ABEL NOAH

Abel Noah spends a lot of time in Wenatchee explaining things.

1. He is not a Sooner, but a "Cowboy" from Oklahoma State, where they play football (he hasn't seen any in Washington).
2. Yes, he's not from here. Abel has been a Rotarian since 1998 in Oklahoma City and transferred to Wenatchee Rotary club in 2004. This is the first place he's lived outside of Oklahoma (which means "Land of the Red People in Choctaw, but no one ever asks that).
3. He speaks no Spanish.
4. He is a rare full- blooded Choctaw. His great-great-great grandfather survived the "Trail of Tears;" which actually is a result of the 1830 Indian removal act, signed by President Jackson 2,500 others did not survive.
5. He doesn't speak Choctaw that we'd want to hear. It is a good thing that he has a sense of humor.

He got a degree in criminology and corrections before going to work in the oil field business. The oil business was good, but it changed so he worked for the Native American Health Clinic in Tulsa, Ok. He went from there to the American Heart Association in Oklahoma and to a hospital system for the last six years before a national search chose him to be head of the Foundation at Central Washington Hospital.

He married Rhonda 17 years ago and she is delighted her 24th year of teaching is at Foothills Middle School. Rhonda and Abel enjoy traveling. He has run the NYC Marathon four times and been invited back twice most recently this past year, but has not yet returned. He plans to run next year so he can stop explaining to his Board Member Allan Galbraith that he really is a marathoner.

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