I was born in Ohio and now live in Topeka, KS. I served in the US Army and US Army Reserve as a medic. Education: BA (double major in American Studies and English, summa cum laude) from Kent State University; MA in English from Bowling Green University; and Ph. D. in English from Purdue University. I worked as a tenured English professor at Washburn University in Topeka, KS (retired in 2015, awarded emeritus status, after 30+ years teaching English there) and have done genealogical research since the 1970s. I'm of English, Scots-Irish, Scots, German, French, and Swedish-Danish ancestry. Y-DNA testing has indicated a close match to two documented descendants of Godfrey Sheldon (1599-1671) of Bakewell, Derbyshire, England, who emigrated to Scarborough, Maine, before 1660. Godfrey is one of the Sheldon Family Association progenitors. I am also linked to John Sheldon of Providence, RI, another SFA progenitor. I am also a 1st cousin, four times removed, to US noted author James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) through my paternal grandmother, Elsie F. Cooper. In addition, I have been a member and former proctor of American Mensa, Ltd., since Nov. 1980 through my score in the top 2 percent on the US Army GT test in 1968. I am willing to add information from relatives to any of my memorials or to transfer a memorial to a more closely related DIRECT relative within four generations (as indicated in FindAGrave's management transfer guidelines). I am also willing to receive transfer of memorials of individuals to whom I'm related. Often I may be able to add info that the originator may not have. And I'm willing to transfer info to the originator even if he or she would like to keep maintenance of the memorial.