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Friday, Dec. 14,1979 .
The
. 11 sno
Bee
Community Hospital elects new president
Leon 5. Peters, who served
20 years as president of Fresno
Community Hospital and Medical Center's board of trustees,
declined to seek re-election
Wednesday during the hospital's annual meeting.
James B. Mayer was elected
to replace him by the board of
trustees.
"I believe that after serving
20 years as president, this honor
and privilege should be passed
on to other members of our
board of trustees," Peters said
in announcing his decision. "I
assure you that I will continue
to give the same devotion, love
and dedication to our institution
and will continue to do everything within my power to help
build Fresno Community Hospital and Medical Center to an
even finer, better and more
serviceable institution."
Peters, who joined the hospital's board of trustees in 1949,
will continue to serve as a trustee. In recognition of his service,
Peters was voted president
emeritus by the hospital's
membership. Peters is president of Valley Foundry and
Machine Works.
Mayer, former president and
chief executive officer of Producers Cotton Oil, served as a
trustee at Fresno Community
Hospital from 1965 to 1971. He
was again elected to the board
in 1978. /
Mayer is a 1937 graduate of
Fresno State University where
he earned a degree in economics. After graduation, he was
appointed deputy mayor of the
city of Fresno, a post he served
in four years.
Following military service in
World War II, Mayer joined
Producers Cotton Oil as assistant to the president. He retired
from the firm in 1971.
In 1972, he moved to Phoenix,
Ariz, to become chairman of the
board and chief executive officer of Valley National Bank of
Arizona, the largest financial
institution in the Rocky Mountains states.
Mayer has been active in
numerous professional and
communfty organizations, including the California State
Chamber of Commerce, Fresno
Junior Chamber of Commerce,
Fresno County and City Chamber of Commerce and the advisory boards to FSU's president
and its school of business.
He also has served as a director or officer of numerous
institutions, including Valley
Children's Hospital, Fisher
Construction Co. and Lyons
Magnus Co.
Mayer and his wife, Betty,
have six children.
Also at the annual business
James B. Mayer
meeting, the following trustees
were unanimously re-elected to
four-year terms: Lewis S. Eaton, president of Fresno Guarantee Savings and Loan Association; Elmer "Bud" Richter,
chairman of the board of Pepsi-
Cola Bottling Co. of Fresno and
Tulare; Ed Rontell, owner of
Leon S. Peters
Rontell's Automobile Agency,
and Phillip Weigand, senior
vice president of the Central
Valley Division of Security
Pacific National Bank.
John S. Stoughton was reelected vice president of the
board and Richter was re-elected secretary.
My dear friend:
This morning's Bee headlined some news
that makes it a sad day for the hospital. I'm
sure it will get along, but it will never be
able to sail as smoothly over the rough spots
as when you were at the helm.
We all owe such a debt of gratitude to
you for the magnificent job you did for over
twenty years, and I for one, want to thank you
from the bottomnof my heart, and I know I speak
for the whole community.
With love,
