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In 2006, The Board of Directors of the Rotary Club of Bend The award is named after H.M. Kemple, who celebrated
The Board of Directors accepts nominations for the
The
Following is From An Article in the Bend Bulletin
A dentist devoted to Bend’s childrenBy Julie Johnson / The BulletinPublished: December 03. 2007 4:00AM PSTH.M. Kemple, a longtime Bend dentist and founder of the Kemple Children’s Clinic that provides free dental care for low-income families, died of cancer Sunday morning. He was 84. Kemple, who had been ill for some time, died at home in the presence of his family, said Mike McCallister, his stepson. After his death, his family shared a small prayer and celebration of his life, McCallister said. Kemple was a beloved figure in Bend, a man who devoted his career and his retirement working toward a better community, said Jim Lussier, former CEO of Cascade Healthcare Community and a friend of Kemple’s. “He was one of those consummate Bend citizens that made this place grow and grow right,” Lussier said in October. “He made the world a better place.” Kemple was a U.S. Marine Corps pilot in the Pacific Theater during World War II and taught biology in Illinois after the war. He was inspired to change careers by his own children’s dentist. He headed west when he heard Bend needed a dentist, but joked in 2000 that he almost turned back when he passed Burns and saw a wide open desert before him. The mountains and landscape near Bend, though, changed his mind, and he established his Wall Street dental practice in 1956. Brad Hester, who bought the dental practice when Kemple retired in 1998, said Kemple was an excellent dentist whose regular patients still ask about him. Kemple wouldn’t let Hester buy the clinic straight off, Hester said, but took his time deciding if Hester was a good fit. “We spent quite a bit of time together before he decided I was all right,” Hester said. “The longer I was with him, the more I saw his fingerprints on good things in the community.” Kemple retired in 1998. But a retirement of shuffleboard and tee times didn’t suit him. Instead, friends say, he devoted his retirement to the community. In 1998, Kemple founded the Kemple Children’s Clinic, a free dental clinic for children of low-income families. Volunteering his own time and cajoling colleagues to volunteer theirs, Kemple staffed the clinic with local dentists. The clinic now sees 500 to 600 children each year, said Vickie Matthews, clinic manager. “He really loves children,” Matthews said in October. “He really had a manner with them that would put them at ease.” Matthews recalled Kemple as a grandfatherly man with a good sense of humor who often spoke about the happiness of his marriage to his wife, Terry. “And I believed him,” Matthews said. She said Kemple would often come to the clinic after a yoga class at the Athletic Club of Bend, or another physical activity. He often carried files, books and other items for the day in a clear plastic bucket, she said, a quirk she found endearing. But it was dedication to children and their families, Matthews said, that most people will remember him for. “He believed that by helping the child, you helped the whole family,” she said. Roger Ager, chairman of the Kemple Children’s Clinic board of directors, said Kemple cared not only for children’s physical health, but their overall well-being, too. “He’s a very insightful and passionate man with respect to children, their care, their upbringing and anything else for kids,” Ager said in October. In addition to his work for kids’ health, Kemple was a stickler for proper etiquette. He wrote an etiquette book for children and taught kids’ etiquette classes at the Athletic Club of Bend. In it, he covered topics like table manners and introductions, but also how to respect adults, be kind to other children and refrain from gossiping. “Good manners are doing things that make you feel good about yourself and doing things that make other people feel good about you,” Kemple said in 2003. Kemple was a longtime member of the Bend Rotary Club. He was the 2000 recipient of the North Star Award for contributions to health care in Central Oregon and the 2003 Bend Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year, in addition to many other accolades for his community service. “He always had that motivation,” Lussier said. “But it wasn’t about any attribution to him, it was just about giving back.” Survivors include his wife, Terry, six children, five stepchildren, 20 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
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Club #330 
