On Wednesday, May 30th, the Portage Rotary club proudly presented this year’s winners of the 2012 Portage High School Outstanding Young Man’s and the Distinguished Young Women’s contest with a Scholarship Fund Award. This year the winners were Marco Pekovic and Kacie McGuire. Marco is a graduating senior and Kacie is a junior.
Sadly, on Tuesday, May 29th, the day preceding the Award program at the club’s weekly meeting, James Bailey, a long time devoted member and a past president of the Portage Club, died suddenly. We all knew what a truly great person Jim was but had no idea of the amount of people he touched no matter where he was or what he was doing. Whether he was at work, at church, or at any activity within the Orak Shriner’s organization, everyone who came into contact with him felt his sincerity and honesty.
The reality of Jim’s warm personality and true friendship became evident as several of the Rotary Club members were able to attend both Jim’s wake and the celebration of his life the next day. They personally saw the untold numbers of people who visited the family during this heart breaking period of their lives.
We will truly miss Jim’s warm smile and embrace but will try to keep his true love for others alive and well within our club. We extend our prayers to his family and friends during this time of loss and the time of recovery. Next year this scholarship award will be known as The Jim Bailey Scholarship Award as well as any other scholarships the Club awards.
