I began my Find A Grave research after my father was killed. I had wanted to start some family history searching and began talking with my dad on Christmas Day 2006 about his family and also some of my mother's, since she has been gone for quite some time. He was killed the next month, so I didn't have any further opportunities to talk with him.

I grew up in the Mitchellville, Iowa, area my entire life. I have four brothers, Curtis, Lyle, Russell, and Scott. We all attended the Mitchellville school and Southeast Polk Jr.-Sr. High School. I graduated in 1977. Curtis, Lyle, and Russ also attended a few years in elementary in Colfax, Iowa.

I am married and have two daughters. We all still live in Iowa, brothers, too. My husband and I own a grocery store in a small town west of Des Moines, Iowa.