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Gettysburg Foundation
Volume 26, Issue 1
Page 9
S pot l ight on Members
B
a r b a r a
J . F
i n f r o c k
GF: CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR CIVIL
WAR ANCESTOR MARTIN FINFROCK?
BJF: My great grandfather Martin was 25
when he was mustered into Company F,
147
th
Ohio National Guard Infantry in May
of 1864. Four days later his regiment left
Ohio for duty in Washington, DC, attached
to 1st Brigade, DeRussy’s Division, XXII
Corps. Martin was one of the “100 Days
Men” and was assigned to garrison duty at
some of the forts that were the defenses of
Washington until August 23. The regiment
was part of the repulse of Early’s attack on
Washington July 11-12. The 147
th
Ohio
Infantry mustered out of service August 30,
1864.
GF: CAN YOU SHARE A LITTLE DETAIL ABOUT YOUR
LIFE BEFORE THE FRIENDS OF GETTYSBURG?
BJF: I grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana as
did all my siblings. I went to Elementary,
Junior High, and High School there. I
did not particularly like school, and was
not planning on attending college. After
graduating from South Side High School I
got a job working for
Lincoln Life Insurance
Company
in Fort Wayne working on
something called “double indemnities.”
My parents really wanted me to go to
college, so they enlisted my brother to try
and convince me to go. He said, “I’ve been
thinking, why don’t you just try college for
one year? Would you go for me?” Well he
had always been a cool guy and he and his
wife Mary Alice would have me visit when
they were in college. I said, “OK”, and he
said “Good deal, where do you think you’d
like to go?” and I just looked at him and
said, “Well, Purdue, of course!!!” I guess
he had some money with him because he
walked me to the admissions office the
next day and said something like, “I’m
here to enroll my sister at school.” Two
weeks later I was a student at Purdue. I
graduated with a major in English and
two minors, one in Science and the
other in Public Speaking. I used to
hate speaking in public and wanted to
take the extra classes to fix that so I
graduated with 172 credits!! I think we
only needed about 125 to graduate.
It was quite ironic for someone who
didn’t even think she would attend
college to enjoy taking so many
credits and it’s one of my proudest
accomplishments.
GF: WHAT DID YOU DO AFTER COLLEGE?
BJF: I taught in the public school
system, which I believe is a great
system, and I loved teaching. I
taught English for thirteen years. I taught in
Cleveland first. My college roommate was
from there so it was a smooth transition.
That’s when I “turned into me!” I decided I
wanted my Master’s Degree but taught for
10 years before I earned it. Then I started
working for the government. I had several
different government jobs and worked in
places like California, New Orleans, and
finally Washington D.C. at the Library of
Congress as the Resources Manager of the
Information Technology Services division.
GF: WHY DID YOU CHOOSE GETTYSBURG AS YOUR
RETIREMENT DESTINATION?
BJF: I would vacation in Gettysburg on
weekends. I was at work one day and I said
I know where I want to go when I retire.
My co-workers asked, “Where?” and I
said, “Gettysburg!” About three people
popped up from their cubicles and asked,
“Why would you want to go there?” I said,
“Because it is so peaceful.” They asked,
“Well what do you do when you are there?”
I said, “NOTHING!!! I sit in my chair at the
campground and read.” So one weekend
while I was at the campground the office
managers alerted me of a modern house for
sale that they thought I would like. I looked
at the house on Sunday of Labor Day
weekend in 1991 and knew immediately
that it was “the one”. I commuted daily
from Gettysburg to Washington D.C. until I
retired in October 1993.
GF: HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INVOLVED WITH THE
FRIENDS?
BJF: In November of 1993 a friend (Joan
Hankey) and I were walking in the square
of Gettysburg and noticed a sign that
said, “Join the Friends of the National
Parks at Gettysburg” on a window of an
office. I asked Joan if she knew what these
people did. She said that she didn’t, but
that we should go in and find out. So we
did. This was my first time meeting the
Friends founding executive director, Vickie
Greenlee. She showed us the membership
materials they had available. After we
looked around a bit, I turned to leave and
said, “Ok, nice to meet you.” And then Joan
said, pointing to me, “If you talk to her just
interview by: Marliese Neiderer