I enjoy tracing my family tree and finding out who they were. My family tree started from family interviews or handwritten family trees, cemetery walks, books, and microfilm as well as many trips to the courthouses, libraries, cemeteries, and churches. I picked up the "Genealogy Bug" about 1982 (+43 years) before computers and the internet with the help of my mother. It has been a challenge tracing my father's family tree as he died 8 months before I was born. My ancestors are more than just names and dates to me. Each one of them have a story, and I love to find out how and where they lived. I have many binders full of information and sources.

Some of my sources are still not on the internet. It would take me years to attach documents and many of them aren't available online, yet. I use Ancestry, Family Tree Maker, and transcribe or copy and paste every document in my research notes in chronological order of their life span, along with the source. I have and still continue to research a minimum of 3 generations for every ancestral sibling I come across.

I also enjoy taking cemetery photos in Northern Illinois (mostly in La Salle county) for others who would like the pictures. If I create a memorial page, I will be more than happy to transfer it to the closest family member. Please DO NOT hold others loved ones and ancestors hostage here on FindaGrave. The closest relative and those still living in the area should manage their family memorials here on FindAGrave.com. They are the ones that can bring our loved ones to life with a recount of their lives.