Editor’s note: The letter below, shared with the Register, was sent to the Iola Rotary Club after members of a sister club in Ancud, Chile, learned of the death of Ellis Potter, a former Iola optometrist and Rotarian.
Potter’s profound impact on a small Chilean community over 5,600 miles away, and the lifelong friendships that deeply changed all who benefited from them, were made possible through Rotary’s steadfast insistence on service above self. It is a welcome example for today’s troubled world.
A tribute to Ellis, my friend, my brother:
In life, there are moments when wonderful things happen … people who cross your way and leave a mark so deep that you’ll never be able to get it out of there. They shine like the most beautiful star in the universe and light up your life forever.
In 2004, I was fortunate to meet that star. His name was Ellis Potter. Father of a daughter and son, and grandfather of three grandchildren.
He joined Rotary in 1980 and the Iola Rotary Club in 1988, becoming governor of Rotary International District 6110 from 2007 to 2008. He was a member of the PH Club with eight sapphires, a member of the PH Society, a major donor, and a Rotary benefactor.
He arrived in Ancud, Chile, with his wife, Jane, and 24 other members on a team of professionals, mostly Rotarians.
All of them shared the wonderful mission of working alongside our club to provide eyeglasses to people with limited resources. In a wonderful seven-day event, eyeglasses were distributed to 2,400 people from all over the island, leaving the waiting lists at zero throughout the province.
There, we also learned about the leadership of our friend Bob Hawk, a Rotarian and now an honorary member along with Ellis.
His enthusiasm, along with Ellis, was contagious and a source of energy for our club to accomplish the most important task in its history.
The Voluntary Optometric Services to Humanity (VOSH) organization, led by Ellis, and its focus on Rotary service par excellence, was an example for all of us. I was their host in my home, and we shared beautiful moments with Jane and my mother. A very special bond was developed.
Ellis told me before returning, “Julio, more than a Rotary friend, I think we can be brothers.” And that’s how we treated each other. That’s how we loved each other. That’s how we respected each other.
It was that friendship, the complicity of all the Rotarians of Ancud with members of VOSH, plus the excellent work and organization of our club that led to VOSH being repeated again in 2016, serving another 2,200 low-income people.
At 82, Ellis left us a great legacy, so today we feel an obligation to interpret the desire and the feelings of our entire club, recalling the wonderful memories left by our beloved friend and brother, and at the same time, strengthening ourselves to continue and follow his example.
This is how we say goodbye: with the affection and warmth that always inspired us, to a true friend, sincere, discreet, loyal, and prudent as any. A true Rotarian who knew how to interpret the philosophy of service that inspires us: to give of yourself before thinking of yourself.
Friend Ellis, rest in peacem Julio Kompatzki, Chile
