James Lafayette Bomar, Jr., who served as president of Rotary International during its 75th anniversary year, is a lawyer and a statesman. As speaker of the House of Representatives in his home state of Tennessee, he signed more than 10,000 bills and other legislation, and his term as lieutenant governor earned him the title “Tennessee’s Outstanding Legislator.”         

Jim’s English ancestors settled in Virginia in the early 1700s, and his middle name results from their admiration for the Marquis de Lafayette, the French general who aided President George Washington.

A farm boy, Jim rose early to help with the chores, then walked to a two-teacher grammar school several miles away. He walked even farther to take a bus to Shelbyville High, where he played football and was a star debater.

His father, concerned with world affairs and the need for understanding, inspired his desire to become an international lawyer or diplomat. Jim earned B.A. and law degrees at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, and admittance to the state bar in 1937. He began practice in Shelbyville in 1940, specializing in public utility regulatory law. In 1942, he was elected to the state senate.

He entered the U.S. Navy in 1944 and was assigned to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. After his discharge as a lieutenant, he reentered law practice and, in 1947, was reelected to the state senate. In 1949 he switched to the state house of representatives, serving seven terms, five as speaker.

He joined the Rotary Club of Shelbyville in 1942 and was its “perennial” youth activities chairman. As club president he organized the district’s first Interact club. As governor, he helped his district organize 18 Interact clubs.

Jim served as third vice-president of RI in 1975-76 and as chairman of the 1977 Council on Legislation. As RI president, his conviction that Rotary should be more active in solving International problems led him to initiate a series of “Conferences of Goodwill” in global trouble spots. In October 1979, Jim launched what would become the PolioPlus program — the largest single project launched by Rotary - at Makati, Philippines.

Jim, who has received three honorary doctorates, was very active until recently in his Rotary Club of Shelbyville and continued to lend his wisdom and guidance to international Rotary affairs.

Jim died at 6:00 PM on Monday, June 25, 2001. His funeral arrangements included his burial near his childhood home in the Ross Community, south of Shelbyville, Tennessee.