ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 22, 1997 TAG: 9701220022
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR AND DAN CASEY STAFF WRITERS
F. WILEY HUBBELL has spent years working to make Roanoke a better place. Tuesday, the city gave a little back.
Habitat for Humanity. The United Way. The YMCA. The Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia. Big Brothers and Sisters. The city pension plan board of trustees.
If there is a charitable group, service organization, or volunteer board in the Roanoke Valley that F. Wiley Hubbell hasn't served on at some time during the last 40 years, nobody could recall that in City Council chambers Tuesday night.
Council unanimously named the 84-year-old retired General Electric executive its 1996 Citizen of the Year, the city's highest honor, in recognition of his decades of volunteer service to community.
A big grin broke on Hubbell's face as Mayor David Bowers rattled off a seemingly endless list of volunteer work by Hubbell, most of it since his retirement from GE 28 years ago.
Bowers also presented Hubbell a framed key to the city and a personal "Citizen of the Year" plaque. For this year, Hubbell's photo will adorn another larger plaque commemorating past citizens of the year. That one stays in City Hall.
"Roanoke's star shines bright because citizens like you are constantly applying the polish," Councilman Jim Trout told Hubbell in a room packed with friends and admirers.
Flanked by family members, Hubbell told the crowd he's not quitting.
"I've slowed up quite a bit, but I'm not finished," he said. Then he quoted a line from a placard he ran across recently: "The Lord put me here to accomplish a certain number of things. And I'm so far behind, I'll never die."
Hubbell is chairman of the board of trustees for the Roanoke municipal employees' pension fund, on which he has served for 20 years. He has served 17 years with the United Way of the Roanoke Valley, including a stint as president, and 20 years as treasurer of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia.
The United Way was so appreciative of Hubbell's contributions that it named its award for outstanding volunteer services after him.
Every year, for the past seven years, Hubbell has attended one United Way board of directors meeting.
"He always gives a little speech," said Bob Kulinski, United Way president. "He wants all board members to know there really is a Wiley Hubbell."
Hubbell, a retired finance manager for General Electric, served as president and executive vice president of the United Way board. For nearly 15 years, he headed United Way's allocations committee, which annually reviews agency budget requests and determines how much money those agencies will receive.
"Much of the sophistication of our current system really has its origins in the groundwork that Wiley Hubbell and his team laid," said Kulinski, one of several people who nominated Hubbell for the Citizen of the Year award.
Hubbell is the 15th recipient of the recognition from City Council, which began bestowing the honor in 1981. Last year's recipient was Sigmund Davidson, the retired chief executive of the upscale men's clothing store that bears his family name.
Hubbell has served on the boards of a number of community organizations, including Big Brothers-Big Sisters of Roanoke Valley Inc.; Central branch of YMCA of Roanoke Valley; Greenvale Nursery School; and Help Inc., a one-time social services agency that was absorbed by the Roanoke Area Ministries several years ago. He once headed the Roanoke chapter of the American Cancer Society's Cancer Crusade committee.
Hubbell is treasurer of the board of directors of Habitat for Humanity in the Roanoke Valley.
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY STAFF. Roanoke's 1996 Citizen of the Year, F.by CNBWiley Hubbell (left), and Mayor David Bowers share a laugh amid the
barrage of congratulations. color.