Rotary Club honors Blair, Sudberry with Harris Fellowships

Ronn Rowland, Muskogee Phoenix, Okla.
·2 min read

Feb. 26—Katey Blair said her late husband would have been very humbled being honored by the Muskogee Rotary Club.

Former Rotarians Jim Paul Blair and B.P. "Sud" Sudberry III were honored posthumously Thursday.

Katey Blair accepted the honor for her husband, former executive director of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame who died Feb. 11, 2020. She was presented a Paul Harris Fellowship on behalf of her husband. Sudberry, who died Sept. 21, also was honored with a Paul Harris Fellowship on Thursday at the weekly meeting at the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. The men are the first recipients to be honored posthumously.

"To me it's very special," Blair said. "As a former Rotarian, I know what it means to be a Harris Fellow. So for them to offer this to Jim posthumous is really exciting — he would have just loved it.

"He would have loved that they're doing this because I think this is setting a precedent, and nobody has had this kind of award after death."

The fellow is named after the man who founded the Rotary Club International in 1905 in Chicago. It acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, of $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation.

"There are nine levels to the Harris Fellow," said Rotary International District Governor Jay Craig who was there to address the club on his tour of the district. "Every time you contribute $1,000 to the Rotary, you go up one level. It's a way for Rotarians around the world to contribute to their funds and use those funds to do good around the world."

B.P. Sudberry, known by the nickname "Sud," passed away last September and was instrumental in bringing Territory National Bank to Muskogee in 1995. Tracey Sudberry said he understands how much the Rotary Club meant to his late father.

"We knew that this was a big core of him and who he was," he said. "When my mom called and said that he was being honored, I said 'I'd love to come down and not support you but see what's going on with this organization.' It helps me understand why it meant so much to him."

Sudberry also said this was just part of his dad's legacy.

"His legacy has so many chapters," he said. "The more I get to interact with people, whether businessmen or friends, I find out so much more about him."

Blair did not lose sight where the weekly luncheon and the presentation took place.

"I'm on the board of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, and I come here often," she said. "Every time I do, I feel the energy here and it would be special for (Jim), too. When he was the director, he brought the Rotary Club here to start having their meetings here."