Bettye Krolick
1926–2011

Past NBA President, Bettye Maxwell Krolick, passed away peacefully on August 5, 2011, at the Columbine West Care Center. Bettye was born on August 1, 1926, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Earl and Dorothy Maxwell.

She was an internationally recognized authority in the field of braille music and wrote extensively on the subject including How to Read Braille Music and the International Braille Music Dictionary. For more than 30 years she worked to standardize braille music throughout the world.

As technology evolved and home computers became more readily available in the 1980’s, Bettye kept up with all of the latest possibilities which allowed braille transcribers to harness the power of the computer. She worked tirelessly with computer programmers and the transcribers for whom the software was designed.

Bettye was elected to the NBA Board of Directors in 1982, serving as President 1987–1989. During her tenure on the Board, she served as chair of the NBA Automation Committee which included automating the National Office and Braille Book Bank, and later as chair of the NBA Computer–assisted Transcription Committee. Bettye was the chair of the NBA Braille Music Committee from 1975–1980 and shared her vast knowledge on the topic by leading the committee in developing music braille workshops at meetings and conferences. She guided others in presenting workshops and led many of them herself. She was an effective and popular presenter. Her last position before leaving the Board in 1990 was as Fund Development chair.

In 1995 on the occasion of NBA’s 50th Anniversary, Bettye wrote, “It was a privilege to be part of the leadership of NBA from 1987–89. During that period some important steps were taken to insure a strong future for NBA. The Patch Open Endowment Fund was established, and professional help was obtained for the management of future investments. 'Communication' was my major concern. Communication such as a survey of members, a detailed survey of opinions from board members, and even the 'Ask NBA' column in the Bulletin assisted our long–range planning. The ongoing ad hoc committee became 'Strategic Planning' and started the development of a five–year plan for the centralization and improvement of the wide–ranging services of NBA.”

When Bettye was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2004, in her typical optimistic fashion, her motto became, “I’m not going to focus on what I can’t do—I’m going to focus on what I can do.” It was that optimism and drive which served her well in accomplishing all she set out to do…and more. She will be missed.
 
Barbara H. Tate
1925 - 2011
 
When Barbara Tate retired from the NBA Board of Directors, she had been one of its longest serving directors: 26 years. Barbara Tate died August 3, 2011, following an extended illness.
 
Barbara formed the braille transcribers group for the Junior League of Erie, Pennsylvania, where she was chair and instructor. She served as a volunteer coordinator and resource consultant for the Special Education Department of the Erie School District, a braille program panelist for the combined Penn-Del chapter for the blind, and a trustee of the Erie Branch of the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind.

Barbara was elected to the Board in 1972 to chair the NBA Literary and Textbook Braille Committee. Over the next 26 years, she devoted her intelligence, skill and ability to the structure of the organization including the development and/or refinement of the documents which are the brick and mortar of the association: Bylaws, Policies and Procedures, and Guidelines for Conferences and Meetings. She also designed the templates for the professional appearance of NBA’s print materials.

In 1984, Barbara co-authored, with Maxine Dorf, the Instruction Manual for Braille Transcribing for the Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. As a consultant for the Library of Congress, she compiled the database for the later publication of World Braille Usage. This manual, sponsored by UNESCO, includes the braille codes from the countries of the world which have such codes. She served on the Textbook Format Braille Technical Committee of the Braille Authority of North America. For NBA, she led the writing and publishing of the Interim Manual for Foreign Language Braille Transcribing.

When Barbara retired from the Board in 1998, she was honored for her outstanding dedication and achievements with the prestigious Distinguished Service Award and the naming of the Barbara H. Tate Fund for Volume Subsidy. The Fund subsidized the cost to braille readers, thousands of volumes of braille produced by the Braille Book Bank.

Barbara is survived by her husband, William K. Tate, Jr., of Kendal, New Hampshire, son, William K. Tate, III, grandson, William K. Tate, IV, granddaughter ,Megan I. Tate and daughter-in-law, Phyllis L. Tate all of Dorset, Vermont.

Barbara Tate spent more than 30 years in service to braille transcribers and to braille readers. She was a braille scholar and an author and co-author of foundational documents and braille texts still in use today. She was devoted to NBA and used her outstanding administrative and organizational skills to build and expand the organization. She was one of a kind and will be greatly missed.