Clyde Hemphill is La Cañadan of the Year

The Kiwanis Club of La Cañada has named club member and longtime community volunteer Clyde Hemphill as the newest La Cañadan of the Year.

A retired engineer, Hemphill is vice president of the La Cañada Flintridge Coordinating Council, a member of the city’s Public Works and Traffic Commission, sits on the board of Valley Water Company and is an active volunteer with the LCF Tournament of Roses Association.

Hemphill was previously instrumental in resurrecting the La Cañada High School Spartan Booster Club in 1973, and he also volunteered with youth sports and helped run the local Soap Box Derby Project. He was honored in 2008 with the Coordinating Council’s Les Tupper Service Award and previously received an Older Americans Recognition Award from City Hall.

“Clyde Hemphill’s fingerprints are all over La Cañada Flintridge. He has been so involved in the entire community for years,” said Mary Gant, president elect of Kiwanis Club of La Cañada. “He is a very special person, and this is well-deserved.”

Hemphill will receive his award for exemplary volunteerism and leadership qualities on May 4.

“I feel very honored,” he said. “When they told me I won, I was speechless.”

Hemphill had received several nominations, including an official city nomination through then-Mayor Donald Voss, who said Hemphill “is the very living embodiment of community spirit and community service.”