I was born in Niles, Berrien County, Michigan, and raised in the nearby village of Galien. I became interested in genealogy about 30 years ago, and have dabbled in it with varying intensity since then. With retirement, I find myself with more time to invest in the hobby.

My family tree includes my immediate TRAPP (paternal) and NOGGLE (maternal) relatives and affiliated ancestors and descendants, including KRUMRIE, RENNHACK, and SPITZER (paternal) and LOGAN, SCHABER, and THORSON (maternal) lineages.

After graduating from college, I couldn't leave Berrien County fast enough, proclaiming that there was nothing there for me and that I'd never live there again. Forty-odd years later, after a career as a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that took me to places as varied as Alaska and the District of Columbia, I find myself drawn back to the rural landscape of Berrien County, where I now live beside a lake on the outskirts of Buchanan.

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