I am researching several limbs of my family in the Central Illinois area including but not limited to, Strope, Memmen, Nau, Fluegel, Stufflebeam, Green, Purkey, Ashmore, Barnes and Robeson. I am also resarching (or trying) my Smith roots in the Alton/Hartford/St. Louis area including but not limited to Dillon, Dawson, Dahlhaus and Smith, of course.

I view Find A Grave as a way to memorialize our loved ones through the site pages themselves and by allowing family to better understand their roots, maybe even meeting long lost relatives who share their interest in family history. It is not my intent to hurt or insult anyone. If you look through any of my own family memorials, you will see I have experienced my fair share of loss and do not wish to inflict or contribute to the pain of others going through their own experience of loss. I do not view this site as some sort of numbers game.