The Association of Churchill Fellows to Induct 12 Members

Twelve new members will be inducted into the Association of Churchill Fellows on Sunday, May 5, 2019, capping a weekend of festive activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the re-hallowing of the historic Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, and the opening of America’s National Churchill Museum at Westminster College. 

The ceremony is free and open to the public, like most activities during the May 3-5 anniversary weekend, including a colorful parade, museum tours, unique art exhibits, informative lectures, and other celebratory events that include family members of former British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill and President Harry S Truman as well as other VIPs. 

The induction ceremony and a commemorative service will begin at 10 a.m. Sunday in the 17th century Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, the cornerstone of the museum. The nearly 275-year-old church, which burned during the bombing of London by the German Luftwaffe at the start of World War II, was disassembled – all 7,000 stones – and shipped, railed, and trucked to Fulton in 1966. 

Several years of fundraising and reconstruction of the ancient church based on Royal Architect Christopher Wren’s original 1672 plans led to the May 7, 1969, opening of the museum and the re-hallowing of the church as a place of worship. 

America’s National Churchill Museum commemorates Churchill’s historic March 5, 1946, speech at Westminster College titled Sinews of Peace. It is often called the “Iron Curtain” speech because it sounded the alarm on the fracturing relationship between the post-WWII superpowers and the threatened spread of Communism. It essentially marked the beginning of the Cold War between the Allied nations and what was then called the Soviet Union. 

The Association of Churchill Fellows is an honorary society of more than 300 men and women dedicated to the development of America’s National Churchill Museum, the only museum in North America fully dedicated to commemorating the life and times of Churchill, the 20th Century’s greatest statesman. The new inductees to the Association of Churchill Fellows are as follows:  

Alumnus and Board of Trustees members Brock Ayers ’82, first vice president-Investments, Wells Fargo Advisors and a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity; James F. Bennett ’92, partner, the Dowd Bennett law firm and member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity; and Ken Murer ’87, founder and CEO, Automotive Product Consultants, Inc., and member of Sigma Chi fraternity; all from the St. Louis, MO, area. 

Other inductees include the granddaughter and great-grandson of Clementine and Winston S. Churchill, the Honorable Emma Soames, noted writer and editor, of London; Jack Churchill, of Seend, Wiltshire, England; David M. Rubenstein, co-founder and co-executive chairman of The Carlyle Group, of Washington D.C.; Clementina “Tina” Santi Flaherty, author and business executive, of New York, NY; Prince Erik de Bourbon, art consultant, curator, and historian, of Palm Beach, FL; writer and historian Deborah G. Lindsay, of Marietta, GA; Don Foss, retired CEO and Chairman of the Board Credit Acceptance, of Franklin, MI; Dr. William E. Parrish, author and former Westminster College History Professor, of Starkville, Mississippi; and the late Dave Stinson, former administrator at Westminster, who raised funds to relocate the church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, from Central London to Fulton and had oversight responsibilities in rebuilding the church and opening the museum.

Read more about each of the 2019 Churchill Fellows here.