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INTRODUCTION

Melvin Jones
Founder
Lions Clubs International
1879-1961

Melvin Jones was born on January 13, 1879 in Fort Thomas, Arizona,
the son of a United States Army captain who commanded a troop of
scouts. Later, his father was transferred and the family moved east.
As a young man, Melvin Jones made his home in Chicago, Illinois,
became associated with an insurance firm and in 1913 formed his
own agency.
He soon joined the Business Circle, a businessmen's luncheon
group, and was shortly elected secretary. This group was one of
many at that time devoted solely to promoting the financial interests
of their membership. Because of their limited appeal, they were
destined to disappear. Melvin Jones, then a 38-year-old Chicago
business leader, had other plans.
''What if these men," Melvin Jones asked, "who are successful
because of their drive, intelligence and ambition, were to put their
talents to work improving their communities?" Thus, at his invitation,
delegates from men's clubs met in Chicago to lay the groundwork for
such an organization and on June 7, 1917, Lions Clubs International
was born.
Melvin Jones eventually abandoned his insurance agency to devote
himself full time to Lions at International Headquarters in Chicago.
It was under his dynamic leadership that Lions clubs earned the
prestige necessary to attract civic-minded members.

The association's founder was also recognized as a leader by those
outside the association. One of his greatest honours was in 1945
when he represented Lions Clubs International as a consultant in
San Francisco, California, at the organization of the United Nations.
Melvin Jones, the man whose personal code- "You can't get very
far until you start doing something for somebody else" - became
a guiding principle for public-spirited people the world over, died
June 1, 1961 at 82 years of age.

14 Serve with Love 15