| APRIL 7, 2000 -- Unassuming and tireless, Evelyn H. Furness has given time to many community organizations in town - and for that she was honored Tuesday as Stafford Grange's fourth annual Citizen of the Year.
"I was shocked," she said of the award. "As a volunteer, I don't feel like I should be honored. I enjoy doing it. That's the point."
Grange master John Emhoff said the organization selects "someone that is really active in the community, and she is."
First Selectman John E. Julian presented Furness with a resolution from the town, and state Sen. Tony Guglielmo, R-Stafford, and Rep. John Mordasky, D-Stafford, gave her a citation.
"She's wonderful. She's in everything, does everything, and does everything well," Julian said. "I wish we had a dozen like her in town. When they start cloning people, they should clone her."
Furness has always dabbled in community service, especially helping out in the schools that her six children attended. Furness and her family traveled the nation and the world because her husband, Charles, served in the military. made community service in Stafford a priority.
After her husband died, her sister-in-law Eunice Whitcob suggested she become involved in Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9990's ladies auxiliary; she did. A year later she became its president, and she still holds the post five years later.
"I got into the community through the VFW," she said. From there, her involvement stretched into the Senior Center; she has been president and vice president of the Golden Age Club and the Senior Club.
Community Center Director Laura Panciera couldn't even name all the work Furness has done at the Senior Center.
"She's always giving. She's done so much work. She's a sweetheart," Panciera said.
Furness has sat on many committees in town, and fondly recalls the work she's done to help the needy and improve the community.
As a part of the Arts Commission, Furness helped to install a gazebo at Heritage Park to use for summer concerts. "That was a rewarding experience," she said, especially when extra money allowed a flag to be placed there.
And children still occupy a special place in her life - she has seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She is active in raising money for the Stafford Citizens Scholarship Fund, and volunteers at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp and at local schools.
Furness recalls a 1961 car accident that left her hospitalized for six months. People pitched in during her recovery to help her husband and her children; from that, she finds some motivation.
"I was meant to live for a reason: That I was to give back to community for all they gave me," Furness said.
And she doesn't expect to stop. She's already preparing her next project - a quilt to honor Vietnam veterans.
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