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Remembering Hetty Celebrating the Life of Henrietta Hetty McMann and Her Passion for Genealogy Come and Share Your Stories Sunday, March 25, 2:00 p.m. Santa Clara Central Park Library Redwood Room 2635 Homestead Road Santa Clara

In Memory of
Henrietta "Hetty" McMann
who passed away on February 20, 2012

After a valiant four-year battle with cancer, Hetty McMann, beloved President of SCCHGS, passed away on Presidents Day 2012.


Photo by James McMann


Hetty joined SCCHGS about the time the new Central Park Library opened in 2004. She was already a member of one of Pamela Erickson's Adult Education genealogy classes and also belonged to a group called Gen Buds (i.e., Genealogy Buddies). Hetty was first recruited by the Genealogy Society to be a member of the SCCHGS newsletter mailing team, and by July 2006 she was the Newsletter Mailing Coordinator.

By the time SCCHGS celebrated its 50^th Anniversary in May 2007, Hetty recruited her husband Jim to be the official photographer of that event; and she took her first genealogy trip to Salt Lake City, one of the May trips led by Pamela Erickson. She wrote a delightful article about that trip in the July 2007 newsletter. In that same newsletter, then SCCHGS President, Trina Gentry, interviewed her for a Member Spotlight column. Quoting from that column, Henrietta enjoys being a part of the Society. The meetings are informative and the people are just wonderful. Everyone is so friendly, and their advice and tips have been a big help. By July 2009 Hetty was elected President of SCCHGS. Soon she established a Technology Committee and continued helping out with other committees.

SCCHGS Library Staff Liaison, Mary Hanel, notes that one of the reasons that Hetty found everyone so friendly is that she was a natural at making friends. She was incredibly cheerful and because of her enthusiasm, you couldn't say no if she asked you to do something. Working on a project with her was always fun. Several of her Gen Buds ended up working on SCCHGS committees or helping with Society workshops and programs.

She loved learning new things and was energized working on projects with other groups that had an interest in history and genealogy. She attended meetings of a local historians group, and she got ideas for SCCHGS programs after attending the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree. She had SCCHGS working with the Silicon Valley Computer Genealogy Group and the LDS Family History Center in Santa Clara to put on a Publishing Our Work (POW!) workshop, and she staged a special genealogy weekend: a two-day event featuring four speakers from the California State Genealogical Alliance, a Birds of a Feather luncheon, and a Library tour and research day.

Charity Trajico, the Library's Volunteer Coordinator, would also comment on Hetty's charming personality. She called Hetty "Madame President" and noted that Hetty, when needed, was always good for an enthusiastic volunteer quote, and she expressed appreciation for even the smallest favor done for her by the Library.

Hetty fulfilled her desire to accomplish many things for SCCHGS in case cancer shortened her life. She was an inspiration to many people, and she will be greatly missed by the numerous people whose lives she touched.

Our thanks to Mary Hanel, Local History Librarian and Staff Liaison to SCCHGS, for writing this lovely tribute to Hetty. We hope our readers will join SCCHGS and Hetty's family and friends on March 25 to celebrate the life of this remarkable woman.

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Operation Sparkle
A Remembrance of Hetty
--by Lynn Penoyer, Newsletter Editor

Hetty once told me of an annual tradition of hers. In the fall of each year, as the holidays approached, she would thoroughly clean her house right down to washing knick knacks. She called this preparation Operation Sparkle. Leave it to Hetty with her innovative, inspiring and, yes, sparkling personality to come up with a charming term for house cleaning!

Do you have a remembrance of Hetty to share? Would you like to write a tribute to her fine work, describe a moment of inspiration or support you received from her, or share an amusing anecdote? Connections Editor Trina Gentry would like to hear from you. She will be compiling remembrances to publish in the spring issue of Connections (the Society's journal), and excerpts may be published in the newsletter, too. Please send your remembrances of Hetty to Trina at tmgent01@hotmail.com by April 10. We hope to receive lots of them!

You may also post a remembrance or memory of Hetty on our website at: Remembering Hetty