Obituary: Florrie Evans (1984)

Obituary from the September 1984 issue of the Socialist Standard

Florrie Evans, who died recently in her eighties, was best known for her work behind the scenes at Head Office. Under the Rules of the Party, all branches must receive written reports of the weekly proceedings of the Executive Committee. They also receive Agendas and reports of Annual Conference and Delegate Meetings. This facility has been extended to members of Central Branch, Groups and Parties overseas. In addition there are many special reports and other documents to be typed and circulated. It could not be otherwise in a democratic organisation such as the SPGB, where the fullest information about all aspects of the Party's work must be readily available to the membership. This entails a tremendous amount of clerical work which is not very glamorous, perhaps even dull. Unlike speakers or writers, such clerical labours go largely unnoticed, and if anything are taken for granted.

Until recently Florrie, among others, devoted herself to this work with faultless efficiency. Among other jobs she was assistant General Secretary, and held the post for some years. She was also secretary of the Camden branch until a few months before her death, typing and duplicating the numerous statements, some of them quite lengthy, which the branch circulated throughout the Party.

The Party simply could not function efficiently without comrades such as Florrie. We owe her a debt of gratitude for her 50 years of total dedication to our Movement. We can only repay her by working harder to achieve our objective—socialism.

Jim D'Arcy