Meet Our New Member - Bill Budde
It was our privilege last month to welcome Bill Budde as a new member of the Rotary Club of Avon-Canton. No stranger to our club as husband of our inimitable Sgt-at-Arms, Sue Budde, Bill has been a frequent visitor and occasional speaker at our meetings. He was born in Chicago, northside, which of course made him a Cubs fan. An entrepreneur from the get-go, he spent his early years forming a business that collected bottles from neighbors and exchanged them for candy to pay his helpers. "Turns out," says Bill, "that the 5-year-old with a wagon can influence kids twice his age to work for sweets."
There were many family moves when Bill was young - to Florida, Tennessee and Illinois over a 10-year period - but things came full circle ending back in Evanston where he attended Northwestern, started his career, got married and had two kids, which ultimately led to moving to Avon in 1995 where he has lived happily ever since.
"Because we moved a lot, I attended a number of schools, 11 to be exact," says Bill. "Many of these were boarding schools, and some were military schools. I had great grades but tended to ignore authority. Even so, Northwestern gave me the opportunity to prove myself, and I took it seriously. I also learned Judo/Jujutsu to channel my energy in more positive directions."
Bill notes that his marriage to Sally in 1993, which ended in divorce eight years later, yielded two great adults now, Jessica and Ryan. Jessica has two boys with her husband, Sam, and lives in the Bay Area. Ryan is single, and lives in the Atlanta area.
He and Sue were married in 2002, and thus far they have raised three very precocious Scottish Terrier’s. Fortunately, Bill is used to caring for pets. "I grew up with lots of animals - horses, dogs, cattle, alpacas, rheas, emu, chickens, parrots, deer and even chimpanzees! Our Scottie girls have been a blast and a blessing for us."
He worked for many years in the insurance business, mostly in product development and delivery of technology services to the insurance sector. But a major focus of his life has always been in volunteering and supporting career development for people who want to advance themselves in technology or insurance. "I’ve had the honor of creating user groups for members to learn about personal computing, garnering 3,000 members in 3 years," he notes. He was President twice for the second largest chapter of the Society of Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters, a CPA-level designation for insurance professionals.
"My work with the West Avon Congregational Church, as Moderator twice and as the current Financial chairperson, has opened my eyes to the possibility of supporting change at a 276-year old organization. Mostly, I’m proud to give back to others who are trying to improve their knowledge and the community in which they live," says Bill, already living in the spirit of the Rotary motto, "Service Above Self."
We are delighted to welcome Bill Budde as an enthusiastic fellow Rotarian and a new member of the Rotary Club of Avon-Canton.