A SHY SUCCESS

 

My dad did some writing about family in his later years.  He wrote this about Evy several years after she had passed away.  

A SHY SUCCESS
by
DAVE STOWELL

I'm not very good at remembering names, but some stick with me for 
various reasons. Out of hundreds of men in my medium tank battalion, 
I can recall only 2 names. Captain Kidd was so easy, but for a 
beautiful name it was Peter Rigoletto Spinabella. Difficult names I 
find are forgettable. My neurologist spells his last name K-O-O-I-K-
E-R (pronounced Quaker). Trying to pronounce it over the telephone 
gave me fits. Some names I try to identify from national origin, 
others with personality. 

Evelyn was a shy personality -- a wall flower. She had an older 
sister who tended to dominate, and a younger brother who got lots of 
attention. When Evelyn learned to read, books were her best 
friends. She read History, Biography, Art Music, Languages, 
Economics, Political Science, the Encyclopedia and lots more. 

Often artistic objects would appear around her; a large painting, a 
small painting, an afghan, a tool box
 When asked about them she 
would shrug it off with "Oh I did that in my spare time." She played 
Guitar, Clarinet and Saxophone. 

When selling Girl Scout Cookies in a big office, she found that while 
she could not speak to the whole crowd at once, she was comfortable 
with one-on-one contacts. Her shyness drew sympathy and customers 
found themselves buying more cookies than they had expected. The 
Girl Scout leaders were puzzled by her far above average sales. That 
sort of surprise at her success was happening more and more often. 

When a statewide band or orchestra was being formed, she decided to 
take her clarinet and try out in an over packed field. Aggressive 
candidates urged the conductor to choose them. Evelyn as usual stood 
next to the wall. Finally the conductor decided to put on a 
blindfold and listen to each one without peeking. He was astounded 
to find that he had put Evelyn in first chair when he had not even 
noticed her before. 

Evelyn attended a couple of institutions of higher learning including 
University of Washington. She graduated from U. C. Santa Barbara 
with a degree in Mathematics and Computers. She went to work at 
Ampex, the company that Invented taped TV shows for broadcast. For 
sports they introduced Instant Replay. Their customers were TV 
stations and networks. The company kept finding more useful chores 
that Evelyn could handle. She earned a graduate degree in 
International Finance by staying hours after work to listen to 
professors who were successful business men throughout Silicon 
Valley. These professors urged Evelyn to consult with them by 
computer and TV screen; that introduced her to key figures in that 
technical business. She gained many important and useful contacts. 

Evelyn wound up moving up from Ampex to Ampex International. Each 
morning she checked the Wall Street Journal on Financial Money 
Markets. Salesmen and representatives of Ampex called her from far 
parts of the globe. She was not chief of anything but they needed to 
know "Should we require cash for the sale or would it be safe to 
extend credit?" With several phones on her desk she was able to 
answer questions or help people make connections. A truck driver 
might come to the loading dock to pick up crated equipment and find 
nothing ready. Instead of working upward through responsible lines 
of control, taking much time, the driver could go to Evelyn to 
explain his problem. She would make a phone call and the driver's 
problem was solved. 

Her experience with credit made her invaluable to the credit union. 
When a borrower decided to buy a car she found there was no stopping 
it even when poor deals were set up. She did her best to make sure 
her credit union got the best deals. 

Evelyn was taller than average, so what little dating she did was 
with men who were taller than she was. One (Jay Richwood) was 
especially smitten by her personality and she finally married him. 
She made sure he completed a degree in Pharmacology. He got a job 
representing a drug research and sales company. 

Then it all came apart. She was struck down with Lymphoma cancer and 
died at the age of 49. Many of those in the large group of Ampex 
mourners were heard to say "What will we do without Evelyn?"

( Yes, the whole family was lost without her.  She was the support of all of us.)