It is with sadness that we share the passing of Penny Spagnolo, APSA's former Association Director, on January 23, 2018, at the age of 81.
Penny served as APSA’s Association Director from 1988 to 2001. She was instrumental
in moving APSA from a loosely organized group to a professional association.
She formalized the advocacy committee; training advocates and creating a
mandate for the committee. This gave members and Human Resources a central
group to contact when issues arose.
Gary Houghton, who worked with Penny during his time as
ASPA President, remembers her as, “a woman with opinions that were strongly
held and freely given, yet she was fair-minded.”
“Penny lived a very interesting life, often recounting startling stories from
her time in Egypt. She made you rethink your idea of 'little old ladies', you
never know what adventures they’ve been on!”, Houghton recalls.
One of Penny’s key motto's was, “I treat as I find”. She
ignored second-hand opinions, preferring to make her own judgement of others.
She
will be remembered for her strong sense of humour and entertaining catch phrases.
“So cheap he wouldn’t trade a thick penny for
a thin one”, and “as thick as two planks” were among her favourites.
Her
full obituary can be read here.