Carl McDaniels
Blacksburg Rotary Club

Carl McDaniels was president of our Rotary club during 1983-1984.

Carl was born in 1930 on an Indian reservation in South Dakota where his parents taught school.  His parents lived a nomadic life when Carl was a child, living in Indiana, New Mexico, Ohio, and finally Texas where his father was killed and his mother injured in an automobile accident when Carl was ten.  Carl was in the car but wasn’t injured.

Carl’s mother then moved to Arlington, Virginia, where Carl lived during his teen years and graduated from high school.  He attended Bridgewater College and got a degree in psychology and history, and he played basketball and baseball.  He tried out for professional baseball and went to spring training with the New York Giants Farm System in 1950. 

He served in the US Navy for four years during the Korean conflict, in the Seabees and teaching at a Naval prison.  He got an advanced degree from UVA in counseling and then worked as a vocational and guidance counselor in high schools and eventually at Virginia Tech in the Department of Education in 1969 in Counselor Education.  He retired in 2000.

Carl was married in 1951.  He and Ann have three grown daughters.

His involvement with our club dates back to 1979.  During his term as president, he worked to build membership, involve spouses in club activities, and introduce family fellowship activities.  He organized a vocal group of four men called The Uncalled Four. 

Carl has a long history of service to the community.  He said, “I have belonged to many groups, professionally and socially.  Rotary is the very best.  I believe in everything the club stands for and does.  The people I’ve met have been stellar and influential in my own development.  The people and the projects are all a big part of my life.”

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