Past Rotary International President Frank Devlyn passed away last week after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. Frank was the founder of Ópticas Devlyn and an internationally recognized humanitarian who worked endlessly to help the underprivileged, provide free glasses to those in need and to sponsor vaccination drives throughout the world. He was RI President in 2001-2002 and later served as a trustee of The Rotary Foundation.
During my year as District Governor, Frank joined us in Jekyll Island for District Conference as our RI President's rep. There were over 1500 in attendance and Frank made a point to shake hands with everyone and signed 500 copies of his book about Rotary and relationships, "Frank Talk."
Frank is survived by his wife, Gloria Rita Gómez de Devlyn, and three daughters, Melanie, Stephanie and Jennifer.