By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Ned B. Sutherland, whose green thumb for grant writing benefited everything from Southwestern Michigan College and Lewis Cass Intermediate School District students to Dowagiac's park system, became Dowagiac Rotary Club's 53th Paul Harris Fellow Thursday noon at Elks Lodge 889.
The club donates $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation to make such a designation.
Sutherland is not a Rotarian, although he has been Elks Citizen of the Year in 1996, was the Lions Club's first Lion of the Year, as well as recipient of the Dowagiac Ministerial Association's Barnabas Award, the Daily News "Hometown Hero" in 1992 and Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) recognition last year.
Richard Judd, who made the presentation, commented, "Criteria include being an outstanding citizen. One criteria has been being a member of Rotary Club, although not the sole criteria. They must give back to the community and have made a contribution to society as a whole. We've had many past presidents. Our first one was (Mayor) Graham Woodhouse in 1977, with perfect attendance for more than 50 years. Several have been district governors, including our second one, John Ristow," and Dave Groner.
Sutherland thought he was attending the luncheon to present a program on Habitat for Humanity.
Born June 19, 1934, in Rensselaer, Ind., he was the only child of Dr. Earl and Evelyn Sutherland. He starred in basketball during high school in Rensselaer. Summers he attended Culver Military Academy.
Sutherland attended Indiana University in 1952-53, then completed his bachelor's degree in industrial education at Ball State University in 1956. He served in the U.S. Army from 1957-59. He later earned a master's degree from Western Michigan University in 1954.
Sutherland taught middle school and high school drafting in Otsego and Kokomo, Ind., and was named Indiana's "Teacher of the Year."
He joined the staff of Southwestern Michigan College in 1967 and became chairman of the drafting department. In 1973, he moved over to Lewis Cass Intermediate School District as director of vocational education.
There he proved his gift for grant writing, securing $1 million to $2 million annually in LCISD funding.
He had a lead role in designing the student-built administration building which contained his office on Dailey Road.
Among numerous boards on which Sutherland has served is the Private Industry Council (PIC) for Cass, Berrien and Van Buren counties as vice chairman.
As chairman of the Dowagiac Parks and Recreation Board for eight years, he helped fund and establish six city parks, including Rotary Park.
Sutherland has served for a number of years on the Dowagiac Downtown Development Authority (DDA) as vice chairman. He has been active in the Lions Club, serving as both president and secretary and earned the club's first Lion of the Year award. He belongs to First United Methodist Church, where he has served as administrative board chairman.
Sutherland was active in the Boy Scouts of Southwestern Michigan, serving as district chairman and on the camping and finance committees.
Judd recently ran across a brochure listing Sutherland as a member of the 1971-72 Merger Study Committee for the Kalamazoo, Battle Creek and Southwestern Michigan Councils of Boy Scouts of America.
Until recently, Sutherland served as president and "Head Hammer" for Habitat for Humanity of Cass County, a Christian housing ministry he helped establish locally in 1989. He served this program for 15 years and thought he was at Rotary's Thursday noon luncheon to talk about Habitat.
Ned married Lou in 1959. They have four children: Les, who lives in Miami; Lisa Broderick of St. Joseph; Julie Eastman of Watervliet; and Jan Parish of Niles. They have seven grandchildren.