9 January 2007
When we retire at the end of a long and industrious career, our colleagues remember us (as if we were not in the room) for our many accomplishments, but in the case of Fynnette there may be too many accomplishments to catalog given the imminence of her retirement. Still, we may as well give it a try.
Those of us in the MARAC owe Fynnette a huge debt of gratitude for all she has done to keep our organization thriving. Our records first note her arrival in the organization in the 1978 membership directory, and from that point on she’s been active in MARAC. She served as a member and then chair of the Arline Custer Award Committee before serving in many other capacities, including as a member or chair of many committees and as DC Caucus chair from 1992 to 1994. Most importantly, she served as chair of MARAC from 1995 to 1997, yet she didn’t even stop serving us at that point. She probably never considered it.
Fynnette’s service to MARAC barely begins the story of her contributions to the profession. Her service to the Society of American Archivists is just as extensive. She served on the Government Records and the Aural and Graphics sections of SAA. She served on SAA Council for many years, and she only recently completed her tenure as a very visible treasurer for SAA.
Much of her professional life has focused on the management of archival electronic records, one of the most important and perplexing issues facing the profession over the past few decades—and we were lucky to have her on this detail. For at least the past twenty years, she has toiled in this particular archival niche, first at NARA’s Machine Readable Branch, then the Center for Electronic Records. She is ending her career as the Change Management Officer for the Electronic Records Archives, one of the most important projects our profession has ever seen.
Over the years, Fynnette’s colleagues have put aside a little bit of time to recognize her accomplishments—maybe not as much as she deserved but certainly enough to illuminate her unique talents. One of these honors came in 1995 when she was named a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists, the rarest of honors bestowed by the Society. Two years later, she received the Posner Award for a special issue of The American Archivist presenting cases studies on electronic records issues in archives.We cannot, however, reduce Fynnette’s life to a series of accomplishments. As remarkable and impressive as these are, they do not capture the person who she is. Accomplishments are simply clothing, and we’re actually interested in the person herself. When I think of Fynnette, I think of a dazzling ball of energy, her quick eyes piercing through the lenses of her glasses, a smile on her face. I think of her enthusiasm, because she loved her work, loved archives, loved the difference she could make in our world. She knew the work of archivists was important, and she relished her part in advancing that profession. When I think of Fynnette, I think of a person who was truly herself: natural, open, real. Even in formal presentations, her charisma shone through. She was merely a genuine individual conversing with friends about what excited her. I found her always to be exhilarated by her work, and she is constantly aglow with that excitement.
I am told that Fynnette is retiring to Italy, a place all of us should be lucky enough to retire to. The country is entirely magical. Each of its big cities is unique, filled with art and architecture and history, and the countryside is dotted with millions of castles. The food enchants, the drivers are crazy, and the people veer from wonderful kindness to downright weirdness. It is a magical place and one that befits her, because, when I consider what she’s done over the years, I wonder if hers was merely a life or was simply the most satisfying of dreams.
Geof Huth, Chair
Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference
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