Article provided by Terry Greenburg of the Rotary Club of Lubbock
Former Lubbock Mayor and attorney David Langston became the latest recipient of the Rotary Club of Lubbock’s prestigious Diekemper Service Above Self Award last week during the club’s Diekemper Luncheon at the South Plains Food Bank.
Brent Magers, president of the Rotary Club of Lubbock (holding microphone), presents check to Dina Jeffries, CEO of the South Plains Food Bank April 8, 2026. Also in the photo from left, Rotarian Don Enger; Charles Key, president of the Rotary Club of Lubbock Foundation and Travis Johnson, the food bank’s chief operations officer.(Photo provided by Terry Greenburg)
Also at the luncheon, the club:
Presented the food bank a check for $30,600, from member donations for the luncheon, including a match by the Rotary Club of Lubbock Foundation for the final amount. Received its annual State of the Food Bank presentation.Gave the initial Audrey McCool Service Above Self awards to club members Ben Lock and Annette Sobel.
The luncheon and awards are named for the late Ray and Lou Diekemper. Ray was a member of the club and helped start the food bank in the 1980s. Since then, the club has raised around $3 million for its main charity and given countless volunteer hours.
Diekemper award
Former Lubbock Mayor David Langston holds his Diekemper Service Above Self Award April 8, 2026, with (from left) Saskia Bergstein Allen, Ronda Langston and Kara Bergstein D’Alise. Allen and D’Alise represented the Diekemper family at the Rotary Club of Lubbock’s annual Diekemper Luncheon, benefitting the South Plains Food Bank.(Photo provided by Terry Greenburg)
“David Langston embodies the Rotary motto of Service Above Self and we were happy to honor him,” said Brent Magers, club president.
During his time as mayor:
The Lubbock Economic Development Alliance and Depot District were created and the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast was restarted.He was appointed by then-Governor Bush to the Governor’s Defense Economic Adjustment Advisory Council.
Beyond government, David:
Organized and served as first board chair for Broadway Festivals.Organized and served in numerous roles for Youth Corps.Organized and served in numerous roles for Communities in Schools of the South Plains.Chaired the committee leading to creation of the Lubbock Reese Redevelopment Authority.Served as original incorporator and in numerous roles for the FiberMax Center for Discovery.
He’s also been involved with:
The Lubbock Housing Finance Corporation.Lubbock Downtown Redevelopment Corporation.Committee on Downtown Churches.United Way of Lubbock Success by 6 Task Force.North and East Lubbock Community Development Corporation.The United Ways of Texas
McCool awards
Barry McCool, center, flanked by Ben Lock and Annette Sobel, the first two recipients of the Audrey McCool Service Above Self Award.(Photo provided by Terry Greenburg)
The Diekemper Award was designed to honor a non-Rotarian, but some club members felt many of their fellow Rotarians were worthy of being honored for what they’ve done for the community.
So the McCool award was created, named for Rotarian McCool, who passed away in late 2024. Her husband, Barry, also a club member, passed out the honors to Lock and Sobel.
First, Barry McCool mentioned his late wife would have been uncomfortable with the attention as she liked to work behind the scenes.
Lock made it clear how much he admired her.
“I am both grateful and honored to receive the Audrey McCool Service Above Self Award. I’m grateful that, in an apparent moment of weakness, those who nominated me as well as the award’s decision-makers determined I was worthy of an award named after our friend, the late Audrey McCool,” he said.“But more so, I am honored to have my name associated with hers. You see, I don’t really consider this an award for me. This is an award that celebrates Audrey’s lifetime of service to others. After all, she showed us how to be better Rotarians and how to be better people. She truly lived out our motto of ‘Service Above Self.’“When asked to help with an activity for Rotary, what immediately comes to my mind is the time Audrey took the lead on the food bank’s effort to rewrite their bylaws. Since I had quite a bit of experience with such matters, Audrey decided I should ‘volunteer’ to help her. After one of our Rotary lunch meetings, Audrey came to me and, in her colonel’s commanding officer voice, she asked me if I would join her on her project. I immediately knew there was only one right answer, so I said, ‘Mam, yes mam!’ … and I’m glad I did because working alongside Audrey was a hoot. So Audrey, this award is for you,” Lock said.
Audrey McCool served in the US Army Reserves and was a colonel in the Army Medical Specialist Corps. She also had a full career after earning her doctorate at Texas Tech.
McCool:
Was a founding faculty member at the University of Central Florida’s hospitality management school. Taught for more than 20 years at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) where she held an endowed chair position and established the food and beverage management team.After retiring from UNLV, the McCools returned to Lubbock in 2008, where both held professor and leadership positions at Tech.Beyond her career, she served the Lubbock community through Meals on Wheels, South Plains Food Bank, Lubbock Women’s Club and Rotary. She was also on the board of the Lubbock Symphony and endowed a primary chair in the symphony.Was mother of Willie McCool, Navy captain and pilot of the Space Shuttle Columbia that perished in 2003.
The first two honorees of the award named for her have accomplishments of their own.
Lock, beyond multiple leadership roles for Rotary:
Came to Texas Tech in 1996 when John T. Monford became first chancellor of the Texas Tech System. Before that, he was State Senator Monford’s legislative director. Before that, he spent six years working for State Comptroller Bob Bullock. At Tech, he was executive assistant to the chancellor and secretary of the system’s Board of Regents.Served as Texas Tech’s System coordinator for the State Employee Charitable Campaign and as the system-wide coordinator for Texas Tech’s participation in the campaign.Is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce. He’s been active in the Chancellor’s Council, Red Raider Club and Alumni Association at Texas Tech, where he also is a member of the Matador Society.
Sobel is adjunct faculty in Texas Tech’s Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and a retired major general from the United States Air National Guard.
In Lubbock, her service includes:
President of Komen Foundation of West Texas, Red Cross of the South Plains and board member of Women’s Protective Services. Chair of the Veteran’s Advisory Committee for Lubbock and volunteered on Lubbock’s General Officer Committee.Commissioner for the Texas Military Preparedness Commission.Helping with the planning, final approval and implementation of the West Texas Veteran’s Cemetery.Working to support disadvantaged military communities through Defense Economic Adjustment Assistance Grants.Working with the Gary Sinese Foundation to establish a journaling and interactive film program to help rehabilitate West Texas veterans, active service members and their families with PTSD. Organizing, mentoring and leading two teams of TTU students to develop prototype wound healing systems for burn victims, receiving two international innovation awards through the “iGem” program. Mentoring undergraduate students working with elementary schools in Lubbock to develop engineered solutions to enable children with hand deformities to play softball and spina bifida children to stand with minimal assistance. Working with her husband, Dr. Robert Duncan and his team at Tech, she helped develop a patented COVID respirator for home use.
KCBD is a longtime partner of the South Plains Food Bank, including broadcasting U Can Share every year since its inception. KCBD News Director Matt Ernst is a member and serves on the board of the Rotary Club of Lubbock.
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