I knew Graceanna for many years as she was well ensconced as Registrar when I first arrived in 1985. Until he died, she came with her husband Phil who as I recall liked to play golf!
In the days before computers, Graceanna’s job was not easy as she wrote everything in pencil and then had the list copied at the stationery store. In 1994, I offered to take her handwritten lists and put them in alphabetical order on my computer. I then mailed them to her and she would correct them and add or subtract others. The final changes were done over the phone and at the last minute I would have 160 copies made of the lists and bring them to the conference—arriving the night before so she could give out the room list to early arrivals. Of course quite a few people wanted changes made when they arrived and Graceanna lived up to her name and with much grace and patience worked hard to keep everyone happy. Graceanna and I did this for fourteen years until 2008 when the task was centralized.
For me Graceanna was always a happy and very kind person, full of love and laughter. She seemed to get such a kick out of life and Northfield was very special to her. She came once to a planning meeting in Arundel and stayed with my husband and I. We had such a good time with her that she invited us to spend a few days with her in Florida which we very happily did a year or so later. She was always a very reassuring and confirming presence at the Conference. I still miss her smile and happy laughter. A special lady. — Kay Flanagan
The Northfield Conference 