Past Recipients: 2000-2009

Entrepreneur Named Tri-Citian of the Year

Published Sunday, April 1st, 2007, Tri-City Herald
NATHAN ISAACS HERALD STAFF WRITER

Richland entrepreneur George Garlick was named as the 2007 Tri-Citian of the Year on Saturday.

“All I can say is wow, I’m just overwhelmed,” Garlick said, upon receiving the honor.

Joined by Carol, his wife of 46 years, and flanked by his children and grandchildren, an emotional Garlick thanked his family for their support through “missed meals and missed opportunities.”

He was introduced by Frank Armijo, the 2006 winner.

“Integrity, commitment, community and service are the type of words that come to mind when I think of George,” Armijo wrote in an endorsement letter. “A quiet man who never seeks the spotlight, George is the first to offer his time, his expertise and even his money in support of a worthy cause for our community.”

The recognition was announced at the annual award banquet at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick before a crowd of more than 400 people.

The Tri-Citian of the Year award is sponsored by the Rotary clubs of the Tri-Cities, with the winners chosen each year by an independent committee. Earlier this year, the Richland Rotary also awarded Garlick its 2007 Sam Volpentest Entrepreneurial Leadership Award.

Referencing Volpentest and his community service to the Tri-Cities, Garlick thanked God for smiling down on him. “If He is smiling on me like he did for our good friend Sam Volpentest, I still have 30 years of contributions to make.”

Garlick did pass out briefly before the program started, requiring assistance from paramedics. He said he was all right and that it was something that has happened in the past and was due to pushing himself too much.

He made headlines recently for his philanthropy, giving $50,000 in February to support WSU Tri-Cities’ first freshman class and following it up with March’s $300,000 unrestricted donation to The Chaplaincy at Hospice in the Tri-Cities to honor a former employee who had died of cancer.

However, Garlick’s “service above self,” in the Tri-Cities goes back four decades and even earlier, to when he was growing up on a Nebraska farm during World War II. He worked two jobs while attending college, determined to find ways to provide for himself and his family while also remaining committed to his Christian faith.

It was on that farm, Armijo said, that Garlick learned “the value of neighbor helping neighbor.”

It was also, Garlick said, where he learned four lessons from his father that have guided him through life. Those were to never criticize another person; be the first to apologize regardless who is at fault; never defend yourself if people say false things about you; and always think of the interest of others first.

Garlick’s father, who never graduated eighth grade, taught his son those lessons, as well the value of getting an education while he also went blind from cataracts and, as a result, had to take a $1 a day job in town as a janitor.

Garlick got that education, eventually earning his doctorate in electrical engineering. He remembers the story, he said, of how after graduating he was flown first class to California, where he was met by a limo and offered a great job.

In contrast, he was flown economy class to the Tri-Cities, landed in the middle of a sand storm and there was no car waiting for him. And he said the Tri-Cities has met every expectation he has ever had since.

He helped develop and direct during the 1960s the Joint Center for Graduate Study — now Washington State University’s Tri-Cities branch campus. It was during that time he also developed the acoustical holography technology that Advanced Imaging Technologies — of which he is founder and chairman of the board — is putting to work in early breast cancer detection.

He’s started more than a dozen companies, and his Tri-City Science and Technology Park in north Richland was recently recognized as one of the top 10 research parks in the country.

He is the president of Garlick Enterprises; founder of the Gloria Meek Garlick Foundation; president of the Steven Center Properties and manager of the Smart Park Properties.

“It is hard to quantify the number of people that have been touched by George’s generosity, dedication and accomplishments,” wrote Lura Powell in her nominating letter. “In his 44 years as a community member, George has enriched the Tri-Cities in many ways. He has created a rich legacy, which will continue to bear fruit.”

Others submitting letters in support of Garlick’s nomination were a who’s who of the Tri-Cities, including letters from past Tri-Citians of the Year Fran Forgette, Bob Lampson, Armijo, and Sandy Matheson.

“His quiet but enduring service to the community has helped create better lives for everyone he touches,” Matheson said.

Forgette said, “His expertise is indeed diverse, running from electrical engineering to science, to higher education, to commercial construction, to development and beyond. His seemingly simultaneous pursuit of all these fields always orbits around the central goal focused on what’s best for the Tri-City community.”

Frank Armijo named 2006 Tri-Citian of the Year

This story was published Sunday, March 5, 2006, Tri-City Herald
By Andrew Sirocchi, Herald staff writer

A surprised Frank Armijo was named the 2006 Tri-Citian of the Year on Saturday night before a cheering and applauding crowd of about 450 people, winning the award for a long record of community service.

The recognition, announced at the annual award banquet at the Three Rivers Convention Center, came only a day after what’s likely Armijo’s biggest community achievement yet.

He was saluted for leading the successful effort to win legislative approval for four-year status for Washington State University Tri-Cities.

That single accomplishment stands to benefit the region for decades to come and put the Pasco native at the top of the list of community-minded nominees for the award.

“I’m honored to be a part of this prestigious group,” Armijo said while standing at the podium cradling the award in one arm. “The value I’ve been able to gain through volunteerism is truly the relationship I’ve formed with so many of you.”

Armijo credited his parents for creating a loving environment under which he could flourish. He brought both of them on stage with him, where he also was joined by his wife Sherry and two daughters, Alexis and Rachel. He was nominated for the award by his longtime friend, attorney Fran Forgette.

“I cannot emphasize enough my high regard for Frank as a leader and a volunteer in our community,” Forgette wrote in his nomination letter. “The fact that he took on this higher education project in spite of his already crowded calendar amongst career, family and other volunteer commitments was far and above and beyond the call of duty.”

As the vice chairman of TRIDEC’s Higher Education Committee in 2005, Armijo led an effort begun more than a year ago to unify the vision for a four-year college to serve the region. Most of the work was accomplished under a tight seven-month deadline, culminating with Senate approval Friday of legislation that now awaits Gov. Chris Gregoire’s promised signature.

TRIDEC President Carl Adrian found it fitting that Armijo accepted the award one day after learning of the bill’s success.

“Frank has been working on this all year and he put a tremendous amount of time into it,” Adrian said. “It’s really a tremendous tribute.”

Armijo’s effort in 2005 was far from his first attempt to improve others’ lives through learning.

He long has championed education for Hispanic children and in 1990 was a founding board member and first chairman of the Hispanic Academic Achievers Program. HAAP has since provided Tri-City Latinos with scholarship money that is expected to surpass a combined total of $1 million this year.

Armijo also was one of the founders of Leadership Tri-Cities and the Reading Foundation, both community efforts to improve the welfare of children and adults in the region. He is involved in the United Way, the Washington State Economic Development Commission, Washington State University and the Columbia Basin College Foundation.

Gregoire also appointed Armijo to the Washington Learns Task Force steering committee to help improve the state’s education system.

Calvin Dudney, the winner of the Tri-Citian of the Year award in 2005, said Armijo joins a list of honorees who started with little but through hard work became community leaders.

“First, the men and women who are honored as Tri-Citians of the Year live the American Dream,” Dudney said. “They started with modest circumstances and through hard work, determination and a belief in themselves have persevered to be successful.”

The definition fits Armijo and makes it perhaps less surprising that he understands the value of education so well. Born to hard-working but not wealthy parents in Pasco, Armijo had to compete for scholarships, get financial aid, apply for grants and work a job to become the first person in his family with a college degree.

After graduating from Eastern Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in management information systems, Armijo rose through the business ranks. Now the program director and general manager of Lockheed Martin Information Technology in Richland, Armijo oversees 700 employees and $85 million in federal programs.

The Tri-Citian of the Year award is sponsored by the Rotary clubs of the Tri-Cities, with the winners chosen each year by an independent committee.

Tri-Citian for 2006 a true native son
This editorial was published Sunday, March 5, 2006, Tri-City Herald
Editorial Staff

We’re not sure how many Tri-Citians of the Year have been home grown, but it’s certain the ratio favors newcomers.

We’ve long been a community populated by folks born elsewhere, and the history of the award reflects that fact.

This year, however, the award goes to Frank Armijo, a local production. We’d be hard pressed to come up with a better example of the best the Tri-Cities can produce.

He’s a native of Pasco, the son of migrant farm workers, the first in his family to attend college, an alumnus of Columbia Basin College and Eastern Washington University in Cheney.

Armijo has since devoted much of his time to making sure more Tri-City students from similar backgrounds can achieve similar successes. Toward that end, Armijo and his wife, Sherry, helped found the Hispanic Academic Achievers Program in 1990.

Largely through Armijo’s fund-raising efforts, HAAP is on track this year to exceed a combined total of $1 million in scholarships for Tri-City students.

His additional contributions to education include serving on CBC’s board of trustees, helping found the Reading Foundation and sitting on the Washington Learns steering committee, a statewide panel working improve education.

Anyone following the successful efforts to establish a four-year university in the Tri-Cities is aware of Armijo’s leadership role in that endeavor.

As head of the Tri-City Industrial Council’s higher education committee, he was instrumental in obtaining the Legislature’s approval for a plan to expand Washington State University Tri-Cities.

Armijo is program director and general manager of Lockheed Martin Information Technology, and his volunteer work fittingly includes an economic development component.

He’s served as chairman of TRIDEC and a member of the boards for Washington Technology Center and the Washington State Economic Development Commission. He was a founding member of Leadership Tri-Cities.

Any community would welcome a leader like Armijo. To produce one is a source of pride.

Dudney named Tri-Citian of the Year

This story was published Sunday, March 6, 2005, Tri-City Herald
By the Herald staff

When it comes to community service, few can match Calvin E. Dudney, a soft-spoken man whose personal motto is “do the right thing.”

When the Playground of Dreams was built in 1999, Dudney was there.  And again in 2004, he was there when the playground was rebuilt after an arson.

He’s organized book drives, collected food to be given away during the holidays and had his hands in several construction and landscaping projects at the Hospice House, the Developmental Center, Head Start and Master Gardeners gardens.

Years of volunteer work added up to Dudney being named Tri-Citian of the Year for 2005 on Saturday night before a crowd of about 400 at the Three Rivers Convention Center, which he played a key role in creating as a founding member of the Kennewick Public Facilities District board.

Dudney was joined onstage late Saturday by his family, while more than 30 of his relatives stood nearby for support.

“I don’t know why I got this except for one reason, because I’ve been on good teams.” said Dudney, who held back tears during his brief speech to the crowd.

Dudney’s service to the community he has called home for 45 years includes projects as little as helping on Earth Day cleanups and remodeling bathrooms at the Boys and Girls Club in Pasco and as large as making decisions on the construction of the $19 million convention center.

Dudney, who lives in West Richland, is married and has a son and daughter, was nominated for the award because of his extensive community involvement and for his effective leadership on a variety of projects.

“Everyone who has had the opportunity to serve in the capacity with Calvin has been impressed with his leadership, motivation, drive and perpetual can-do attitude.” wrote Donald Ray, lieutenant governor for Kiwanis International, in his nomination letter.

“He cares about his family, his country, his community and people he works with,” Ray added.

Erin Tomlinson, foundation specialist at Kennewick General Hospital, got to know Dudney when they were officers of Leadership Tri-Cities Class IV in 1998-1999.

“I think of his passion of helping to make our community a better place in which to work, live and raise our families.  (He) has a remarkable ability to serve the community through effective partnership,” Tomlinson said.

She said he exemplifies the award’s purpose–to recognize “service above self.”

Dean Strawn, president of the Kennewick PFD, said Dudney, as on of its five board members, served admirably and “readily volunteered to perform any task that he saw as necessary to accomplish (building the convention center)…displaying the highest levels of integrity, honor and dignity.”

Dudney’s boss at Fluor Hanford noted that Dudney demonstrates in his daily life the Golden Rule of generosity, kindness, and positive living.

He also emulates the best of what service clubs like Rotary and Kiwanis Club preach, even though he personally is not a member of either group.

The award is sponsored by the Rotary clubs of the Tri-Cities, but the winners are chosen each year by an independent committee.

Tri-Citian of the Year Craig Eerkes says he is ‘humbled and honored’

2004 Lewis & Sara Zirkle

Sandy Matheson named Tri-Citian of Year

This story was published Sunday, March 16th, 2003
By Nathan Isaacs Herald staff writer

Community volunteer and businesswoman Sandy Matheson made history Saturday night when she was named 2003 Tri-Citian of the Year, the first time a woman has been honored individually with the award.

The community’s most prestigious civic award recognizes a person who has provided outstanding leadership and personal contribution to the growth and quality of life in the Tri-Cities.

“I can’t tell you how touched I am,” she said, wiping tears from her face. “None of this happens without a team.”

Included on Matheson’s team is her family, which kept the secret by leading her to believe they were doing something else on Saturday.

Her husband was supposedly in flight school in Tucson. Her Chicago-based daughter was going to the library. Her mother was on the links in Denver and her son was traveling in California.

All made the trip to the Tri-Cities for the occasion and were quickly, and humorously, admonished for their deception.

Matheson, 50, has left her fingerprints over the last three decades on nearly everything in the Tri-Cities. Her efforts include volunteer work in health care, economic development, education, tourism, the arts and social services.

Her supporters credit Matheson’s leadership skills in helping give lasting direction to whatever project she embraces. They also credit her ability to help raise millions of dollars for those projects.

“She puts her heart and soul into the community,” said her husband, Superior Court Judge Craig Matheson.

The civic award dates to 1962, when Owen Hurd, a leader in the energy community who served as general manager for the Benton PUD, became the first Tri-Citian of the Year.

Attorney Fran Forgette earned the honor in 2001 and semi-retired businessman Red Rutherford won last year.

The two past women recipients — Mary Gallant in 1981 and Billie Jane Lampson in 1992 — shared their honors with men.

The award is given by local Rotary clubs to a Tri-Citian who demonstrates “service beyond self.”

Matheson was nominated by Pasco resident Bill Moffitt, a retired Hanford executive. In his nomination, he wrote that Matheson “makes a difference everywhere you turn in the Tri-Cities.”

“She exemplifies what it means to be a community developer through her leadership by example,” he wrote. “She has worked and led in many community areas that improve our quality of life and attract others to our community.”

Matheson was president and chief executive of the Hanford Environmental Health Foundation from 1993 to 2000. She now owns a consulting company in the Tri-Cities.

She also has held, or holds, leadership positions with United Way, the March of Dimes, the Tri-Cities Corporate Council for the Arts, the Tri-City Industrial Development Council, Tri-City Cancer Center, Three Rivers Community Foundation, CREHST, Washington State University Tri-Cities, Columbia Basin College, Mid-Columbia Reading Foundation, Kennewick General Hospital, Kennewick School District and the Tri-Cities Visitor and Convention Bureau — among many others.

In fact, Mike Schwenk introduced her last year at a press conference for the Tri-Cities’ 9/11 Memorial Ceremony as “Sandy Matheson, chair or past chair of everything in the Tri-Cities.”

However, Dick Hoch of Kennewick wrote in his endorsement of Matheson’s nomination that she does not push herself into these things.

“She does not have a political or personal agenda to promote,” he said. “She never seeks the limelight, and typically credits her accomplishments to others. The community simply turns to her when something needs to get done. When asked, she steps up and does it.”

Hoch said many people likely are surprised she hadn’t been honored as Tri-Citian of the Year earlier.

But Matheson has some past honors on her rsum including Leadership Tri-Cities Volpentest Leadership Award in 2001 and Kennewick Woman of the Year in 1993.

She and her husband raised two children, Michelle, 23, and Doug, 25. That could be considered three children if one counts Lucy, the family’s 3-year old pug, for whom Matheson is known to sew canine outfits.

Matheson graduated from Northwestern University in Illinois, where she also met her husband. She returned with him to the Tri-Cities in 1976.

She said she has no regrets and no plans to quit, which is a good thing for the Tri-Cities.

“Every decade, a few people emerge in our wonderful community, people with charm, talent, energy, vision — in short, leaders whom others are ready and willing to follow,” Jim Cochran, former dean at WSU Tri-Cities, wrote in his endorsement letter. “Sandy Matheson is one of those people.”

Kennewick attorney named Tri-Citian of Year

This story was published April 8, 2001, Tri-City Herald
By Wendy Culverwell and Dori O’Neal Herald staff writers

Growing up in a large family taught Fran Forgette a lot about involvement. And it wasn’t just family that held his attention and compassion.

Just name a cause near and dear to the hearts of Tri-Citians, and chances are good Forgette is involved, one way or another.

Are environmentalists demanding the removal of the four lower Snake River dams? There’s Fran — organizing the Save Our Dams effort and voicing TV spots encouraging community members to attend a pro-dam rally on the cable bridge.

If school teachers are reaching into their own wallets to pay for classroom technology, there’s Fran, creating a grant program to channel money for software and computer peripherals to most every elementary school in the area.

For his efforts to rally community support for the four dams, his efforts to help teachers pay for classroom technology and countless other projects, Francois X. Forgette was honored Saturday night as the 2001 Tri-Citian of the Year by the Rotary Clubs of the Tri-Cities.

As is tradition, the club kept the identity of its honoree secret until the last possible second, when Forgette’s name was announced by John Nolan, the 2000 Tri-Citian of the Year.

“Wow! This is so neat,” a clearly surprised Forgette said once the thunderous applause died down.

Forgette certainly wasn’t expecting the honor — when Nolan was getting ready to introduce the winner, he left for the restroom. Nolan had to drag out his introduction until the man of honor returned.

Forgette, a Kennewick attorney, soon found himself surrounded by his wife, Debbie, and two sons, Joey and Patrick.

Also present were his mother and one of his sisters. He introduced them to the packed ballroom at the Pasco Doubletree, keeping up a lively banter with his sons and colleagues.

But he turned serious when he said, “I haven’t done anything that hasn’t required a lot of great help. You can’t do what you do in a community without support at home.”

Forgette was nominated by James Spracklen, director of the Department of Energy’s office of security and emergency services — and one of Forgette’s neighbors in Kennewick.

In his nomination, Spracklen noted Forgette not only lends his name and energy to a dizzying array of causes and agencies, but also strikes a balance in his life.

“Fran has been able to balance family, business and social life while being a leader in our community who is not afraid of a battle or to share a tender heart with someone in need,” Spracklen observed.

Forgette’s civic résumé is extensive. He has presided over the Tri-Cities Cancer Center, the Tri-City Area Chamber of Commerce and the Estate Planning Council. He has served on the boards of the Boys and Girls Club, Catholic Family and Child Services, the Kennewick School District’s facilities and technology committee, the Mid-Columbia Education Alliance, the Safetown Project and the Save Our Dams project.

He lends his professional expertise to the Tri-Cities Industrial Development Council.

In the education arena, he is best known for creating the Adopt-A-Disk program after he visited his son Joey’s elementary school class in 1995. There, Forgette was impressed by a classroom computer project — and dismayed to find the teacher, Ron Trautman, had bought the gear with his own money.

From modest beginnings in 1995, Adopt-A-Disk has become a communitywide grant program that funnels $500 each to all elementary schools in six area districts and a handful of private schools.

The money helps teachers purchase software and peripherals they can use for special class projects and motivate kids to investigate math, history and other topics.

The Kennewick School District honored his efforts in 1997 when it named him an Outstanding Partner.

In the business arena, Forgette was president of the Kennewick Chamber of Commerce when it became the Tri-City Area Chamber in a bid to give the region another strong voice. He also donates his legal expertise to the Tri-City Industrial Development Council as its volunteer counsel.

Forgette was president of the chamber when he delved into salmon recovery issues and came to be a community spokesman for saving the four hydroelectric dams on the lower Snake River. He also has led efforts to restart the Fast Flux Test Facility to produce medical isotopes.

He’s well known in the medical community, too, where he has served the cancer center in a variety of positions, including president, board member, counsel and chairman of the negotiation team.

Forgette has been honored in the legal profession, as well. Last fall, he was among seven attorneys statewide to receive the Washington State Bar Association’s “Proud to be a Lawyer” award for his civic work.

Forgette is a partner with the Kennewick law firm of Rettig, Osborne, Forgette, O’Donnell, Iller & Adamson.

The Tri-Citian of the Year program dates to 1963 when Sam Volpentest was honored as the first winner.