FROM THE VAULT TWICE TOLD TALES How We Survived the Loss of Grace Hudowalski Internal Organizational Change / Suzanne Lance # 1802WV Y THE END OF 1990 there were 2,859 registered 46ers, an increase of more than 1,200 over the previous decade. The historian’s correspondence files were bursting at the seams as hikers continued writing in to register their climbs. During the fall 1990 meeting, the executive committee decided that it was time for the club to enter the computer age and purchase a computer for Executive Secretary/Treasurer Ditt Dittmar. A computer would facilitate Ditt’s work with such tasks as maintaining the roster of hikers and climbing numbers, organizing the club’s mailing list, generating mailing labels, and recording dues payments. While Ditt was not wildly enthusiastic about computerizing his records, he was excited about the possibility of streamlining a number of his responsibilities. In the spring of 1991, the club received an IBM PC and printer donated from IBM’s Fund for Community Service with the help of recording secretary Mark Turner (#2024), an IBM employee. So, at the age of 76, Ditt embraced the world of computers with the same vigor as he had hiking. With an introductory computer course and some additional assistance to set up a menu-driven system, he quickly made good use of his new electronic assistant. Providing appropriate assistance for Club Historian Grace Hudowalski presented a different set of challenges. She was not interested in entering the computer age. In 1991, Grace wrote 1,600 individual letters to climbers on her portable electric typewriter. Despite the volume, she did not want to learn how to use a computer, nor did she want to upgrade her typewriter. She also rejected the notion of using form letters to reduce the strain, preferring instead to maintain her personal touch. Her single-minded dedication to her responsibilities did not alter the fact that the workload for the position of club historian had reached a level beyond the capability of one person. In addition to recognizing the work overload, several members of the executive committee began to realize that no one had enough knowledge of what Grace actually did and how she did it to assume the role if she were suddenly unable to REPRINTED FROM THE BOOK HEAVEN UP-H’ISTED-NESS! SUMMER 2026 | 17 Photograph by Sherry Roulston #12512
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