John Germ ref lects on global work
John Germ hasn’t been home for a full month yet since traveling around the globe as Rotary International’s president, but he may still be the busiest man in Chattanooga.
“It was a wonderful understanding of people around the world,” he said of his term as president of the 1.2 millionmember service organization.
A member of the Chattanooga Rotary
Club since 1976, Germ has made giving back to the community his life work. It was something he learned from a young age.
“Both my father and mother said an individual should give back to the community and be active in the community,” he said.
Germ served as president from July 1, 2016, until June 30, and said he traveled all but about 40 days of that time. His wife, Judy Germ, was able to go with him, and the couple made sure they were home for most major holidays.
“We don’t have any children at home, but we have a young grandson and didn’t see him and our children as much as we’d like,” he said, but added that his family was able to attend two Rotary conventions and they saw each other on the holidays.
As president, Germ led many initiatives to improve standards of living for people in many countries, from installing an X-ray machine in a rural Guatemalan town, to implementing programs in several countries to teach children how to wash their hands.
He said people in the U.S. take a lot for granted, which means they don’t often think about problems in other countries such as a lack of clean drinking water or not having blood banks.
“I met one man where they were building a blood bank in Uganda, and his sister was giving birth to a child — the child lived and has a girl of her own now — but the mother died because she bled to death,” Germ said.
One of the most memorable projects for him, he said, was when two drops of the polio vaccine were placed into a baby’s mouth and the mother smiled.
“She doesn’t speak your language, and you don’t speak her language. But, you know, that smile is that international language of ‘thank you,’” he said.
Now that he’s home, Germ said he misses the people he met and worked with and the projects he started, but he doesn’t miss the stress of traveling so much. Most times, he and his wife would spend from three to five days in one country and then travel directly to another.
“I will say that we were very fortunate. In all that time we were doing all this, we never lost a bag or got rerouted,” he said.
In his younger years, Germ was an active member in the Chattanooga Jaycees, or Junior Chamber of Commerce. Among the many initiatives he worked on were launching the construction of two apartment buildings for the elderly and helping start Blood Assurance, a nonprofit local blood center.
Back then, the organization had an age limit of 36, but Germ still wanted to be involved in efforts to improve the community. That’s when his boss, George Campbell of consulting engineering firm Campbell & Associates Inc., suggested he join the Chattanooga Rotary Club.
“John just continued what he’d been doing all his life — serving humanity,” said Dan Johnson, a long-time friend of Germ’s. The two met in 1965 when they were both Jaycees and still see each other regularly today.
“He’s always been a person who led by doing,” he said.
Even while he was traveling the world, Germ kept up his involvement in local organizations. He serves on the boards of Blood Assurance, the Orange Grove Center and the Public Education Foundation, among other civic duties. He hopes to become a trustee of the Rotary Foundation next year.
One of his current projects is helping lead the campaign and manage the completion of the Miracle League, which will be built in Warner Park. The project is a baseball park with an artificial surface where people with disabilities can play ball. It is set to open in September.
Despite the appearance of having a crammed schedule, Germ said board meetings and other volunteer work don’t really take up that much time. He begins his day at about 9:30 or 10 a.m. and tries to be home by 3 p.m., unless he has a meeting, he said.
On Thursday evening, he was sitting by the pool, watching his grandson swim before they went in for dinner, he said.
“I think everybody needs to do something to give back to the community, and I just want to do my part,” he said.
“I think everybody needs to do something to give back to the community, and I just want to do my part.” – JOHN GERM