was a Marshal in The Scottish Rite Bodies, and that job usually went only to a faithful few. He was a lifelong member of the local shrine temple and spent ten years as an officer, the last as Potentate of the temple. A job that normally goes to the most diligent and the most faithful.

A Past President of our club, a Rotarian you could absolutely rely on, whatever the club responsibility. He was loyal to Dilworth and faithful in his attendance right up to the last.

In the latter years he had some major health problems including Parkinson’s. But notwithstanding his health he was at Rotary every Friday. The last time that I saw him before his death, his wife Sig drove him to the front door of the “Y” on Park Road. I happened to be walking up the drive from the parking area when I saw Ed exit the right side of the car in front of the door and the long steps leading to the door. As Sig drove away down the circle Ed somehow got turned about and was walking away from the “Y” building. I greeted him and gently turned him about again and walked up the steps with him. He might lose his moorings, but not his faithful attendance at Rotary.

That was the last time I saw Ed. I’ve often wondered from that last time I saw Ed and Sig in the front of the “Y” first of all how faithful Ed was in all that he did and more importantly perhaps how many of us will ever be as faithful.

We not only miss Ed a lot but we probably miss a little bit of the faithfulness he exhibited in his life.

Rotary and the Shrine
By Paul Whitfield

Rotary’s charitable purposes are well known to the average member, but the charities of the world’s greatest philanthropy are not so well known to Rotarians.

The connections and interrelationships of the two organizations are numerous and have been for a long time.

We were sharing with Dilworth recently about the faithfulness of Past President Ed Austin, who, incidently, was a Past Potentate of The Shrine of Western North Carolina. One of our longtime members observed that he didn’t know about the purposes of the Shrine. All he knew was that the members wore funny red hats (Fezzes) and drove funny cars. That’s frequently the perception that non-Masons have of the Shrine. Little known is how close the organizations have been for a century.

The Shrine’s biggest charity is kids. The Shrine of North America presently operates 19 orthopedic hospitals and 3 burn institutes. All at no cost to the kids or their families or to any governmental agency.

The Shrine has had a policy from the beginning of its hospital system in the 1920's to accept no funding from Local, State or Federal governments. The Shrine’s operating budget for the hospitals is about $580,000,000.00 per year. All of that raised by Shrine Temples, Clubs and Units from fish fry’s, pancake suppers and assorted charitable functions.

Shriners Hospitals are equipped and staffed to care for children with congenital orthopedic deformities, problems resulting from orthopedic injuries and diseases of the bones, joints and muscles. Three of the hospitals exclusively serve children with burns.

To make them different from most other organizations Shriners do not accept any funding from Local, State or Federal governments. In addition to the temple headquarters operations in Charlotte there are approximately 90 Shrine Clubs and Units throughout Western North Carolina raising funds to make Oasis the largest charitable giver among the Shrine Temples in North America.

Rotary has provided a large number of leaders in the Shrine Organization, or put another way, a lot of good Rotarians have also been good Shriners.

In our own Dilworth Club we have Past Potentates Ed Austin also Rotary Past President; Bill Isenhour, Past Potentate and Rotary Past President; Bob Vaughn, Past Potentate, and the writer, a Past Potentate.

In addition to the Past Potentates mentioned above, Rotarians who do double duty as Shriners include the late Jim Whittington, Dr. Henry Nicholson who regularly gave his professional services to the Shrine Bowl Football players, Barry Thaxton, Clyde Medearis, Bill Isenhour, Jr; and Gene Lamb.

Other Charlotte area Rotarians you may know include former Rotarian Bob Burroughs, Retired Chief Resident Superior Court Judge for Mecklenburg County; the late Warren Jefferies, Past Potentate and Past President of Mill Power Supply; Bill Harward, local CPA, Past Potentate and presently a member of the Albermarle Club; Calvin Gaddy for 25 years the Recorder/Secretary of the local Shrine Temple now retired and serving as Mayor of New London and a long time member and past president of the North Club.

Other Charlotte area Shriners you may be familiar with include Jim Stegall who served on the City Council with Jim Whittington and was Assistant Police Chief; the late Sandy Jordan who served with Stegall and Whittington; Federal Judge for the Western District of North Carolina, Lacy Thornburg, also a former North Carolina Attorney General and candidate for Governor who held court in Charlotte for many years; David Sentelle of the DC Federal Circuit Bench (that bench makes appointments of Special Prosecutors for example, Ken Starr during the Clinton administration;) the late Senator Sam Ervin, Jr., of Watergate fame; John Stanley, Past Potentate and member of the Gastonia Rotary; the late Walter Black who was Charlotte’s Fire Chief for many years and himself a Past Potentate; the late Jake Goodman, former Police Chief for the City of Charlotte and Past Grand Master of Masons in North Carolina as well as a Shriner; the current Fire Chief Luther Fincher of Charlotte.

Other Masonic political figures that would be known by many of you include the former Mayor Richard Vinroot, a member of Phalanx Lodge, (his father was Past Master of that lodge) former Governor and Congressman Jim Martin; former Senator Jesse Helms; former Lieutenant Governor Pat Taylor and John Belk former Mayor of Charlotte (John’s father William Henry Belk was a founder of The Shrine Organization in North and South Carolina in 1895); our Past Potentate Doug Mays, a long time news anchor at WBT and WSOC.

On the national level three Masons that are readily identifiable to most folks include George Washington and most of his general staff during the Revolutionary War; and recent Presidents Harry Truman and Gerald Ford.

Shhhh, Don't Wake the Doctor
By Paul Whitfield

Born in Anson County, a son of Anson County, he moved with his family to Mecklenburg at an early age and was a 1931 graduate of Old Central High School. He was later named to the school’s Hall of Fame.
Two had distinctions while at Duke: He finished his undergraduate work in three years and was a member of the first Duke Medical School four year medical class. From that class he graduated at the top before beginning his surgical training at Columbia University. His medical career was interrupted by World War II and he served in the Army Medical Corp. in the Philippines, Australia and Japan. During the war he was presented with the coveted Bronze Star for Valor. He retired at the end of the war as Lt. Colonel and began his practice in Charlotte in 1948.

In 1963 he served as President of The County Medical Society and in 1965 was one of the founders of The Charlotte Surgical Group. He served on the staff’s of Charlotte Memorial, Presbyterian, Mercy and Good Samaritan. He served as The Chief of Surgery at Charlotte Memorial and as President of the Medical Staff.

He taught the same Sunday School Class at First United Methodist Church for 24 years and served on the Board of The Methodist Home for 30 years.

He was one of the founders of the former Republic Bank and was a Charter Member of our Dilworth Club, which he later served as President.

During the later years of his service to Rotary he served as a classic deadpan Health and Happiness presenter. Not a smile, not a laugh, not a guffaw, but a piercing analytical wit that usually kept us in stitches.

He was perhaps best known during the later years of his membership here for his, if he wasn’t doing the Health and Happiness Report, you could count on the fact that he would be fast asleep as soon as his meal was over. Nothing seemed to wake him except the closing bell.

Dr. Joe Van Hoy, surgeon extraordinar, citizen exemplary, Rotarian special (an different). He died in 1997 at the age of 83 from the effects of Parkinson. Another Rotarian we’ll continue to miss.

Mayor of Wilkinson Boulevard
By Paul Whitfield

I gave him the title Mayor of Wilkinson Boulevard. I would commonly introduce him as The Mayor to guests and visitors lingering at the front door.

I asked him a couple of times over the years if there was any connection between his family name and The Boulevard by the same name. He never specifically admitted or denied the connection and so at least partly because of that I continued to call him The Mayor of Wilkinson Boulevard.

The title he gave himself however was what he was principally known for. Back maybe twenty years ago George and I were appointed as Greeters. I believe that year we were supposed to be working under the Sergeant at Arms. I had formerly been a Sergeant at Arms and was accustomed to getting to the meeting place early and George for reasons unknown to me came early as well, so usually we along with sometimes the Sergeant at Arms would be the first ones in the building. me George assumed that his appointment was that of greeter in perpetuity. He was at the front door at 11:45 a.m., every Friday for probably fifteen years, and worried and fretted on the occasion when he couldn’t be there. That came to be a problem during the last year of George’s membership. His wife’s health failed and he became her care giver. His wife’s health of course most importantly but he was deeply troubled by the compound fact that he wasn’t at the front door of the Rotary meeting at 11:45 a.m., every Friday. After that first year that we were appointed Greeters nobody asked us to serve again that I recall, but as far as George was concerned the job of Greeter was a permanent and lasting responsibility. He was always the first with a cordial word and a pleasant handshake for everybody who came in the door, member, guest, or visitor.

Not a back slapper George, but a kind word to everybody who came in the door.

Dilworth lost him when he became a full time care giver for his wife. George Wilkinson, Greeter in perpetuity and Mayor of Wilkinson Boulevard. A faithful Rotarian, a good friend to everybody he met and one that we will miss.

The Best Food In Town
By Paul Whitfield

When I joined Rotary in 1978 aside from what I thought was the best fellowship in Rotary in this part of the world, we had two other things that made our club an exception: We had the best food in town and we served hors d’oeuvres from about 11:45 - 12:30 every Friday before the regular Rotary meeting.

This was in the late seventies when food served at local hotels and restaurants had gone to pot. Hotels were turning clubs down and those few that were still serving meals to civic clubs were doing very little more than cleaning out the refrigerator and taking advantage of the clubs. The story was that the labor costs were so high that the hotels couldn’t make a profit on those type lunches any more.

Dilworth had one of the best chefs in town. She was a dietician employed by the “Y” and their food quality was superb and was properly presented. As a result our attendance tended to be high and we had a lot of make ups when we were there. Membership was frozen at 150 because of the size of our meeting place. Attendance was usually 110 to 120.

For a long period of time, perhaps from the earliest days of our club, hors d’oeuvres were served from about 11:45 in an ante room. Fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, nuts, chips and punch or ginger ale. The forty-five minutes of fellowship at the hor d’oeuvres table made our club a sort of a one of a kind.

There was always a dichotomy (for you Clemson graduates that means a division). There were a large number of Rotarians who came early because of the hors d’oeuvres and the fellowship, but there was always a significant number who came in at the last minute or who were late. The former always sat to the left of the presiding officer on the far side of the room and closest to the food service and the late comers always sat to the right. Never the twain did meet.

All Rotarians were Presbyterians in those days. We strangers in Rotary sat in the same seats each week we sat in military style in long rows of tables in the main dining room at the “Y”. President Bim Henderson had the idea that sitting in the same spot every time like good Presbyterians that one Rotarian never got to know other Rotarians except the ones seated immediately beside of him and in front of him. So one day he arranged for us to sit in tables of eight to break up the military style and increase the fellowship. Bim was the guy, if I remember, who also pledged to do away with scooters. He tried for about half a year to embarrass the scooters when they sneaked out early, but those were the type Rotarians you couldn’t embarrass anyway so it didn’t do any good. The scooters still scooted.

They still do.

Old Faithful
By Paul Whitfield


Ed was one of a breed that we had several of, if not many of, at an earlier time. Totally faithful to his wife and family, his church, his various Masonic Lodges and to his Rotary.

Ed maintained 44 years of perfect attendance until his health declined a couple of years back. It was at that time that the club named him an honorary member. In addition to his faithfulness to Rotary Ed was faithful to a lot of other organizations. He was a Past-Master of Friendship Masonic Lodge. He became a Certified Lecturer. He later served as District Deputy Grand Lecturer and District Deputy Grand Master of Masons in the 42nd Masonic District. He was appointed Grand Lecturer of The Grand Lodge of North Carolina (the top ritualist in the state) and served in that capacity for three years. The North Carolina Grand Lodge honored him with the designation of Grand Lecturer Emeritus in July 2004. He was an active member of St. Marks Lutheran Church, Myers Park Country Club and Mecklenburg Wildlife Club where he was actively involved in conservation work. He was a bird hunter and a fisherman.

Some things that you don’t know about Ed. He had a passion for gardening and produced bountiful crops of Silver Queen corn, tomatoes, melons and blueberries. Ed had a small family farm on Rocky River Road and in addition to all of his other activities he was an amateur vintner.


Several years ago Ed and his wife, spent several weeks in Europe touring wineries and inspecting vineyards where he read extensively on the subject and became quite a knowledgeable local expert on wine making. When he was interviewed some years ago by The Charlotte Observer he was asked how to beat the wine snobs at their own game.

Ed responded with his usual candor and plain talk: “Why put wine in an exotic category?” It is to be enjoyed and you don’t have to be an expert to enjoy it. “If you like a certain wine drink it regardless of how little it may cost or who makes it. If you don’t like it don’t drink it. It’s as simple as that.”

Ed Todd another one of a kind. Another one of the faithful. We lost Ed in February 2005. Many of us still miss him.

The Raid On Entebbe
By Paul Whitfield

The raid on Entebbe provided the story line for what was probably the most interesting and maybe most exciting program ever delivered in a Rotary Club. All courtesy of our own Colonel Bill Bundy.

Idi Amin was the then terror of Central Africa. Amin was holding Israelis hostage. The Israeli military in its typical hell for leather style stole a Mercedes from the streets of Jerusalem, spray painted it black to match Idi Amin's limousine, stripped the Israeli plane to the bare essentials so they could carry the extra weight of the Mercedes, calculated that they had not quite enough gas to get to Entebbe and back with maxed weight on the plane and somehow in a wild-western type attack managed to pull off the raid and rescue the hostages.

The Israeli Colonel who led the raid had some connection with Bill Bundy through Bundy's Air National Guard responsibilities and Bill arranged for him to tell his story first hand to our Rotary years ago. The word about the program had spread around the Rotary Clubs and we had many guests from other clubs, so many that when a person finished his lunch, he got up to give his place at a table to one of the guests. Those standing lined one wall of the meeting room at the YWCA on Park Road.

Bill Bundy was one of a kind, the likes of which there were many in the Rotary of Yesterday.

Bill was a long time Rotary member and could usually be seen with General Payne at his table. Bill was tops in his officer and pilot training classes and was a former commander of the Air Force 145th Tactical Airlift Group. He flew twenty-three combat missions in Vietnam and wore a chest full of ribbons and medals to show for it.

Bill could often be found at a table occupied by Dick Frosch. Bill used to jokingly suggest to Frosch that if he had been doing his job during the Big War in Europe that Frosch wouldn't be at the Rotary Club with us.

It may have seemed like a great joke at the time, but the truth was Frosch was in one of Herr Hitler's tanks during World War II and Bill wasn't flying combat missions until the Vietnam War and the twain never did meet in combat except in a Rotary joke or two.

Bill died at age 59 in 1992. He was one of a kind and Rotary will miss him.

THE LADY WHO CHANGED THE MODERN
HISTORY OF ROTARY
By Paul Whitfield

She came first.

What nobody fully realized or maybe what nobody realized at all was that this lady would change the history of Dilworth Rotary. The fabric of our Rotary Club, the feel, the texture, a little more softness, a little less macho.

She was the beginning of the make over of our club. She was followed soon by several other lady members, some of whom she was a sponsor of, but nobody ever forgot that she was the first woman in Dilworth.

Louise was first at many things that she did. She was I believe the first Chairperson of The Mecklenburg Democratic Party and was one of the first members of The North Carolina House of Representatives, serving in 1969 and later from 1977 to 1984. She was a Past-President of the Mecklenburg County Democratic Women’s Club and a member of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Charter Commission. She served on The Board of Directors of The Mental Health Association of the county and on The Board of Directors of the Caldwell Memorial Presbyterian Church Child Development Center. She was incidently an elder for many years at Calddwell Memorial Presbyterian.

Her long years in local politics and in the legislature got her the job of Adjunct Professor of Political Science at UNCC. She was elected to the UNCC Hall of Fame in 1989. She won the Women’s Equality Day Award in 1991 and the UNCC Distinguished Service Award in 1990. She was recognized as an Outstanding Legislator in 1981-82. WBT selected her as its Woman of the Year in 1982.

Her name appears in Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, Who’s Who in Community Leaders of America and Who’s Who in American Politics.

She served Dilworth on The Board from 1991 thru 1993.

Louise was married to the late Stan Brennan who was a long time reporter for The Charlotte Observer. Perhaps Stan was best remembered for his book reviews which he continued until his death a couple of years ago.

Louise, we miss you in Rotary, come back when you can.

Dick Payne, Dean of the Table
By: Paul Whitfield

Most of America fought World War II only once. There was a special table at the “Y” that fought the war many times, sometimes it seemed on a weekly basis.

Some of the regulars at the table included Dick Payne, Bill Scoggins, Dick Frosch, and Harry Stewart. I called it The Past Presidents Table although I think maybe one of the table members had not served as club president.

Dick Payne was the Dean of the table. He served in the European Theater from July 1943 to November 1945. He was sent to England in 1943 to prepare for the invasion of the continent, at that time he was Captain of an Ordnance Depot.

Dick was awarded The Bronze Star for Valor and participated in five campaigns in Europe, Africa, and The Middle East. He saw action in Normandy, at The Ardennes, in The Rhineland and Central Europe. In addition to the Star he wore The American Campaign Ribbon, The World War II Victory Medal and The Europe, Africa and Middle East Campaign Medal with Five Campaign Stars. He was awarded The Legion of Merit and The Armed Forces Reserve Medal.

After the war he continued his military career in the reserves. He was promoted to Major immediately after the war and Lt. Colonel in 1958, Bird Colonel in 1963 and Brig. General in 1968. He retired from the service in September 1973.

A Past President of our club, he was an early Paul Harris Fellow and for many years after returning to Charlotte was active in the Glass Distribution business from which he retired.

Dick, we all miss you.