I began my genealogy quest in the 1960's when my grandmother sent me some old family history that had been given to her. Back then, postage was much cheaper so I wrote a lot of letters. The Internet wasn't around for the masses, so I spent a lot of time in genealogical and local libraries. I currently have about 37 large binder notebooks of material on my maternal and paternal ancestors. My lines include:

Paternal: Tiemann, Paubel, Westmeyer, Kroll, Hensler Funk, Walter, Breitenbach, etc.

Maternal: Dillon, Bush, Cline, Halliday, Preble, Gough, Boyd, Fife, Hendricks, Board, etc.

Spouse: Fabri, Masini, Mennicucci, Isola, Little, Abelseth, Hawkins, Tosse, etc.

"We are the chosen. In each family tree there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve. Genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but instead, it is breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the storytellers of the tribe".