It’s always been about service.
Even in its mantra it states — We Serve — and if you’re a member of the San Marcos Lions Club you know it to be true. In December, the club honored three of its longtime members by making them Lifetime Members for years of service not just to the spirit of Lionism, but to the city of San Marcos.
Clyde Schneider
Clyde Schneider has been a Lion for 62 years. He’s served as District Governor for District 2T2, in the Lubbock area, in 1969-70.
Schneider is a Melvin Jones Fellow recipient, the highest service award given by Lions Club International.
He was born in Ralls, Texas and later attended Texas Tech University. He served as an active-duty Air Force pilot from 19501954 in Japan and Korea. He retired from the Air Force reserve as a Major in 1972. He married his lovely wife in 1952 and the two have five children, 18 grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren.
Schneider has owned several successful businesses in Lubbock from 1954-74 before moving to Houston in 1974. He has been active in local business promotion, civic and church volunteer efforts. He has served the San Marcos Lions Club in many areas, including Tail Twister.
Schneider’s passion was collecting used eyeglasses from our many collection points in town. He was a major force behind the club’s White Cane Day every year.
Dr. Glenn Longley
Glenn Longley has been a lion for 49 years and a Melvin Jones Fellow. He served as President of the San Marcos Lions Club in 1977-78.
Longley was born in 1942 in Del Rio, Texas. At age 6 his family moved to Johnson City where he graduated high school. Upon graduation he attended Abilene Christian College where he met his wife, Francis. They married in 1961 and moved to San Marcos where he studied at Southwest Texas Teachers College earning a bachelor’s degree in Biology. Later he received his master’s degree in Sanitation Engineering and Water Treatment and his PHD in Limnology, the study of fresh water, from the University of Utah.
Longley returned to San Marcos in 1969 and became a professor at SWT’s Aquatic Center and taught Biology. He was appointed by the Governor of Texas to be the Director of the Edwards Aquifer for Research Center and retired in 2014.
Longley has six children and nine grandchildren and was one of the pioneers of the San Marcos Lions Club Tube Rental. He, along with Lion Cliff Caskey and others, had the idea of renting tubes to raise money for the San Marcos Lions Club. They would pick up tubes at the truck stop, air them up, and take them to the river, just below what is now Kerby Lane Café. Little did Lion Glenn know that this idea would turn into a million-dollar business allowing the San Marcos Lions Club to give over $350,000 annually to local organizations.
Each year the San Marcos Lions Club awards two scholarships in Lion Glenn’s name to the Department of Biology at Texas State University.
Dr. Roberto Galvan
Lion Roberto Galvan has been a Lion for 42 years and is a Melvin Jones Fellow. Galvan was born in San Antonio and will turn 100 next year.
Galvan began his undergraduate studies at San Antonio Junior College before serving for three years in WWII. He continued his undergraduate work at Trinity University. He received his M.A. Degree from U.T. and his Doctorate from Tulane University.
Roberto was a Professor at Southwest Texas State College, later SWT and Texas State University, teaching Spanish in the Department of Modern Languages from 196483, where he won many awards for his teaching and service to the university.
Roberto has served the San Marcos Lions Club in many different roles. Perhaps the one role many Lions remember him for was his record setting ticket sales to our Mexican Food Dinner that was held for many years.
Known for his kind spirit and determination to do whatever it took to help the San Marcos Lions Club, Galvan truly serve the people of this community.
Each year the San Marcos Lions Club awards two scholarships in Lion Roberto’s name to the Department of World Languages and Literature at Texas State University.
Information provided by San Marcos Lions Club
