When I came to work at the Roanoke College Library in January 1984 Angela was in charge of Non-Book Services.  She was my first friend there and early on invited me to lunch at her Mom and Dad’s house on Broad Street.  I have never forgotten this welcoming act of friendship. 

Angela and her father, Frank Williams (Roanoke College music professor and composer of the Roanoke College Alma Mater), bought a MAC computer together, and I remember her trying to teach me this new technology in her basement office of the library.  The cursor and mouse coordination seemed very foreign to me, but I was glad for this introduction which prepared me for all that was to come at the library!

To refresh my memory on her contributions to other things, I visited the RC Archives and read through some of the 1985-86 issues of our in-house library newsletter “As the Leaves Turn”.  Angela produced/compiled this weekly publication, because of her great organizational and computer skills.  Her sense of humor was an added delight to her reporting.  For example, her department news in the Jan. 31, 1986 newsletter:  

“There has been a lot of interest in our Thunderscanner.  People from Channel 7 (WDBJ) and from the Student Affairs office have been over for demonstrations.  I should get a commission from the company.”

Also of interest was her initiation of a New Book List as described in the Jan. 17, 1986 issue: 

“We will soon be posting lists of books added to our collection, complete with call numbers, authors, and titles, thanks to the miracle of computer label-printing.  The lists will be posted a couple of times a week (maybe) and stored in some species of binder.  We are sorting them by call number.”  Very progressive for 1986 :) !

She resigned her position in the library in October 1986 and went to North Carolina where she received her Master of Library Science degree.  I kept in touch with her sporadically over the years and renewed more frequent contact lately, as I knew she had developed a number of serious health issues.  We would have lunch, or Starbuck’s coffee (a small latte with one pump of sweetener was her favorite) and long conversations.  I always was amazed at how fast the time flew during these meetings.

Angela was a good friend and I will miss her.