The Rotary Club of Plimmerton Inc. Jim and Shirley Dearsly

The Rotary Club of Plimmerton Inc.

All Rotarian members of the team are long-time members of the Rotary Club of Plimmerton. The club was chartered in 1973, and currently has 62 members. Jim and Noel are both past presidents of the club.

Plimmerton is situated approximately 25 Km north of Wellington, on the Pauatahanui Inlet - a tidal inlet housing a bird sanctuary built in the late 1980s, and in which many club members were involved. More about our club can be discovered on our website.

Now meet the team …

Jim and Shirley Dearsly

Jim and Shirley have been married for 48 years and have two sons and a daughter and six lovely grandchildren ranging from 14 to 7 years old. The family emigrated to New Zealand from the UK in 1975 and say the only mistake they made was not coming sooner.

Jim was born and brought up in Potters Bar, North London and went to the City of London School. He then joined the Army, where he gained his degree in engineering and served as an engineering officer until leaving in 1975 after 21 years service.

When the family came to New Zealand he joined the Army here and later served as the Head of the Royal New Zealand Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. On leaving the Army in 1982 he joined The Standards Association of New Zealand and later became head of its Electrical and Mechanical Standards Division retiring in 1999.

Shirley was born in Royal Windsor and had her schooling there. She trained as a Registered Nurse at the Royal Free Hospital in London. On New Years Eve 1957 she bumped into Jim at a party and they were married in 1960 and thereafter she became an Army camp follower on various overseas postings. When they arrived in New Zealand she resumed her nursing career and later served as a charge nurse at Wellington and Keneperu Hospitals. She later became a medical practice nurse at their local doctor’s surgery retiring (finally) in 2004.

Jim is an active member of the Rotary Club of Plimmerton; the high spots were as Club President 1997/98 and then as GSE Team Leader to District 7820 Eastern Canada in 1999. The Club honoured him with a Paul Harris Fellowship in July 2002. Shirley is a charter member of the Plimmerton Inner Wheel and also now a staunch member of the Paremata Probus Club.

They both have other community involvement. Jim is the Chair of the local residents association and Shirley seems to get involved in a variety of causes, currently assisting in reading recovery at a primary school and mentoring a refugee family of six from Burma (Myanmar) and helping them get established as new immigrants. This is their third RFE having previously been to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island (RD 7820) in 2004 and BC/Idaho/Washington State (RD 5080) in 2006. They are both physically active and enjoy people, travel, socialising and the outdoors.

Jim & Shirley Dearsly 32 Shackle Lane, Whitby Porirua 5024, NZ

Phone: +64 4 234 6111 Fax: +64 4 234 6181 Email [email protected]

Peter and Bev Lillico

Peter and Bev Lillico live in Paremata, a seaside suburb north of Wellington. They have lived in their home since 1966, and enjoy a beautiful view over the inner harbour and ocean.

Peter joined Rotary in 1989 and is an active member serving on various committees and recently receiving his Paul Harris award. Peter and Bev have been involved in the Rotary student exchange programme, travelling to Brazil to attend the wedding of one their previous students.

Peter has been a member of the local Boating Club for 42 years, sailing his Sunburst over the summer months and participating in races and regattas with good results. He is a long time member of Wellington Mountaineering and Tramping Club and still manages to ski several weeks of the year. Both Peter and Bev have enjoyed skiing at various ski-fields in America.

Peter has shared his sporting interests with his sons, and has mentored many young members of the boating club through Learn to Sail. He is now retired and keeps busy with Rotary projects and sporting interests. Bev is a keen golfer and a recent Mah Jong addict. She enjoys gardening, cooking, reading travel books and works part-time in a women’s clothing shop. Peter and Bev have three boys living in various regions of New Zealand. Their eldest son, Gregory and wife worked in Tucson, Arizona and New York City over a seven-year period and now reside in Nelson, NZ with their delightful three-year-old son. Gregory and their youngest son Hamish, living in Auckland, both work for prominent investment banks and share a passion for the share market industry. Simon, their middle son, works in Corporate Sales for Apple Mac in Wellington after working in London and San Francisco. Peter and Bev are avid travellers, keen to try new destinations and looking forward to next years friendship exchange.

Peter and Bev Lillico 25 Bayview Road Paremata, Porirua 5024, NZ

Phone: +64 4 2331281 Email: [email protected] Travel details Depart New Zealand, arrive Vancouver 9 July 2008 Depart Vancouver, arrive Anchorage 2.23pm 12 July – Alaska Airlines, Flight AS103 Depart Seawell at 8pm 27 July 2008

Noel and Meryll Evans Noel and Meryll were born and educated in Wellington, and were married in 1962. Noel recently retired from a career in Information Technology where he had been employed in management and consulting roles in the oil, finance, and dairy industries, and in government.

He joined the Rotary Club of Plimmerton in 1985, and has served as Club Newsletter Editor, Treasurer, Secretary, Community Service and Club Service Director, and was President in 1994-95. He was named a Paul Harris Fellow in 1997.

At district level Noel has served as District Newsletter Editor (twice), Conference Secretary- Treasurer, Governor’s representative in the formation of the Mana Sundown club. He was an Assistant Governor in 2000-2002. In 2002, he established the District 9940 Website and later that year also created a website for the Plimmerton club. Both of these sites subsequently won “Best of the Rotary Web” awards in 2003. He was awarded a Sapphire Pin to his PHF by District 9940 at District Changeover in 2003. He was District Communications chairman in 2003-04, and currently is District Webmaster and is a member of the District Training Committee.

Noel and Meryll have three adult sons, and 7 grandchildren. Meryll’s working career was as a draughtswoman, but she spends time as a graphics designer. She is a member of Plimmerton Inner Wheel and has served as club president, treasurer and secretary, as well as district and national newsletter editor, and she currently manages the NZ Inner Wheel website. She is also secretary of the local Red Cross branch and of “Friends of Pataka” a group supporting our local museum of arts and culture in Porirua City.

Both Noel and Meryll are keen golfers and enjoy travel. In 2006, they travelled with a party of current and former members to the wedding of a former exchange student in Brazil, and in June 2007 attended the Rotary International Convention in Salt Lake City.

Noel & Meryll Evans 23 Bayview Road Paremata Porirua 5024, NZ

Phone: +64 4 233 8510 Email: [email protected]

Rotary District 9940

D9940 is the largest of six Rotary districts in New Zealand and covers the lower half of New Zealand’s North Island from Waitara in the west, Taihape in the centre and Dannevirke in the west. The District comprises 60 clubs, and approximately 2,300 Rotarians.

The Friendship Exchange team is excited at the prospect of visiting the world’s largest Rotary district that in addition to Alaska includes Russia east of the Ural Mountains

We need more time!