Although Howard and Nancy Spainhour were not Rotarians, their lives certainly modeled “Service Above Self.” The Nancy Spainhour Trust’s recent donation to the Rotary International Foundation resulted in the Spainhour Trust being named a member of the Arch Klumpf Society, Rotary’s highest giving level. The Spainhour gift is both our Club’s and District 7600’s first Arch Klumpf Society member. The Spainhours have also previously made a substantial gift to our Norfolk Rotary Endowment.
Howard Spainhour was an attorney and founded the McGuireWoods’ office in Norfolk in the 1980s. He strongly believed in education and loved reading to children at Norfolk Collegiate School and Larchmont Elementary. Nancy was a Norfolk native, a devoted wife and mother and a delightful storyteller.
The Arch Klumpf Society is Rotary International’s highest giving level. It is named for the sixth president of Rotary International. He founded the Rotary Club of Cleveland in 1911 and was elected as the 1916-1917 president of Rotary International. At the 1917 conference in Atlanta, he promoted the idea of “endowments for the purpose of doing good in the world.” Responding to his talk, the Rotary Club of Kansas City made the first donation of what would eventually become the Rotary Foundation. The Rotary Foundation is rated one of the best Foundations in the world and is the vehicle used to fund Rotary’s efforts to improve communities throughout the world.