Henry and Barbara Howard
receive the International Legacy Scholarship

     GRSP Chair Dennis Still presented to Henry and Barbara Howard the INTERNATIONAL  LEGACY  SCHOLARSHIP award at Rotary District 6910 Conference at Callaway Gardens Resort on April 29, 2005.  The award was made as a result of a significant contribution to GRSP by Henry and Barbara Howard to assist in the support of GRSP students to be sponsored by the Rotary Club of Peachtree Corners.  The award was created to recognize support for “The future international student ambassadors of Good Will and Understanding, Young men and women of the world who will sow the seeds of World Peace, Seeking to establish a living legacy of love and friendship among all people”.

Henry and Barbara Howard founded Suzannas' Kitchen in January 1961.  They began their company on “nerves and borrowed money” with 3 employees.  Their concept was to supply portion controlled cooked meat – mainly barbeque – in a frozen form to restaurants that might want it on their menu but didn’t have time to prepare it themselves.  Today Suzannas’ Kitchen racks up annual sales of $50 million and has close to 300 employees at its headquarters in an industrial park near Berkeley Lake, Georgia. In their years of success as business entrepreneurs, Barbara and Henry have been active members of their community service organizations and generous supporters and/or members of numerous charitable organizations.

Henry’s Rotary career began in 1974 with the Rotary Club of Gwinnett where he held several positions.  Henry was instrumental in creating and extending the Peachtree Corners Rotary Club and was its Charter President in 1981.  After completing a very successful founding year Henry remained extremely active in the Peachtree Corners Club always recruiting new members and maintaining his perfect attendance award and inspiring several generations of new leaders.  More than half of Peachtree Corners membership can be traced to Henry’s steadfast promotion of Rotary’s ideals.

In addition to his commitment to his club and Rotary, Henry and Barbara were ardent supporters of the Georgia Rotary Student Program, always taking the time to get to know the students, especially the student that Peachtree Corners Rotary was sponsoring.  It was Henry’s strong belief that every club should sponsor a GRSP student themselves and embrace the GRSP motto of “World Peace through Understanding”.  Henry and Barbara’s business accomplishments are outstanding.  But of even greater merit is their value as human beings.  Through all of their successes, they have remained humble and grateful.  Their participation and generosity to their community, Rotary and GRSP have been exemplary.  On October 6, 2004 Henry was called Home to begin his new journey and to paraphrase a song “If there’s a Rotary Club in Heaven, you know they got a heck of a new member!”

In memory of Henry Howard’s support of GRSP during his lifetime and to continue that support of international students as a legacy, Barbara Howard has made a significant contribution to guarantee the support of GRSP through the Rotary Club of Peachtree Corners.  The Rotary Club of Peachtree Corners completed the recognition by naming Henry Howard a Kendall Weisiger Fellow of the GRSP Endowment Fund.

Thank you to Henry and Barbara Howard who we are blessed to have as friends and supporters making a wonderful difference in our lives and those of countless GRSP students.