IT is with the feeling that it is a great honor when I say "I knew Ray as well as any man." It has been my privilege to come into almost daily contact with him and I am happy in the belief that he considered me one of his best friends. Believing this, I ask the solemn right of a friend to bear testimony unto a friend, and it is in deep recognition of this privilege that I write these lines.

Ray Havens joined the Rotary Club of Kansas City, Missouri, June 2, 1914. He immediately demonstrated his ability as a leader and forcefully impressed his magnetic personality upon the entire membership. He served with distinction and honor on many committees. The convention of Rotary International was to be held in Kansas City in 1918 and the Kansas City club was looking for a leader who would be outstanding during that gathering. Ray was the inevitable selection for president. During the convention, he acquitted himself with honor and made friends with all the thousands of visitors. Next year at Salt Lake City, he was selected sergeant-at-arms and again demonstrated his unusual ability by planning and organizing the Atlantic City Convention. His success in that position was rewarded by his election to vice president of Rotary International.

In 1922 at Los Angeles, he was selected as president of all Rotary. His record as president cannot be considered otherwise than of singular and unusual distinction. On his retirement from the presidency, he continued to maintain an interest in every Rotary activity, and worked on many committees. As a private in the ranks, never for one moment did he falter in his belief that Rotary had a great mission in the world.

Ray Havens was the incarnation of vital force and intellectual energy. He possessed a disposition that was sunny and sincere. In his dealings he was honest and just; in his faiths, he was strong; in his relationships, true; in his friendships, delightful. His counsel and advice were always earnest and helpful. His unfailing interest in the affairs of his friends was most marked and, in the hours of stress, his sympathetic aid was always theirs. He loved work and he loved play, approaching both with joy and enthusiasm. His love for God's outdoors was most marked and he was never happier than when touring the countryside in his automobile.

POSSESSED of unusually keen ability in his chosen vocation, he was a pronounced success, known and loved by the graphic arts craft all over the entire country. His broad-minded, liberal spirit, accentuated by his Rotary training and his belief in the slogan "Service, Not Self,' prompted him to continuous participation in all uplifting and constructive civic movements.

Ray Havens has departed. His name will be stricken from Rotary's membership roll, but his honorable record will remain in the club's archives and no successor will sit unchallenged in his place. He will have no vote nor voice on questions affecting Rotary, but his influence will go on as long as Rotary endures. While he is beyond the reach of praise, we will never cease to rehearse his virtues and commemorate the career of a Rotarian that was splendid and luminous. To serve, was Ray Havens' joy; to succeed, was his habit. May he rest in peace and the light perpetually shine upon him.

A sense of deep personal loss prompts me to set down these words.

May you read into these printed lines the warmth of the spoken word,

Russell F. Greiner

The preceding obituary/remembrance of Ray Havens was written by Russell F. Greiner, who was President of Rotary International in 1913-1914.

RIP Havens passed away on December 2, 1934, and the above piece appeared in the January 1935 issue of The Rotarian, in The Rotary Hourglass section. Havens was a great admirer of Frank Collins of the Rotary Club of Minneapolis, and held his motto, “Service, not Self,” as one of the most important tenets of Rotary.

Doug Rudman

Ray Havens was President of Rotary International in 1922-1923