SAN DIEGO – In October, San Diego Rotary will honor 91-year-old La Jolla resident Tom Fetter as the 71st recipient of the Mr. San Diego award.

For more than 60 years, he has been the chief executive officer of T. Fetter and Co. Inc., and has spent more than five decades serving on the boards of various San Diego nonprofit organizations, including the San Diego Yacht Club, The Bishop’s School, the Fleet Science Center, San Diego Zoo, the USD School of Law and the San Diego History Center. He was a supporter and fundraiser for the Breitbard Hall of Fame.

Fetter has been a member of San Diego Rotary since 1983.

“Naming Tom Mr. San Diego, places him among a roster of impactful San Diegans and formally recognizes his contributions to the city. He’s still very active and is an inspiration to us all,” said Wendy Urushima-Conn, club president, San Diego Rotary. 

The luncheon celebration for Fetter will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m. Oct. 16 at the Liberty Station Events Center in Point Loma. The luncheon is open to members and guests. To learn more and to register, contact the San Diego Rotary Club Office at jordan@rotary33.org.

Previous recipients include Father Joe Carroll, Cecil Steppe, Leon Williams, Jerry Coleman, Malin Burnham, Jerry Sanders, the late Peter Seidler, and recently, Ben and Nikki Clay. Though given only to men from 1952 to 1991, the award also has been given to multiple women, with standouts like Betty Peabody, Patti Roscoe, Yvonne Larsen and Deborah Szekely. A full list may be found on the San Diego Rotary website.

NEARLY A CENTURY OF COMMITMENT TO SAN DIEGO

Born at Mercy Hospital in 1934, Fetter has spent almost his entire life in San Diego, growing up in Point Loma. Through his love of sailing, Fetter met his wife Jane in 1951 – he was 17 and she was 14. They married in 1957 while Fetter was in graduate school at Stanford University.

Upon graduation in 1958, he was commissioned in the U.S. Army, reporting to Fort Benning, Ga.,  followed by an assignment back in California at Fort Ord.

Eventually, Fetter returned to San Diego to work for Narmco Industries, a defense contracting company that was acquired by the Los Angeles-based Whitaker Corp. He remained in San Diego working for Whitaker for 13 years.

With two former Whitaker colleagues, Fetter started FGM, Inc. with the hope of acquiring equity in a local business. They succeeded, moving a car wash equipment manufacturing business to San Diego in 1974. When that was sold to a Chevron entity, his partners retired, and Fetter became president of the company.

In 1976, he acquired four car wash/Chevron stations in San Diego. Since then, he has purchased, built and sold additional car washes, while also buying other businesses. He purchased Kettenberg Marine from Whitaker Corp. in 1984 and started a statewide dealership for Bayliner boats in 1995. Selling those soon thereafter, Fetter built the five Chevron gas station/convenience store operations that he still has today.

In 2009, he started RV Solutions, an RV dealership in Kearny Mesa, which he sold to Camping World in 2023. He still hasn’t found a way to retire and continues to combine both his work and philanthropic commitments.      

Philanthropic impact

Community service has been a big part of the Fetters’ lives. Tom Fetter has devoted significant time and financial support to a small number of San Diego institutions that are meaningful to him and his family. In 1973, he began nine years of service as a trustee and treasurer of The Bishop’s School in La Jolla. Jane Fetter had been involved at the newly established Reuben H. Fleet Science Center as a volunteer and was elected to the board.

The couple also reorganized the Junior Sailing Program at the San Diego Yacht Club. Their daughter, JJ, won two sailing Olympic medals for the United States and developed training programs for young competitors. Tom Fetter served on the board of the Yacht Club for eight years and was commodore in 1994 during SDYC’s defense of the America’s Cup.

The Fetter family has supported the San Diego Zoo for over eight decades, beginning with Tom Fetter’s father, who was the chairman of the board in the 1960s. Fetter’s service on the board began in 1986. From 1987 to 2013, he chaired the Zoo’s Investment Committee, during which time the investment grew from $9 million to over $112 million. In 2010, the Fetters donated a matching gift so the zoo could create a new home for their oldest animals, the Galapagos tortoises.

His next major philanthropic involvement has been with the San Diego History Center, where he has been a trustee for the past 15 years, chairman of the board for six years and a major financial supporter.

Over the past 20 years, Fetter has actively supported the University of San Diego School of Law. Donating both money and time, he chaired a 2008 capital campaign that raised more than $11 million and he has been a member of the Board of Visitors for 19 years.

A relationship with the Shiley Eye Clinic commenced years ago, with his ongoing donations of diesel fuel for the Eye Mobile to provide eye care to low-income children around San Diego. The Fetters continue to provide diagnostic equipment for retina treatment.

Despite all his business successes and philanthropic contributions, he considers his greatest success to be his family. Together, Tom and Jane Fetter have three children – two daughters and one son – and seven grandchildren.  

Mr. San Diego

The Mr./Mrs./Ms. San Diego Award is one of the most prestigious granted to a San Diegan. The award started with the Grant Club in 1952 before shifting to the San Diego Rotary Club in 1976. Award winners are chosen by a committee comprised of the San Diego Rotary Club’s past presidents. 

Nominees must be a living person, not currently holding elected office, who has contributed immensely to the betterment of the San Diego community. The award is not and never has been a fundraising tool or a sponsorship – it solely exists to recognize San Diegans who have made significant improvements to the city.

More information is available at sandiegorotary.club.