Rotary Club of Shepherdstown member Gary Heichel has been recognized for having achieved the status of being a major donor to the Rotary Foundation.
The recognition was presented at the club’s regular weekly breakfast meeting on April 15 at Shepherdstown’s Bavarian Inn. It is based on his financial contributions to the Foundation over his more than 30 years as a Rotary member. He was a member of the Rotary Club of Urbana, IL, for 13 years and has been a member of the Shepherdstown club for the last 18 years.
Heichel retired in 2004 after a 36-year career as an agricultural research scientist. He was Head of the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois for the last 14 years of that career. He received his PhD from Cornell University and has an honorary doctorate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland.
hree years as author of the weekly club program announcements and speaker biographies; three years as prayer leader at weekly club meetings; three years as club grants chair; and five years as chair of the club’s Paul Harris Fellow Selection Committee.
The accompanying photo shows, from left to right, Shepherdstown Rotary Club Service Chair Sean Murtagh; Heichel; Heichel’s wife, Iris; and Shepherdstown Rotary Membership Chair Dana Orsini.