Central Dewitt Hall of Fame Induction Class 2016

Central Dewitt Hall of Fame Induction Class 2016

1945 graduate, Harry Maynard was involved in sports, fine arts and Editor of the De. Hawk Newsletter. He was a Navy V-5 Aviation Cadet and teacher/coach in Stuart, IA. He began a banking career in 1959 and eventually became bank President & Chief Executive Officer in Ventura, CA. He has spent a lifetime leading and serving Civic, Service, Professional and Fraternal organizations. He was the Ventura Chamber Outstanding Citizen of the Year and longtime Board member of the Community Memorial Hospital where he and wife Carolyn established a Charitable Trust. In 1982 be became the 117 th Grand Master of the Masons.

If there’s one thing Harry Maynard learned while growing up in De. Witt, it was community involvement. A story about him in a publication of the Community Memorial Health System in Ventura, California, said: “Growing up the oldest of six children in a small Iowa town, Harry says his community activism began at an early age. ‘Everyone was involved in everything, ’ he recalled with a chuckle. ” It is for such activism – most of it in Ventura, where he has lived since 1952 – that Maynard, 88, is being recognized as one of this year’s inductees in the Central De. Witt High School Hall of Fame. While he might have left De. Witt decades ago after his 1945 graduation, Maynard’s roots here run deep. He is the great-grandson of James D. Bourne, the city’s first postmaster and the builder of its first frame house, where Maynard was born. Joyce Fletcher of De. Witt, a longtime friend, remembers Maynard as “a very good friend. ” She graduated a year behind him, so they had no classes together, but she often accompanied on the piano a local quartet of which she was a member.

“At his high school, I played piano for a lot of groups, ” she recalled, “and he sang in a boys quartet that was really, really good. ” He also edited the school newsletter, performed in school plays, ran track, played basketball, and was on the football team, an interest that extended beyond school, when he later played on two semipro football teams and later coached a football game that was a memorial for coach John Magovich (which he lists as a particularly proud accomplishment). Of course, he had his impish side, too. Fletcher recalls him once trying to convince a friend that he had been called away to an emergency so he could take Fletcher to her house. He was unsuccessful, she noted with a chuckle. After serving two years as a Naval aviation cadet and graduating from college, Maynard began his career as a teacher and coach. In 1959, he switched careers, becoming a banker. He eventually became president of American Commercial Bank in Ventura, a job from which he retired in 1992. But his career was only one part of a very busy life. He has been involved in many of Ventura’s community organizations, most notably the Masons, which he joined in 1960. He served a year as Grand Master for the state Masonic organization.

But that was only one organization. He served in others, including local business groups (the Ventura Chamber of Commerce and the board of Community Memorial Hospital); charitable (the Salvation Army Advisory Board, which he chaired); educational (the local school district foundation); governmental (U. S. Department of Defense’s State Committee for Employee Support of the Guard and Reserve, and was Ventura County’s civil service commissioner); farming (4 -H of Ventura County, which honored him in 1974); and youth (founding director of the Ventura Boys Club). And that’s only a very partial list. He also has been a well-known philanthropist in Ventura; among other sizable donations was one to the Community Memorial Healthcare Foundation’s trust. Maynard is unable to attend this week’s events, but he will be represented by his brother, Jack, a De. Witt resident.

Inducted for Outstanding Contributions as a Distinguished Graduate Harry Maynard has spent a lifetime making contributions to his communities. Born in 1927 and the oldest of 6 children, Harry is the great grandson of one of De. Witt’s pioneers and first Postmaster, James Bourne. Harry was a running back for the football team, and participated in basketball and track, once winning the Illowa 100 -yard dash. He was also involved in fine arts and participated in chorus, musicals and plays. He was the Editor of the De. Witt De. Hawk Newsletter and graduated in 1945. Harry served in the Navy as a V-5 Aviation Cadet from 1945 -1946 at Colgate University and Floyd Bennet Naval Air Station. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1950 and started a teaching career in Stuart, IA where he taught Math & Science and coached football, girls basketball and track. In 1959 he began a banking career. He held numerous positions in banking industry eventually becoming President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of the American Commercial Bank in Ventura, CA. He has been involved in too many Civic, Service, Professional and Fraternal organizations to be mentioned here but some of the highlights include serving as the President of the Ventura Chamber of Commerce and Outstanding Citizen of the Year. He and his wife Carolyn have donated thousands of volunteer hours to the Community Memorial Hospital where he has served as a Board of Trustee member for over 30 years, Vice-President, Treasurer and Finance

& Personnel Committee Chairman. They have also made a substantial gift to the hospital in establishing a Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust. He also serves on the Board of Ivy Lawn Memorial Park, Chaired Ventura’s Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee and served on the Boards of the Los Angeles Shrine Hospital, Ventura County Fair, Interface of Ventura County, the Foundation for Preservation of Ventura County Parks and the Assistance League as well as many other groups including the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Heart & Lung Association, March of Dimes, Special Olympics, Girls Scouts, Boys Club, YMCA, PTA, Little League, University of California Advisory Board, Ventura 4 -H and the U. S. Department of Defense! And if you can believe this… many others as well! Wow!! He is a member of the American Legion, Scottish Rite, York Rite, Royal Order of Scotland, Research Lodge and past President of the Lions Club and Malaikah (Ma Lie ka) Shrine Temple and others. He became a mason in 1960 and in 1982 had the distinction of becoming the 117 th Grand Master of the Masons of California and Hawaii. Harry has been married to Carolyn since 1952 and they have traveled extensively all over the world. They are parents of son Harry Jr. and daughter Linda and have one grandchild. Harry could not travel to be with us tonight but we have his brother Jack… who was quite an athlete himself and future HOF member to say a few words. Please help me welcome the newest member of the Central De. Witt High School Hall of Fame, 2016 inductee… Harry Maynard.