Spotlight on Mary Thompson—SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary

Joyce Wainscott

The little engine that could—also known as Mary Thompson—has chugged uphill her entire life. A founding member of SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary, Mary was born in Rochester, N.Y., where winter builds character and grit comes standard.

Mary grew up in a small apartment filled with love. Money was tight but family bonds were strong. Weekends she visited grandparents on nearby farms, pitching in and learning that hard work was part of life. Her maternal grandmother was a strong influence: a true powerhouse whose work ethic left a lasting mark.

Mary began school in a Catholic setting where her curiosity and intellect flourished. At age 14, financial pressures forced her to public school, a transition she didn’t enjoy. Undeterred, Mary marched back to the Catholic school and negotiated her return, arranging installment payments. She funded her education through babysitting, library work, summer camps, and playground supervision—managing a small workforce before she could drive.

Mary attended Nazareth University, majoring in sociology. She married, moved to Arizona, welcomed two children, and completed her degree. A move to California followed, where her husband became an English professor and their third child was born.

When that marriage ended, Mary returned to Rochester with three children and unwavering determination. She worked two jobs—waitressing and night ward clerk—to support her family. Sleep was optional; perseverance was not.

In 1970, Mary entered her professional field as a preschool teacher focused on mental health training, helping paraprofessionals identify children needing support. Assisting seniors at the East Side Community Center she discovered a transformative skill: grant writing. This talent became her superpower, opening doors to stability, influence, and meaningful impact.

After a second marriage ended in 1977, Mary met the love of her life, John Thompson, in 1978. Their long-distance courtship coincided with one of the busiest periods of her life. She was writing grants, owning an unfinished furniture store called Naked Furniture, leading a Girl Scout troop, raising teenagers, and working on her master’s degree at night—again proving that rest was negotiable.

Mary married John in 1984, sold the store, completed her degree, and moved to Utah. There, Mary ran a YMCA daycare center and launched a grant-writing career, working with state and federal agencies including housing authorities, community health organizations, and children’s health services.

In 1995, Mary was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer. After treatment she officially retired in 2004. She and John purchased a home in SaddleBrooke in 2003, joined Rotary in 2010, and helped found SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary in 2014, a hands-on service club committed to the Copper Corridor communities.

In 2023, Mary returned to Rochester to be closer to family and to oversee a charity she and John created to help at-risk teenagers complete their education.

Mary Thompson’s story is one of resilience, service, and quiet determination. The little engine didn’t just make it up the hill—she built the track behind her and made sure others could follow.

Mike Close Inducted

Christianne Dettmann

On Feb. 5, the SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club proudly inducted Mike Close into its membership ranks. Mike has been a Rotarian in other clubs for over 25 years, including being a charter member of the Rotary Club of the San Juan Islands in Puget Sound, Wash. He and his wife Jan are both current members of the Salida Sunrise Rotary Club in Colorado. Over the years, Mike has held numerous leadership positions that include being a grants committee chair, fundraiser chair, and exchange student host. He also has participated in international service trips to Trinidad, Mexico, and Honduras.

Originally from Minnesota, Mike began his career in information technology and computers, then started a technical services company, which he sold in 1996. They then moved from Minnesota to Friday Harbor, an island in the state of Washington, where he started and ran a marine services business and a brew pub. After selling those in 2018, Mike and Jan explored many retirement communities, choosing to spend winters in SaddleBrooke Ranch and summers in Salida, Colo. Their hobbies are pickleball, woodworking, golf, pottery, glass, rafting, jeeping, cooking, and travelling. They have four children and three grandchildren.

The SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club is one of two Rotary clubs in the greater SaddleBrooke area. This club of roughly 25 active members is cause-based and focuses primarily on consistent service within the Copper Corridor (generally, Oracle to Superior). If this type of service interests you, come join one of the club’s regular meetings on first and third Thursday of every month at 7:45 a.m. in the Mesa Room of the La Hacienda Clubhouse at SaddleBrooke Ranch, or send an email to saddlebrookesunriserotary@gmail.com. We look forward to meeting you!

Spotlight on Dick Kroese, SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotarian Extraordinaire

Christianne Dettmann

“Cruise with Kroese and make a difference!”

If you grew up in the 1950s and 1960s anywhere near Hebron or Humboldt, Neb., you’re probably no stranger to this Ford dealership slogan. In fact, your folks might very well have had the family car cleaned by SaddleBrooke’s very own Dick Kroese (pronounced “cruise”).

Dick is a founding member of the SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club—one of two Rotary clubs in greater SaddleBrooke. He originally served with the Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke after retiring in 2008, but in 2014 broke off with several others to form this new club more expressly focused on hands-on service projects.

You could say Dick has been in service and transportation for most of his life. Growing up, his father owned two Ford car dealerships that encouraged customers to “Cruise with Kroese….” and cruise he did! Dick earned a Bachelor of Religious Studies degree at Nebraska Wesleyan University. During his sophomore year, he spent one semester at Lane College—a historically black university in Jackson, Tenn.—through an exchange program developed by the two college presidents, both of whom had gone to school together themselves. Dick remains in touch with good friends he made there.

Dick left college with plans to become a minister, but the draft took him instead to the Navy, where he served on an aircraft carrier off the coast of Vietnam. Sadly, Dick saw much Agent Orange being used while there and lost his best friend to excessive exposure. After he returned, Dick earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Dick started his post-Navy working life as a correctional officer at a penitentiary in Nebraska, but he soon found that didn’t suit him. He then became a tax collector, but—finding that didn’t suit him either—took a friend’s suggestion and joined Union Pacific (UP), where he fell in love with railroad life. Dick and his wife, Judy, went on with his railroad roles to live all over the U.S., including California, Alabama, Georgia, and Arizona. He left UP briefly to work for CSX, but eventually came back as a personnel manager in charge of all UP engineers and conductors…a job he loved!

Speaking of love, Dick and Judy had a whirlwind romance, marrying only a few months after they met in Omaha, while he was in college. They have lived in SaddleBrooke for well over 20 years and are now only one year shy of celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary!

One of the first projects Dick and the new Rotary club started in 2014 was to help with Moonlight Madness sales at the Golden Goose. He also has written several grants that benefit Sister Jose’s Women’s Center and, in his spare time, makes walking sticks from yucca stock. You can even purchase one at the Desert Life Pharmacy on SaddleBrooke Boulevard. All proceeds go to the Tri-Community Food Bank—further evidence that his dad’s slogan stuck, because Dick Kroese clearly knows how to make a difference.