Gary Gillen
District 5890 Governor 2019-2020
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Each year our District Governor visits each club in District 5790. This is an amazing commitment of time and we are pleased to welcome Gary who is supportive and enthusiastic about The Rotary Club of Houston. Please give him a big RCoH welcome.
Gary and Janice Gillen have two married daughters and one granddaughter. They own and operate Gillen Pest Control in Richmond where he is a member of the Rotary Club. He was named Rotarian of the Year by his club in 2003 and elected President in 2010-2011. He was an Assistant Governor from 2013-2016 and was named Assistant Governor of the Year in 2014-2015.
At the District level he has served as Co-Chair of Fellowship, Chair of the Alumni Committee, Finance Committee, All Club Meeting Committee and the District Conference Committee. He served on the P.E.T.S Vision Committee in 2015.
Gary and Janice are both Paul Harris Fellows with Gary being a multiple Paul Harris Fellow and a Paul Harris Society member. He made both daughters Paul Harris Fellows.
Gary is a dedicated Aggie and has chaired Muster in Fort Bend County for several years. Janice is co-founder of the Fort Bend Women’s Charity that has raised approximately $100,000 for Helping a Hero, and almost $70,000 for Texas A&M Veterans Services including an endowed scholarship for veterans, construction of a study lounge for veterans and funding a textbook lending library to save those veterans at Texas A&M money. They also fund scholarships for the children of veterans.
Gary calls himself the luckiest man you will ever meet because he has had the opportunity to serve the people of Richmond, Rosenberg, Fort Bend County, Texas and the United States in positions most people do not even know exist. Gary was a Commissioner with the City of Richmond and is the first person ever to have served on the Rosenberg City Council and the Richmond City Commission. He served as Republican Party Chairman of Fort Bend County in 2006-2007. He served many years on the Board of Directors of the Texas Pest Control Association and was Chair of PestPAC, their political action committee.
He worked on George W. Bush’s two races for Governor of Texas and two campaigns for President of the United States. During those races for President he led teams to New Hampshire, Iowa, Michigan, Louisiana and Pennsylvania. He was appointed by then-Governor Bush to serve as Vice Chair of a state agency. He also served on the Governor Bush Committee as well as a co-chair of the Bush for President Exploratory committee.
He was appointed by President Bush and reappointed by President Obama to serve on the Good Neighbor Environmental Board- the only independent Presidential Advisory Board in the Federal Government. They study health and environmental issues along the US/Mexico Border and suggest policies for the President and Congress. Gary served on that Board for 7 years.