Meet the New Governor and His Lady

After three years of moving up the ranks of leadership in Rotary’s Utah District 5420, Gilbert Trujillo of the Bloomington suburb of St. George, has been inducted into the state’s top spot as 94th District Governor overseeing the activities of Utah’s 44 clubs and more than 2000 members.

As the fifth district governor selected from among the nearly 90-members of St. George Rotary Club, Trujillo will direct Utah Rotary District 5420 to meet the goals of Rotary International as he encourages all Utah Rotarians to more fully engage in service in their club, community, state and in the world. He also hopes to coordinate an international project involving all 44 clubs working together for greater impact; develop a workable plan for the active recruitment of young men and women leaders into Rotary clubs around the state; continue in support of RI’s global partnership goal to eradicate polio in the world; and, encourage Rotarians throughout the Beehive State to dig deep into their pockets to fund water projects to bring clean drinking water to many of more than 2.6 billion people in 3rd world countries who currently live without this precious commodity.

Trujillo also wants to promote micro-credit programs in impoverished populations worldwide enabling people to make a living with an investment of as little as $30; and to continue supporting literacy programs in the state and worldwide.

“The problems associated with illiteracy affect those in developing counties as well as wealthy nations with universal education,” notes Trujillo. “Literacy is a stepping stone out of poverty and can help people provide an income to improve their lives and the lives of their children.”

The Utah District Governor’s Rotary career began in 1989 as a charter member of the Delta Rotary Club where he served as president (1990-91) and hosted Rotary youth exchange students from the Philippines, Brazil and France.

After retirement from General Telephone and Telegraph (now Verizon Wireless) in 1992, Trujillo and his wife Patricia relocated to St. George where he was recruited for membership in the St. George Rotary Club, also coming up the ranks of leadership, including service as president. He also served as team leader for a Group Study Exchange to Argentina, a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for people in the early years of their professional careers.

In recent years as Rotary has grown statewide, the 72-year-old Bloomington resident was selected to serve as an Assistant District Governor which gave him experience and the courage to throw his hat in the ring for his new role as District Governor.

As District Governor, he has the option of having his home club host the annual Utah Rotary District Conference which is expected to bring approximately 500 Rotarians and spouses to the area for three days in May, 2010.

Trujillo is a native of Taos, New Mexico. In addition to his legendary Rotary mindset of “service above self,” Trujillo enjoys cooking international cuisine. Gil and his wife Pat are parents to seven, grandparents to 19 and also have 3 great-grandchildren. The bilingual former Marine’s 30-year career with GTE took him and his family to live in faraway places around the world, including Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain and Greece. Currently, he is the owner/manager of Rent-A-Video in downtown St. George.