At our annual meeting and convention in March, I had the distinct honor and privilege of presenting the FAPPS Distinguished Service Award, for the second year in a row, to a person whom I'm known and admired for many years. As chairman of the committee, I've known that I was going to be doing this for months. The knowledge that we had chosen such a deserving person, such a respected contributor to FAPPS, but at the same time someone that I consider a friend and an advisor, filled me with pride and made me want to tell people and ruin the surprise. Here is your FAPPS Distinguished Service Award recipient for 2014:

She and her husband started a private investigation company in 1991, and they started doing process service soon after. She joined FAPPS back when John Patrick Julien was President and was first elected to the FAPPS Board as Secretary, in 1999. In the years since, she has held every single director and officer position - a feat very few people ever accomplish. For her, the question was simply: Where am I needed? How can I best serve?

She served as your first Promotion and Growth committee chairman, and brought the idea of the Professional Beach Getaway from concept to execution. Each year, that event attracts more members and prospective members than any other event on our calendar, with the exception of the annual convention. Of course, she works on the Convention committee as well. And that's not all. Over the years she has served on the Arbitration and Grievance, Promotion and Growth, Website, Elections, Formal Education, and Convention committees. Sometimes she was the chair, often she was just one of the best workers on the committee.

She served as the Vice President for the two years I was President. If I didn't know how valuable she was before that, those two years made it impossible to ignore. She is the kind of worker who simply picks up the slack for whatever job is at hand and makes others look good. She was a fountain of information, having previously been a FAPPS President herself. But more than just her experience, she is organized, and has the unselfish ego to help you succeed for the good of FAPPS whether she is recognized or not.

I met Diana Wardwell and her husband, Henry, in 1992, at their home on the beach in Melbourne. I was installing software for their new business, with a dog sitting on my feet and a cat draped across my arms as I worked on their computer. I will not publish what their pet count is up to now, nor will I mention how many species are represented, but they are and always have been true animal lovers. Living life outside of work as well, Diana is a competitive ballroom dancer, and Henry is a published author.

From her start of service on the FAPPS board in 1999, to the present, Diana has held every elected position, and in 2012 she was selected to serve as our FAPPS administrator. It is the job she has been grooming herself for over the past 15 years with her vast array of experience. She continues to work on various committees as well.

The inscription on the plaque presented to her last month is particularly appropriate. She did not set out to be a leader, but became one by the quality of her actions, and the integrity of her intent.

The Award reads:

Spirit of a Leader

A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. She does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of her actions and the integrity of her intent. Leaders, like eagles, don’t flock. You find them one at a time

For all your years of service, for all that you have done for FAPPS and for private process servers that don't even know it, thank you Diana Wardwell!

For the Committee,

Bob Musser
Chair, FAPPS Distinguished Award Committee