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Today’s guest speaker was
Laurie Zimmer!
Laurie
was born in Wallaceburg to
Sandy Easton and Janice
McKim. Her grandfather was a
butcher in Chatham. She
shared with the group some
of her memories of visiting
his shop. Laurie much
preferred the hotdogs in the
cooler to the candy in the
machines.
Laurie’s grandmother
suffered from two strokes,
the last of which was so
severe she couldn’t move or
speak for seven years. It is
because of this that Laurie
works endlessly to advocate
for stroke survivors.
Laurie’s mother worked in
banking and her father was a
school principal then
superintendent of schools.
Laurie was very close to her
grandparents – Bruce and
Mary McKim. Laurie and her
family lived in Strathroy
and Stratford before
returning to Chatham when
she was 12. She went to the
Pines and then St Clair
College for nursing. Laurie
has been an RN for 25 years.
She has spent most of her
time in critical care but
worked in other areas –
continuing care, operating
and recovery room,
emergency, and intensive
care. Laurie went back to
university in 2000 with the
support of her husband Joe
who took over a lot of
responsibilities for your
young family while she was
studying.
Laurie
spoke passionately about her
family – husband Joe, kids
Katie; 21, Joey; 19, and
Nick; 14 going on 25. She
passed around photographs of
her beautiful family.
While
growing up Laurie’s father
introduced her to
volunteering in many
different ways. He was an
active volunteer in the
Jaycee’s, Knights of
Columbus, and the Legion in
Wallaceburg. Laurie’s father
is very proud that she has
decided to become a Rotarian
and continues to give back
to her community. Getting
involved, meeting new people
and sharing and hearing
about all kinds of
experiences and storytelling
is what she enjoys most!
Jim
thanked Laurie for her
contributions to Rotary and
reminded her of how much
better the club is for
having her in it!
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