John Cornelius’ work helping fellow veterans continues 3 min read

Clark’s Market and Pharmacy Sedona in the Village of Oak Creek presented a $2,381 check to the Rotary Club of Sedona Village, which will go to the Patient Discretionary Fund at the Bob Stump Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Prescott (above). The late John Cornelius [April 23, 1918—April 5, 2017], a World War II veteran, formerly ran the raffle, collecting more than $250,000 to aid his fellow veterans. Joseph K. Giddens/Larson Newspapers

Clark’s Market and Pharmacy Sedona in the Village of Oak Creek presented the Rotary Club of Sedona Village with a check for $2,381 on Monday, Oct. 28. The funds represented 5% of collected receipts during June, with the donation going towards the Patient Discretionary Fund at the Bob Stump Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Prescott.

“The proceeds from the project go directly toward providing the long-term residents of the VA hospital with personal comfort items that are not provided by the hospital,” a Rotary poster stated. These can include such items as shoes with velcro closures for those who can no longer tie shoelaces, or books and puzzles.

Last year, the Rotary Club of Sedona Village raised $15,000 for the fund through Clark’s receipts and the Cornelius Veterans Hospital Benefit Raffle. Over the past 20 years, the raffle has raised more than $250,000. It is named after former Village of Oak Creek resident John Cornelius, who died at 98 in 2017. 

Cornelius was a first lieutenant in the 85th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army, serving as an infantry commander and staff intelligence officer during World War II who received two Bronze Stars for his time in Italy and North Africa.

“I want to raise enough money so our veterans who have to be in the hospital can have some extras and maybe some luxuries — items the government doesn’t provide,” Cornelius said in a June 2011 Sedona Red Rock News interview. 

The Sedona Village Rotary Club picked up Cornelius’ work and has been selling tickets on weekends close to Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Veterans Day at Clark’s Market. One of the Rotary volunteers working the booth is the club’s past president Rob Schaefer, who was in the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps from 1967 to 1990.

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“When I retired, I was the chief trial attorney, and I handled all contract litigation worldwide,” Schaefer said. “So I had 46 lawyers that went around the world trying cases against U.S. contractors and some foreign contractors.” 

“People need to understand that it is a service,” Schaefer said. “It’s something that you celebrate, literally day by day, what you do actually makes a difference.”

The club will also be holding a Veterans Day event at Sedona Winds. 

“Every year, at 10 o’clock on the 11th of November, which is Veterans Day, we have a ceremony and present the colors, parade the colors down past the flagpole outside, and then we raise the flag and Fred Mast from Cornerstone Church has been giving a invocation since we started,” Schaefer said. “After that, we have a presentation of pins to all of the veterans.”

Club members will be at Clark’s again on Sunday and Monday, Nov. 10 and 11, to sell tickets for the raffle. 

Meetings of the Rotary Club of Sedona Village take place on the first and third Thursdays of the month at the Sedona Public Library in the Village at 25 West Saddlehorn Road. 

For more information, visit sedonavillagerotary.org/page/veterans-project.

Joseph K Giddens

Joseph K. Giddens grew up in southern Arizona and studied natural resources at the University of Arizona. He later joined the National Park Service in many different roles focusing on geoscience throughout the West. Drawn to deep time and ancient landscapes he’s worked at: Dinosaur National Monument, Petrified Forest National Park, Badlands National Park and Saguaro National Park among several other public land sites. Prior to joining Sedona Red Rock News, he worked for several Tucson outlets as well as the Williams-Grand Canyon News and the Navajo-Hopi Observer. He frequently is reading historic issues of the Tombstone Epitaph newspaper and daydreaming about rockhounding. Contact him at jgiddens@larsonnewspapers.com or (928) 282-7795 ext. 122.

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Joseph K. Giddens grew up in southern Arizona and studied natural resources at the University of Arizona. He later joined the National Park Service in many different roles focusing on geoscience throughout the West. Drawn to deep time and ancient landscapes he’s worked at: Dinosaur National Monument, Petrified Forest National Park, Badlands National Park and Saguaro National Park among several other public land sites. Prior to joining Sedona Red Rock News, he worked for several Tucson outlets as well as the Williams-Grand Canyon News and the Navajo-Hopi Observer. He frequently is reading historic issues of the Tombstone Epitaph newspaper and daydreaming about rockhounding. Contact him at jgiddens@larsonnewspapers.com or (928) 282-7795 ext. 122.