Biography: Tracy Ann Hamby passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, August 27, 2022.
Tracy Hamby was born on January 22nd, 1963 in Columbia, SC to Warren and Lucille Hamby. With her father’s job with General Electric, the family moved around up and down the East Coast and as far west as Springfield, MO. Tracy graduated from Quincy High School, and then went on to attend the University of Iowa where she received a Bachelor’s Degree in English, followed by a Master’s Degree in Library Science.
After spending some time in the Quincy Public Library system, Tracy began her career in the Arkansas Library System in Harrison, AR in the late 1980s. In the early 1990s, she transferred to Little Rock and became part of the CALS family (Central Arkansas Library System).
Tracy was always reading and writing, and her life as a librarian ensured that she was always around books. She loved/hated finding grammatical and spelling errors in signage, collecting odd turns of phrase she would read and hear for her quote file, and sharing witticisms with friends and family. Tracy was also an author, with several books published under the penname Tracy Fabre.
She loved spending time on the Alabama Gulf Coast and the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay, and over the years she enjoyed hundreds of sunsets there. In the future, her ashes will be scattered amongst her favorite places.
Tracy is survived by her sister Leslie (Tom) Catrett of Montgomery, AL, brothers Jeff (Kim) Hamby of Walton, KY and Matt (Barbara) Hamby of Springfield, MO, her favorite niece Kat, her favorite nephews Jason and Steven, her uncle Steve (Brenda) Hamby, numerous cousins, and countless friends in the Central Arkansas Library System. She was preceded in death by her father Warren and mother Lucille as well as her uncles, Stanley, Bob, Tony, Rick, and Earl, and her aunts, Barbara and Katherine.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Central Arkansas Library System: https://cals.org/giving
A quote from one of her favorite authors, Terry Pratchett, reflects on the life of librarian:
“People flock in, nevertheless, in search of answers to those questions only librarians are considered to be able to answer, such as "Is this the laundry?" "How do you spell surreptitious?" and, on a regular basis, "Do you have a book I remember reading once? It had a red cover and it turned out they were twins.” Arrangements are under the direction of RuebelFuneralHome.com