Residents join international service boards

Rotary, Kiwanis pick GV’s Silvers, Jennings

Green Valley resident Philip J. Silvers took office last month as a director of Rotary International, a very rare, and important position.

An acquaintance wrote that there are “only 15 directors who run an international organization of 12 million, and one is a resident of Green Valley.”

And Silvers is one of two Green Valley men to receive international recognition by service organizations in recent weeks.

Jim Jennings of Green Valley has been elected to a three-year term as trustee of Kiwanis International.

An indication of the international reach of Rotary, the president of Rotary International is from South Korea, the president-elect is from Scotland, the vice president is a Canadian and the treasurer is from Belgium.

Silvers’ acquaintance, Noble Rose, also of Green Valley, wrote that the community should be “proud of this incredible neighbor.”

Giving an idea of the international scope of Rotary, Silvers late this week left a telephone message at the Green Valley News saying he was in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, leaving for Heathrow in Great Britain and then on to Johannesburg, South Africa.

His wife, Kathleen, often travels with him.

Once, on a trip to Russia, they helped organize two new Rotary chapters.

Philip Silvers was chair of the third Rotary in Russia conference.

He’s an educator having worked at West Point, Arizona State University, the University of Arizona, and he retired as assistant vice chancellor of Pima Community College seven years ago.

That’s when they moved to Green Valley from Tucson. They have a second house at Summerhaven in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson.

Silvers is principal of SilverLode Associates, which gives board-development training to non-profits and Native American tribes.

He has been a convention speaker in St. Petersburg, Glasgow, Chicago and Salt Lake City.

He has held numerous Rotary offices.

He was an exchange teacher in Russia.

Kathleen Silvers has served as a club president and in other Rotary positions.

They have two children, Dr. Julie Silvers, a senior analyst with the Government Accountability Office, and Matthew, a Tucson radio station manager.

They were Rotary exchange students in Valencia, Spain.

Meanwhile, Jennings, has been a member of the Kiwanis Club of the Santa Ritas, Green Valley-Sahuarita since 2002. He served as a member of three Kiwanis International committees before his election to the board.

Jennings is a retired high school teacher and associate principal. After his retirement, he became executive director of the Byron, Ill., Museum of History, until he retired in 2002 when he and wife Sherry moved to Green Valley.

They have two children and six grandchildren.

With Kiwanis he has been a district governor and was recognized for outstanding leadership at the recent convention.

Jennings holds life member status in Kiwanis Southwest District, and is a Diamond Hixson Fellow, Hixson Ambassador, Tablet of Honor recipient and Heritage Society member of the Kiwanis International Foundation.

jlamb@gvnews.com | 547-9749