Frances I. McDonnell's 15-Year Tribute of Loyalty Certificate

Showing the process of Steve Little's Facts Extractor to pull info from the scanned image of my grandmother's certificate & produce a narrative.

My maternal grandmother Frances Irene (Goering) Froman McDonnell’s work as an executive secretary to the President of the Austin Company was commemorated by a series of award certificates. Readily transcribing one of these typed text certificates into a narrative format was accomplished using Steve Little’s Fact Extractor and ChatGPT4o with the following result within a few seconds:

Here is the extracted information from the certificate:

COMPANY_NAME: The Austin Company
EMPLOYEE_NAME: Frances I. Froman
RECOGNITION_TYPE: Tribute to Loyalty
SERVICE_DURATION: Fifteen Years
RECOGNITION_REASON: Loyalty, high sense of duty, willingness to serve the company's best interests
REWARD: One week of additional vacation in addition to regular vacation period
ISSUE_DATE: 1953-12-31
SIGNATORY_1_NAME: W.B. Engstrom
SIGNATORY_1_TITLE: District Manager
SIGNATORY_2_TITLE: President
FOUNDING_YEAR_OF_COMPANY: 1878
DOCUMENT_TYPE: Employment Service Recognition Certificate
CHALLENGES_MENTIONED: Working in new fields, unfamiliar cities, strange countries, facing new problems, undergoing hardships
SKILLS_MENTIONED: Acquiring new skills, developing latent abilities, broadening horizons

Let me know if you want this reformatted or turned into structured data.

Knowing my non-genealogist family members would like the simplicity of a narrative, I asked GPT to format the above text into a narrative, with the following result served up within seconds:

In recognition of fifteen years of dedicated service, Frances I. Froman was honored by The Austin Company with a “Tribute to Loyalty” certificate. This acknowledgment celebrated Frances’s unwavering loyalty, strong sense of duty, and consistent commitment to serving the company’s best interests over a substantial period of employment.

Throughout those fifteen years, Frances was entrusted with a wide variety of tasks that demanded a broad range of talents. Her role often required adaptability—working in new fields, relocating to unfamiliar cities, and even traveling to foreign countries. These responsibilities came with challenges, including facing new problems and enduring hardships.

Despite these demands, Frances demonstrated resilience and growth. She acquired new skills, unlocked latent abilities, and continually expanded her professional horizons. Her personal development, alongside that of her fellow workers, was acknowledged as a cornerstone of the company’s collective strength.

To express their appreciation and to support further progress, The Austin Company granted Frances and her family an additional one-week vacation annually, over and above the standard vacation period.

This certificate was formally awarded on December 31, 1953, and signed by District Manager W.B. Engstrom and the company president. Founded in 1878, The Austin Company recognized Frances I. Froman not just for past contributions but also as a valued part of its future endeavors.

Myrt’s Concerns

• Before sending this out, I am considering removing the text “Founded in 1878” as it is extraneous information that initially confused me.

• Also, to my knowledge and after researching passport and custom passenger lists, my grandmother did not move to foreign countries. However, I do recall it being said at her funeral that “Frances could locate anyone, anywhere in the world within 15 minutes.” Mind you, this was in the days when operators had to place long-distance telephone calls. Her boss did undertake such travel, and as his executive secretary, Frances likely arranged his travel accommodations. For context, grandma was retired by the mid-20th century when I was attending university.

Myrt’s Plan

Going forward, the certificate image and the adjusted narrative will be shared with my siblings via email, and with my descendants via text message, honoring their respective preferred communication formats.

Happy family tree climbing!
Myrt :)
DearMYRTLE,
Your (not so) retired friend in genealogy.

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