Luncheon Named After Jesse McHam

When Jesse McHam left Paris, Tex., for California in 1923, his mother had a few simple words of advice.

“She told me not to do anything bad,” McHam, 91, said. “And I tried not to.”

But in the 70 years that McHam has lived in the Southland, he has done much more than that.

In appreciation of McHam’s more than 20,000 hours of community service, the Fernando Award Inc. of the San Fernando Valley--an organization supported by 24 Valley chambers of commerce and more than 100 nonprofit organizations to honor volunteers in the community--announced its intention to name its annual nomination luncheon after McHam.

McHam, who owns a cosmetics company with his wife, Marion, 85, has served for more than 40 years on the boards of a variety of nonprofit organizations, including the Red Cross, United Way and the Pacific Lodge Boys’ Home. Still very involved with his business and community service, he is also a charter member of the Rotary Club of Woodland Hills.

David Fleming, president of Fernando Inc., said that naming the luncheon after McHam is fitting, considering he played an integral role in the organization’s formation in 1959.

“He’s a very dedicated individual,” Fleming said. “He’s taken on the Fernando Award as the love of his life.”

This year, 17 people from the Valley were nominated for the award, which recognizes personal involvement in and contribution to the community. The organization’s 15-member board of directors voted unanimously to change the name of the nomination luncheon to the “Jesse McHam Nomination Luncheon.” Five finalists will be chosen by the organization and will be honored at the luncheon Friday at the Warner Center. The winner will be announced in November.

McHam said he almost fainted when the board told him of its decision to honor him with the name change.

“I was overwhelmed,” he said. “I never thought I’d done enough to get that sort of recognition.”

He added that he had never really stopped over the years to consider why he was doing the volunteer work. “I don’t fiddle,” he said. “I had things to do and I just did them.”