John K. "Jack" Best elected to RI Board of Directors

John K. "Jack" Best

John K. “Jack” Best, a member of the Rotary Club of Penfield, New York, USA, has been elected RI Director to serve the remainder of the term of RI Treasurer Betsy Demaray, who died 25 January.

Best was the alternate selected by the Zone 29 nominating committee. A Rotarian since 1972, he has served RI as regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, district governor and RI training leader. He has chaired presidents-elect and governors-elect training seminars, and has served in a variety of leadership roles in Zone Institutes.

He has been active in Rotary Youth Exchange since 1977, and serves as vice-chair of the Rotary Peace Centers Major Gifts Initiative Committee. He and his wife, Kathy, are Major Donors and Bequest Society members.

A certified financial planner, Best retired in 2011 and established a consulting firm, Retire in Time: Get Ready for the second half of life. He is a past president of the Estate Planning Council of Rochester, a past director of the Webster Chamber of Commerce, and a past vice president of the Heritage Christian Services Foundation.

Best said he served as district governor during the same year as Demaray, and praised her dedication to Rotary.

“We all admired her greatly for the leadership she displayed not only in Rotary, but in the way that she confronted the cancers that ultimately took her life,” he said.

RI President Sakuji Tanaka has asked Director Ken Boyd to serve as treasurer for the remainder of the year.