It’s a pleasure and a privilege for me to help bestow Emeritus status on Bob Foster. It’s also a not-so-gentle reminder of where Bob and I are, chronologically, on a long life journey that we’ve shared for almost 50 years. Without making this too much about me rather than Bob, let me just say that we met in the early 70’s as young lawyers in Ann Arbor, focused on trying make a living as such, but also with community and other interests extending well beyond the practice of law. One of those interests was sports. As many of you may know, Bob was (and probably still is, at least on the golf course), a really good athlete. We played softball on the same slow-pitch team in the 70’s and 80’s, with Bob as a pillar of defense at third base and a consistent high-average hitter. In those days Bob also was a nationally competitive handball player, winner of 4 State Open Doubles titles and a U.S. Regional Open Doubles championship. Later, Bob and I and his two sons had a weekly doubles tennis match for several years. One reason he was such a good handball player — or perhaps as a result of that — is that Bob is ambidextrous, as he demonstrated effortlessly in both softball and tennis. He’s also an avid golfer, and for several years was Board member and Chair of Indian River Golf Club, carrying his commitment to nonprofit service and leadership into the all important Up-North part of the Foster family’s life. Another of our early connections was local politics. In the mid-70’s Bob asked me to help with his campaign for Ann Arbor City Council — an uphill and ultimately unsuccessful effort, as a Republican in the First Ward, in those days the only consistently Democratic ward in the city. But he was elected to the Ann Arbor Board of Education in 1980, without any help from me, and served with distinction for three years. In 1975, Bob began two of his longest running commitments to service in our community: with the Ann Arbor Rotary Club, and the Washtenaw United Way Board of Directors. He served on the United Way Board for a total of 23 years, from ’75 to ‘92 and again from 2002 to 2008, plus another five years on the United Way of Michigan Board. As an Ann Arbor Rotarian, he has been a loyal, active and dedicated club member and leader, serving as Community Services Committee Chair in ’92-93, Board Member from 1980 to ’86, and Club President in 1998-99. In recognition of his service to Club and Community, the Club honored Bob with its Distinguished Service Award and Honorary Paul Harris Fellowship. And as you know, our Rotary club is a family affair for the Fosters, including spouse Terry, an equally active and dedicated member for decades, and son Mark. As a lawyer, Bob was a skilled and distinguished practitioner and also a leader, as founder and managing partner of Foster, Meade, McGill and Ramsey from 1975 to 1993. Then he joined one of the major Detroit law firms as managing shareholder of Butzel Long’s Ann Arbor office until 2000, and then another ten years as consulting counsel. Much of his practice was in the financial services area, and he served as a Board member of what first was Ann Arbor Bank & Trust and became First of America Bank – Ann Arbor, and as a community board member of two other banking institutions. He also was active in State and local Bar Associations and was recognized as a member of “Who’s Who in American Law.” Two other major areas of Bob’s commitment to service have been health care and the church, including lay leadership roles at First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor from 1980 to the mid-90’s. He was a board member for St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Ann Arbor and the Catherine McAuley Health System, with cumulative service extending over twenty years. And again as part of his Up-North life, he held various Board leadership roles, including Chair, with Northern Michigan Regional Hospital (as it was known when he started there) and McLaren Northern Michigan Hospital, for which he was Board Chair from 2012-14 and remained on the Board of Trustees until 2015. Locally, he was a member of the Board of Trustees and the Finance Committee at Glacier Hills Senior Living Community from 2005 through 2009, and of the Heritage Foundation Board for United Methodist Retirement Communities for ten years. Rounding out his service to our local community and its nonprofit infrastructure, Bob served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation and the Ann Arbor YMCA Board for seven years each, the Greater Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce for similar periods, the Hands on Museum Board for two years, and the Forest Hill Cemetery Company Board of Trustees for decades. All in all, folks, if we’re looking for an exemplary embodiment of the Rotary principle of Service Above Self, we need look no further than our dear friend and fellow Ann Arbor Rotarian, Bob Foster. In closing, again on a more personal note, let me say that long lasting, mutually respectful friendship is one of life’s great privileges and comforts — even if months or even years go by without close or continuous interaction — and I’m sure many of you share my appreciation and gratitude for having had this experience with Bob Foster. So please join me in confirming his Emeritus status with our club.