Anne Farrell Unceremoniously Dismissed by Rob Dinerman
September 23, 2005
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In a stunning development even for a USSRA Office presently reeling
from several recent reversals, a current operating deficit and a
membership downturn, Anne Farrell, the enormously popular Office
Manager whose 26 loyal years of outstanding service make her by far the
most tenured employee in the history of the Association, was abruptly
terminated on September 8th by CEO Kevin Klipstein.
Ms. Farrell, who was caught completely by surprise by the decision, was
given only one day's notice to clear out her desk, a decidedly
insensitive and inappropriate ending to a career during which she
became in many ways the "face" of the Association over the years for
thousands of members, who invariably benefited from her cheery
greetings and remarkable ability to come up with the information they
needed and/or solutions to whatever issue had prompted their phone
calls to the office. With the possible exception of Darwin Kingsley,
the USSRA's Executive Director from 1975-93, whose "right-hand man" Ms.
Farrell effectively became during a period of tremendous growth for
squash in the United States, it is difficult to think of anyone who has
done more for the Association over a longer period of time in this
country than Ms. Farrell has throughout the past quarter-century-plus.
Hired originally in 1979 to work part-time and help launch the
inaugural Insilco B and C national championships (the original skill
level events), Ms. Farrell gradually but steadily enlarged both her
time commitment and her role, to the point where by the early 1980's
her responsibilities had expanded to virtually every area in which the
office was involved. She described Mr. Kingsley as "the most wonderful
person in the world to work for" Both Kingsley and Klipstein's
predecessor, Palmer Page, were effusive in their praise for her as well
and each expressed deep disappointment at both the fact and manner of
her peremptory forced exit, as have a number of other recent USSRA
officers. The positive impact she made on the USSRA's expansion
continued to grow during Craig Brand's decade as Executive Director
succeeding Kingsley and during Page's brief tenure as CEO.
Brand emphasized Ms. Farrell's unique gift for making everyone who
called the USSRA, no matter what their standing in the squash
community, feel welcome and valued, noting that in fact, "Plenty of
people would call the office just to talk to Anne!" Her de facto role
as a goodwill ambassador for the Association and the sport itself
constituted an intangible that former Executive Directors Kingsley and
Brand, as well as several former USSRA Presidents, cited as playing an
important role in the Association's ascendancy, both financially and in
terms of the USSRA's reputation with its members and with other
national squash associations.
Ms. Farrell's primary office colleagues during that extended period
have included Joan Early, Jean McFeely and, more recently, Ms.
Farrell's younger sister Jeannie, whose three years of service make her
currently the longest serving person in the USSRA office in the wake of
Anne's curt dismissal. Time after time the experience, wisdom and
historical perspective Ms. Farrell brought to a given situation enabled
her to assist these Association leaders as the organization moved
forwards, and Mr. Kingsley pointedly contrasted the personal touch Ms.
Farrell exuded (and its significance in helping the Association thrive
and prosper) with the graceless manner of last week's ending.
Typically upbeat and determined to take the high road even in the
jolting face of being summarily let go so recently, Ms. Farrell
emphasized in a telephone interview last week how honored and thrilled
she feels to have had "the privilege" of serving the Association for so
many years, how many friends she made in the squash world during that
time and how much she enjoyed coming to work every day to meet whatever
obligations and challenges arose. Characteristically refusing to
express bitterness or criticism, she joked that, now that she has some
free time, she might finally start PLAYING the game that she has worked
so admirably for so many years to promote, while philosophically noting
that "everything happens for a reason," and saying that she now has the
opportunity to see more of her five children and 18 grandchildren (her
husband, Jim, to whom she was married for 43 years, died of cancer in
2002) in the next few weeks before hopefully starting a new business
career later this fall.