One of the hallmarks of the Rappahannock Record over the past 104 years has been the wonderful cadre of employees that have graced the paper’s staff. In any listing of those stellar individuals, Anna Ticer’s name would rank high. For many years, she was the circulation manager, as well as the typesetter.
Anna has a superb mastery over the keyboard. In the old, pre-computer days when I pounded out this column on my trusty Smith-Corona typewriter for it to be mailed to the editor or hand-delivered, either Anna or Gloria Bosher would take my effort and whizz it into shape in a flash. Each week after the paper’s copy went to the printer, Anna turned to circulation, and on the masthead, she was listed as the circulation manager.
Throughout her years at the newspaper, deadlines never phased Anna, as she was always the picture of poise and serenity. She could handle any situation with aplomb and composure. On those occasions—which at the time I hope she thought of, and continues to remember, as being rare?—that I was a bit tardy in getting my copy to the paper, accompanied, of course, with my profuse apologies, when Anna got the pages from the editor, she would get the finished product off in a flash.
Anna’s late husband, Paul, was a repository of local history, ever eager to converse on the lore of the Northern Neck. Along with his brother Lloyd, Paul was an internationally recognized authority on all aspects of merchant marine law and practice. On numerous occasions, they both were called to testify as expert witnesses in legal proceedings both at home and abroad. True to his Glebe Point heritage, Paul had the wonderful talent of being able to take a ball of string and turn it into a crab net while chatting away. Making the net was truly second nature to him. He told me he never bought a net, as he could make his own quite handily.
Since her retirement from the paper, Anna has devoted herself to expressing her passion for flowers in her yard in Kilmarnock, as well as to motherly and grandmotherly assignments. She has a particular affinity for blooming plants that she meticulously nurtures. Along with her interest in plants, Anna is an animal lover, who posts interesting pictures and comments on our furry and feathery friends.
Anna is readily recognizable driving around Kilmarnock in her van with its near-palindromic license plate, “I AM MIA.” She has a profound maternal instinct as one who genuinely loves all children, and she specializes in coming up with creative presents to spur along their learning processes.
Anna’s contributions to the betterment of the local scene have gone far beyond her duties in producing the weekly issues of the newspaper. She is a fountainhead of good old-fashioned common sense. Those of us who have known her over the years know that she can be counted upon to come up with prescient comments on the passing scene in a positive manner designed to be helpful and constructive.
Saturday, Anna will become an octogenarian, while still retaining the aura of perpetual youth that has surrounded her all of her life. Many thanks, Anna, for making the world a better place for both those of us who know you and for our community at large. You genuinely qualify for the distinction of being called a “Great Lady.”
Happy Birthday, Anna! Ad multos annos!
