My full name is Jeremy Duane Wissel, born 4 September, 1976 at St. Francis Hospital in Peoria Illinois to Duane Howard and the late Catherine Ann (Closen) Wissel. I have one sibling, an older sister named Brandi (Shane) Flairty.

My paternal grandparents are Howard William and the late Sarah Jane (Blanton) Wissel.

My paternal Grandfather was the son of Isadore Aaron and Bertha Elizabeth (LeConte) Wissel. He was the oldest of 3 siblings:

Elizabeth (Edgar) Carlisle
Rosalyn (William) Melz


My Paternal Grandmother was born in North Carolina to Birtha Mae & William Guy (Scruggs) Blanton. She was the youngest of 7 siblings:

James William Blanton
Hilda Adams (Spike) Cornwell
Pantha Elizabeth (James) Wilson
Louise B. (Ralph) Haulk
Betty Ruth (Bill) Fowler
Caroline Grace (Charles) Bennett
Sarah Jane (Howard) Wissel

Some 20 years ago, my grandmother showed me a paper with genealogy info on her siblings (I got to meet her sisters in person with the exception of Betty. I'm currently trying to track it down mainly to verify who their infant brother was. A genealogy site lists it as a James William Blanton (1915-1916). And while I think his name is James I am skeptical this is the right child as he would have been born 3 months BEFORE his parents wed. He is also buried an entire county away form his parents, in the same cemetery as a James Blanton and a William Blanton, who were both proper age to be his father. However, there is another Blanton infant son of "Mr. And Mrs. Guy Blanton (date not marked) buried in the same cemetery as my great-grandparents, which makes me think he is their actual son. Going by memory, I'm 99% sure her paper showed his birth date as 1917.

My Maternal Grandparents were Frederick Melvin and Violet Joan(Heslin) Closen.

My maternal grandfather was born to Anna and John (Hartwig) Closen and was one 4 brothers and 12 sisters:

Matilda "Tillie) Roth
Lenora (Infant Daughter)
Edith "Edie" Mckinley
Marie "Susie" (Red) Calhoun
Viola "Vi" Malson
Helena "Lenny"
John "Jake"
Mildred "Millie" Honald
Clara Gudat
Martha Murel (Infant daughter, twin of Clara)
Francis "Frank"
Charles "Charley"
Ann Mans
Ruth Hall
Melvin "Bud"

(Back in 1993, my great Aunt Millie handed us a paper listing all 16 children, but it was misplaced and I'm currently looking for it.)

My maternal grandmother was from Scotland. She was one of 4 siblings, all sisters:

Alice (surname unknown)
Ann Murray
Catherine Murphy

(It seems like my mother told me long ago that some, if not all 4 of them were born in Ireland and moved to Scotland. I know little about this side of the family at present. But I'm hoping to learn more as I recently regained contact with my Scottish relatives after a 15 year absence thanks to Facebook. Also, my mother had my grandmother's catholic bible, which does contain some information on the Heslin family. I know where it is and will seek it out the next time I'm at my father's)

My primary goal is to list all of my family members (at least 3 generations) on Findagrave. It is sad that a few of them remain unmarked and nearly forgotten about. I want to keep their memories alive and link all of my family members accordingly and appropriately. I have created a few profiles from scratch and I've submitted several edits to be approved. I may submit further edit requests as I find more info.

I will also add non-family who are not already on here.

Though I prefer to manage my family's memorial pages, I will not ask for a transfer unless my edit requests remain pending for longer than a month or are declined. As somebody who has met most of my extended family in person, and who has seen genealogy info first hand, one can trust what I post is correct.