Few people have made such a deep, long-lasting impact on figure skating as Ann Thoburn Fauver. For more than six decades, her devotion and service have shaped the sport and influenced generations of athletes and officials.

Fauver, who will celebrate her 104th birthday later this year, grew up in Cleveland. Skating became a central part of her life at an early age.
 
"My dad was one of the original members of the Cleveland Skating Club when it started out," Fauver said. "My mom encouraged me to go skating on ponds outside."

 
Officiating was not on Fauver's radar until leaders within the Cleveland Skating Club suggested it to her.  
 
"As I got older, I continued to skate and met the 'powers to be' within the club," she said. "Those people kept pushing me to try judging. It was nothing I sought to do at first, but I found that I really enjoyed it."
 
Skating became a family tradition as each of Fauver's four children — Lynn, Victoria, Jane, and Bill — took to the ice. Bill went on to compete in pairs skating at the 1976 and 1984 Olympic Winter Games. As her son advanced through the national ranks, she stepped away from judging singles and pairs, and shifted her focus to precision team skating, now known as synchronized skating. Fauver realized early on that precision team skating presented an opportunity for the club's recreational skaters to belong.
 
"The seed for synchronized skating was the pop-up shows we held on Sunday afternoons at the Cleveland Skating Club," Fauver said. "We had several skaters who loved skating but weren't destined to become champions. We ended up creating an all-girls team [the Debuteens] and from that grew synchronized skating."
 
World and Olympic figure skating official Gale Tanger, who has known Fauver for more than 60 years, has witnessed her influence on the sport firsthand.
 
"Ann's been in every curve of this sport," Tanger said. "One of her greatest contributions was to take a popular concept of precision team skating and evolve it into a fully recognized competitive discipline. She developed the elements, rules and judges for what is now synchronized skating."
 
In 1978, Fauver brought together a small group of skating officials, which included Tanger, to formalize precision team skating in the United States.
 
"When Ann asked me to join her on the precision journey, I was so excited to join her," Tanger said. "She had this vision of what she thought this could become."
 
In addition to influence on synchronized skating, Fauver has guided and mentored countless influential U.S. Figure Skating officials over the years, including Ann Barr.

 
"My first awareness of Mrs. Fauver was when she judged me as a young skater and was on my panels for many years," she said. "When I first started coaching, she was also on panels for my students and now I officiate with her."
 
Fauver's mentorship continues to this day. She delights in mentoring trial judges, watching them grow, and helping them find their place in the sport. Barr recently reconnected with Fauver at the Skate Nashville competition, which took place in April.
 
"Every year I am a technical specialist at Skate Nashville," Barr said. "The highlight of the competition is the time I spend visiting with Mrs. Fauver. Seeing her is my yearly dose of inspiration!"
 
Even as figure skating evolves, Fauver remains a model of adaptability and positivity.  
 
"Ann always embraces change and sees it as an opportunity," Tanger said. "I've learned so much from her, including looking at life not as problems but as opportunities."
             
For Fauver, the heart of her legacy is simple.  
 
"It's my hope that for the ones that I leave behind that I contributed to their enjoyment of the sport," Fauver said. "For the trial judges I have worked with, I'm delighted to see how far they have gone and continue to go, and that I helped them along. I hope that I've furthered the enjoyment of figure skating for the common man."
 
To those who know her, Fauver is far more than a respected official — she is a role model.
             
"I would describe Mrs. Fauver as someone we should all aspire to be," Barr said. "She travels on her own, still has a passion for skating, and has other interests as well. When she officiates at a competition, she does as many events as anyone else. She is quite remarkable."
 
After more than six decades, Fauver continues to shape figure skating not through titles or accolades, but through presence — steady, generous and visionary. Her legacy lives in every synchronized team that takes the ice, every judge she has mentored and every skater who has felt seen, supported, or inspired by her.
 
"That petite, humble person is truly an icon of our sport," Tanger said. "Ann encourages youth, embraces change and is always there to support new direction and vision. She is the ageless and ultimate role model of unwavering service to our sport."

To see Fauver's interview with GBH News, click here.