PENDLETON — Richard Smiley knows more about the Pendleton Rotary Club than any other person in the universe.

The knowledge was hard-won, involving hours upon hours of searching through dusty bankers boxes and transferring the information to his computer. The result is “Rotary Club of Pendleton, The First Century: 1920-2020.” The 216-page paperback won’t make the New York Times Bestseller List, but is well-written and thorough, following the club chronologically through the century.

Smiley is a personable brainiac who retired in 2015 after a career as an agricultural scientist, professor of plant pathology and superintendent of Oregon State University’s Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center. Smiley isn’t someone to sit idle. Twelve years ago, he began researching a book about the Pendleton Rotary Club. The club would turn 100 in 2020 and the book would chronicle its first century of existence.

The chapter recently named Smiley as Rotarian of the Year. A handsome trophy now sits in a prominent place in the home Smiley shares with his wife Marilyn. Rotary President Mike Williams said the award isn’t given every year, only when a Rotarian distinguishes him- or herself in a big way.

“We haven’t presented this award for four or five years,” Williams said. “It’s for someone who takes special initiative.”

Smiley’s work on the book demonstrated the moxie and drive required, Williams said.

“He spent hundreds and hundreds of hours verifying facts. He’s very meticulous. I don’t know anyone else who could have done it.”

Smiley worked on the book when he could, though he wasn’t yet retired and was researching another book at the same time. When he first started the Rotary book project, he eyed two pallets of bankers boxes and a file cabinet housed in a warehouse with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. He hauled some of the boxes to his garage and office and dove into the project.

“There was a couple dozen boxes of documents, receipts and other old stuff,” he said. “I went through it all piece by piece. It was pretty slow going.”

Among other things, the boxes contained all the weekly bulletins and board meeting minutes, many of which were handwritten.

In his research, Smiley came across some interesting factoids. He learned the club had hosted high-profile speakers including President Gerald Ford and Herbert Hoover. He learned of Milan D. Smith, Pendleton member and district governor, who suffered severe injuries in a 1952 plane crash while traveling with his wife to speak at a Rotary meeting in Southern Oregon. Smith, who piloted a single-engine plane, was determined to speak at every club in Oregon.

“He was on his way to Medford,” Smiley said. “He had refueled in Bend. He and his wife crashed shortly after takeoff.”

The plane’s engine malfunctioned and the plane nosedived, hanging up in a tree. His wife Jessica suffered five broken ribs and facial lacerations. Smith, blinded in his right eye, recovered from serious chest injuries and soon returned to Rotary business.

Another surprise was Rotary’s hands-on role in a stock show that is now part of the Umatilla County Fair. Club members inspected the animals being shown at the fair, kept them secure and arranged for transport to slaughterhouses after the auction.

During Smiley’s 35 years in the club, he got involved in numerous projects. One of the most memorable was buying, reconditioning and sending 150 computers to Zimbabwe in 2002-2003. He and fellow member Stephen Machado found the computers at an Oregon State University surplus sale in Corvallis, trucked them to Pendleton, reconditioned them, boxed them up and shipped them to Africa. The computers traveled by land to New York, by boat to South Africa and by truck to Zimbabwe. Smiley and Machado lined up the proper permits and persuaded the Zimbabwe government to waive the import tariff. The project cost the Pendleton Rotary club $2,089.

In 1987, Smiley nominated the club’s first female member, soil scientist Betty Klepper. She was the first of four woman to be officially welcomed into the club during the induction ceremony.

Pendleton Rotary member Gwen Fjeld said Smiley, a past president and club historian, was a natural choice for the club’s highest honor.

“He exemplifies service above self, which is what Rotary was built on,” Fjeld said. “Dick has volunteered for every project possible from Feed the Children to serving beer at Rotary’s booth at the Round-Up.”