“My Dad, a Rotarian”

I arrived in Cuba in 1951 with my missionary parents at the tender age of two. We lived in Camagüey in the middle of the island for 10 years until the Castro regime forced us to leave. My Dad, Victor Rankin, was the pastor of the local Methodist church. My mother, Katherine Rankin, was the high school English teacher at the Methodist school, next door.

It didn’t take long before my dad became acquainted with the community beyond the church, among them business men, bankers, lawyers, and doctors. A number were Rotarians at the local Camagüey club. 

Dad was sponsored and became a member. About all the members were Catholics. Dad was the only Protestant and a minister. At that time, Protestants and Catholics didn’t mix. 

Soon Dad’s fellow members recognized Dad’s openness and his genuine acceptance and his desire to be in relationship with them. He was elected as the club’s chaplain. His invocations were ecumenical, non-sectarian, and inclusive. 

Rotary members represented the Cuban middle class, the largest in Latin America at that time. They were the backbone of the Cuban economy. But the communist regime changed all that. All businesses were expropriated. Business owners fled Cuba with their families with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Many settled in Florida and became successful business men and women and professionals. 

Rotary clubs as well as all private institutions in Cuba were banned. Camagüey’s club was no more. 

We were forced to leave too. We were only allowed each a suitcase. We were lucky. We had tickets and passports. We were going back home. Tucked away in my Dad’s suitcase, was this Rotary club banner from the Camagüey club. 

This banner has been with me for 66 years. Now it is time to give it a new home- the Lakeland Rotary club. 

This banner symbolizes the Rotary clubs and its members who today around the world are threatened by oppressive regimes like in Ukraine, Sudan, and South Sudan. “Service Above Self” brings hope over despair where ever needed. Rotary lives on.