Jay Rodgin has been a member of the Rotary Club of Bluefield longer than anyone else. He joined in
1947, and after nearly six decades of membership, Rotary has been, and is, a major part of his life. “I’ve seen a lot of changes,” Jay said, “and the basic principles of Rotary have done a lot for me.” Jay has served on the Board of Directors, and is a Paul Harris Fellow. There are two things about Rotary that are especially meaningful for him: The motto, Service Above Self, and the Four-Way Test. Rotary’s Motto, Jay said, is best achieved by sharing with others. “I look forward to the meetings,” he said, “I really do.” He remembers meetings when he was one of the youngest members sitting at a table with older members. “Some of the others were way up in age, and we had to call them by their first names, and boy that was tough,” he said.
Jay was born in Bluefield and attended local schools. He attended Columbia University, and earned both under graduate and graduate degrees there. While at Columbia, Jay won the Andrew Jay Cross Memorial Award, and after completing his studies served four years in the U.S. Army Air Corps before coming back to Bluefield to open his optometry practice. His long and distinguished career includes authoring a book, Pathology and Pharmacology of the Eye, in 1983, and serving terms as President of the W.Va. Optometric Association and the W.Va. Board of Optometry. He is an Emeritus Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, and was awarded the Lions Club International Sight Conservation Award two times, in 1962 and 1971.
Jay told me that his father was the first newspaper carrier for the fledgling Bluefield Daily Telegraph in 1896 when he was 11 years old, and delivered papers to all of the approximately 300 subscribers. At just 18 years of age, his father opened a jewelry store that had the motto: “My mother’s wedding ring came from the Henry Rodgin Company.” His mother graduated from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, and served as assistant Concert Master of the Bluefield Symphony Orchestra. Jay’s sister Bertie taught public speaking at Beaver High School. Jay has two children, Dr. Henry Rodgin who practices in the Sunnyvale, CA area and Dr. Susan Gail Rodgin, who practices in the Boston area, and is on staff at the veteran’s hospital there.
Of his 57 years in Rotary Jay commented, “It’s been a wonderful learning experience. Getting to know people on a one-to-one basis is so much more meaningful. And when you break bread with them, those relationships take on a whole new perspective. A lot of the enmity that exists just seems to dissipate.” Jay recalls being involved in setting up inter-city meeting with other clubs in the region, which were held at Pete’s Grill. “I’ll never forget that. You had a fabulous dinner – with shrimp cocktail, and prime rib of beef – for $3.50.” Although those prices and Pete’s are long gone, Jay Rodgin is still here, still a member of Bluefield Rotary, and we’re pleased that he is.