Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from The Irish Times
In Memoriam: Geraldine Willis
Geraldine Willis, whose funeral took place earlier this week, was Librarian of the Representative Church Body from 1962 until her retirement in 1984. The attendance, in Rathfarnham parish church, of many former colleagues, clergy and bishops from as far away as Cork and Cavan was a rich testimony to the enduring impact of her years of selfless service to the Church of Ireland.
Miss Willis learnt her craft from her namesake, the formidable Geraldine Fitzgerald, who was Librarian from 1932 to 1962. Miss Fitzgerald had strong views about the Church and its rulers and so, as the Dean of St Patrick?s pithily observed in a reflection on the RCB Library ??if one actually wanted to get on with some work one had to drift into the back room which was presided over by Miss Geraldine Willis, and where, one suspected most of the real work went on?. If Miss Willis learnt not only about librarianship from Miss Fitzgerald but also about the political culture of the Church of Ireland, she kept her views on the latter to herself and concentrated on quietly and efficiently helping the clergy and laity who frequented the Library, then housed on the upper floors of 52 St Stephen?s Green.
In the late 1960s it was decided that the Library would move to the grounds of the then Divinity Hostel (later to be the Theological College) in Braemor Park and it fell to Miss Willis, by then Miss Fitzgerald?s successor as Librarian, to plan the new accommodation and organize the move. This substantial undertaking once achieved she settled down to the longer task of developing the new Library for the needs of the ordinands in the Hostel. The subsequent transformation of the Divinity Hostel into the Church of Ireland Theological College and the increasing professionalization of training for ministry with new courses and new teachers presented fresh demands on the Library. These Gerry met with her customary quiet efficiency ? new reading lists were interrogated, parcels of new books from Blackwells and Mowbrays were catalogued, bewildered ordinands were comforted and uncertain researchers were directed. Long after the weak and the weary had departed Gerry was still at her desk often spending an hour or two at the end of the working day updating Canon J.B. Leslie?s clerical succession lists, work which she had begun in her early days in St Stephen?s Green.
Behind the scenes she was an efficient and conscientious secretary of the Library and Ecclesiastical Records Committee. Together with Archbishop George Simms she worked tirelessly to ensure the appointment of an archivist for the Church of Ireland while, with the ready support of Bishop Gordon McMullan, she initiated the practice whereby individual dioceses make contributions to the Library book fund.
In retirement she devoted herself to her family, Rathfarnham parish, Christ Church Cathedral and the numerous voluntary agencies which she unostentatiously supported for she was, at heart, an intensely private person. It was, perhaps, no surprise when, following the restoration of the RCB Library, she declined to allow one of the new reading rooms to be named after her and it was in that same spirit, which disliked public attention, that she privately donated part of her retirement presentation to the Library book fund.
Geraldine Willis embodied the virtues of loyalty, dependability, efficiency and kindness for which every employer longs, every friend hopes and which every relative loves. Such people are rare and deserve to be long remembered.
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