Sissy Crowther
Photo by Corey Miller
Since retiring as president of Rappahannock Community College, the biggest change for Sissy Crowther is that she’s more in control of her day.
Now that she’s back living on the family farm in Northumberland where she grew up, she may be every bit as busy as she was running the college, but there are new perks to the job. “The difference is I get to wear shorts and look at the water when I’m doing my work,” she says with a chuckle.
Crowther considers it a privilege to have helmed RCC for 15 years, but realizing that the school’s 50th anniversary was approaching, she sensed an ideal time to hand off the reins to someone with new ideas and fresh energy. “I have complete confidence that with the new leadership, RCC is set up to expand on the great things we’d been working on during my tenure.”
And while she no longer has to prepare for faculty meetings, she still has plenty of obligations beyond reestablishing the family farm. After years of sitting on nonprofit boards, Crowther has signed on as chairman of the board at St. Margaret’s School, her alma mater as well as that of her mother and sister. The school is set to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2021, so her goal is to ensure that the institution is set up fiscally for another century of educating girls.
“As an alumna, Sissy has a great passion for the St. Margaret’s mission of preparing girls to reach their full potential and make a better world,” says Head of School Cathy Sgroi. “In addition, she’s smart, enthusiastic, committed and resourceful.”
It’s the intellectual challenges inherent to serving on corporate boards that enticed her to sign on to serve on the boards of Northern Neck Insurance Company and Virginia Commonwealth Bank. “Sissy is a key contributor in our strategic planning and has provided valuable insights in our growth journey,” says Randal Greene, CEO of Virginia Commonwealth Bank. “As a respected and experienced educator and businesswoman, Sissy’s contributions and guidance are invaluable as we move forward toward building shareholder and customer value.”
She’s also active on the board of her family’s business, Lillian Lumber Company, as well as on the River Counties Community Foundation, the latter because it allows her to touch many different entities through the foundation’s philanthropic mission. Not surprisingly, she’s also maintaining a quiet role in fundraising and advocacy for RCC. “It’s so important to the region, both for individuals and for economic development progress,” she explains of her continuing commitment.
In between board meetings, Crowther is rethinking the family farm by re-instituting hedge rows—not just as windscreens but as protection for wildlife—bringing back grasses as habitats for quail and other birds and considering adding chickens, cows and horses. But she also wants to travel at least twice a year—Canada, Spain and Portugal are high on her list—and get back to racing sailboats and enjoying her power boat, which is currently moored in the middle of a field.
One thing she knows for sure is where she’ll be in five years: right here in the Northern Neck. “My goal is to be physically fit, to be out on the water, enjoying friends and family and traveling,” Crowther says, adding that she’ll finally have time to get back to two of her lifelong passions: bird hunting and fly fishing. “And I have a lot of grass to cut.”