Rotary International Honors Portsmouth member Ellen Labrie

Ellen was a pioneer in our district and in Portsmouth Rotary, long before she became an official Rotarian.

Ellen’s husband Jim Labrie served as President of the Rotary Club of Portsmouth in 1985-1986.   Jim then became our district governor during 1989-1990.   The district at that time (#779) stretched from Massachusetts into Quebec, so governors’ visits involved very extensive travel, and a quick search of the archives unearths articles about governor’s visits by Jim and Ellen from one end of the region to the other.  Most of you in this room understand the vital role a spouse plays in keeping a district governor on track and grounded.

While Jim was working as District Governor, Ellen was one of a group of nurses who went into the Campos, bringing medical care to that very underserved population in Haiti.   The program expanded that year to the Dominican Republic, where the district had been digging wells.

In 1991, Ellen and Jim led a GSE team to Vera Cruz Mexico.  

In 1997, they were in Ethiopia on a National Immunization Day program.   As a nurse, Ellen participated in three deliveries (two boys and one girl)…so her own Rotary family is truly international.

In 1998, Ellen joined the Rotary Club of Portsmouth as a member.   She didn’t need much new member orientation!!

She served on the board of directors of Portsmouth Rotary, and became the district chair for Polio Plus, visiting clubs to share the horror of the disease in the third world along with the hope that Rotary was bringing to the many countries still battling polio at the time.

Today, Ellen Labrie remains a vital part of Portsmouth’s club today, as does her husband Jim.   Each year the Labries’ host new-member socials and district governor visits at their home in Rye, with forty or more club members and guests sharing Rotary fellowship in their homes.   

And this year, Ellen stepped up her service again, leading Portsmouth’s campaign for PolioPlus.   She educated newer club members about the importance of Ending Polio Now.   She shared her history and passion for the cause, and led a fundraising drive,  joined by PDG Ann Lee Hussey in bringing that message to Portsmouth during a club Polio Month in October.   

The club goal for PolioPlus this year was to raise $1500…by the time Ellen’s work was done, there were eighty-five individual donors in the club who contributed ten thousand, nine hundred dollars to Polio Plus….with the William and Melinda Gates’ Foundation match, that money has tripled to over thirty-thousand dollars aimed at eradicating polio in the countries where it stubbornly remains a risk to world health.