Bio
11.16.25
Born 1951, my twin sister passed away 18 hours after birth, so that's the first What If! My 2nd sister was born in 1952 and then my mother passed in 1953, that's the second What If! My family on my paternal side are Thiessen/Slusser and maternal side Lynch/Smith. My father remarried in 1959 and they had a son in 1962.
Grew up in southern California and at 18 joined the Air Force. It was that or wait for the Army to call me, which was certainty due to the "lottery" number that I had! For those of you who didn't know, yes, they gave us lottery numbers for the draft, it was the Vietnam era!! I did get my draft notice about my 2nd or 3rd week of Air Force basic training. The Training Instructor threw it to me at mail call and told me, "Congratulation you have been drafted," he was always so funny!
So, I stayed in the Air Force for 21 years. Was stationed in Thailand, Germany, South Korea, Spain, England and about three different locations in the U.S. My not so favorite place was Fortuna AFS in North Dakota. It was about 6 miles from the Canadian border, and the word "cold" in the winter doesn't begin to tell that story. Bunny boots and a parka was a must!
Yes, I did get married in 1985, she was also in the Air Force and the Air Force Reserve. She got her 20 years in and became a Math Professor at our local University. No children, just us with two dogs, then two cats.
Retired in 1991, finished up my education with a few degrees and started work with McDonnel Douglas (1997) helping to build the C-17 aircraft as a structural aircraft mechanic. Boeing bought McDonnel Douglas shortly thereafter. I then became a parts inspector and then got laid off.
In 2002 I got hired by our local Air Force base and ended up as an IT Specialist, assigned to the help desk. We fixed computer hardware, remoted in and solved computer issues and setup laptops for people that were remotely connected.
Retired from everything in 2013. Became a handyman around the house, planted tomatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, etc. Lots of flowers, did some painting (a lot really) read a few books and did 14 hours a week of PT (note: if you don't move then you must be dead!).
In 2006 Ancestory.com came out with a promotion that they would do research and fill in a Family Tree for 4 generations. I think the cost was $119.95 for some kind of leather-bound book with names and dates. I received it and was pretty impressed, and then shocked!! The 1930 Census showed that My mother had six, yes, six siblings!! When I picked myself off the floor, I couldn't figure out why I didn't know that! My father passed away in 1993 and there was literally no one around to ask WTF!! (Yes, I know, language!!).
My short novice genealogy career began with the National Geographic Society sending out a request for DNA testing so they could build a DNA database(2013) . Family Tree DNA website was assisting with their project. I submitted my sample and found out that I was a mutt, Germany, English, Irish with a few more thrown in.
So, I created a Family Tree on the Familytreedna website. It had about 15 people in it and I found the process to update it not to be user friendly. Especially when I would need a subscription to Ancestory.com to really get involved. So, abandon it I did!
In the latter part of 2024, Familytreedna sent email, they were getting rid of family trees but they would be more than delighted to transfer (at no fee to me of course) to MyHeritage. They did and I opened it and matches started popping up. Emails were already being received about other matches. So, with great assistance from my wife who had been working on her own family albums (for about 20 years) and self-publishing same, whole new worlds starting to form.
So, what I knew about my life before has completely changed from what I know now! Some highlights include the following: 1940 Census showed my mother now had eight siblings, which is why my Grandmother Cora Emily Lynch gravestone says "Mother of Nine."
My dad who had been married twice was found to have been married five times (5). The 1950 census showed both him and my mother "divorced." One of those who he married was not only my step-mother but is my 1st cousin, once removed and her daughters are my 2nd cousins (believe it or not).
I had a great grandfather named Johann Detlef Christian (JDC) Thiessen. He was born in 1843 and came to the U.S. in 1866. He created the "Thiessen Ranch" an 1100-acre ranch in Lewiston, Idaho. Built the three-story "Thiessen" building in 1901/2, which took 300,000 bricks to make. The "ranch" was sold of course and now is part of what is called "Locomotive Park." Wikipedia has an article on it. It's located in Lewiston, Idaho and it has a "Christmas Festival" every year. There has been tragedy too: Daughters Ida (1886) & Olga (1888) die from Diphtheria in 1891. Another What If! Do we really need to discuss the vaccinee issue?
Then there is George Roscoe Thiessen, 1st cousin, once removed who played a year for the Cleveland Rams football team and started "Thiessen Oil" in 1948.
So many people and so many stories to tell!!
Lastly, one of my many projects coming from these stories was receiving a "Discovery" from "MyHeritage" on 8.12.25. A person discovery for 12 people and the first person on the list was Amariah Bonham, the 2nd person was Hezekiah Bonham, his father. Little did I know then what a "rabbit hole" this was going to be!!
I added the "Discovery" and I noticed that among those 12 individuals added was a symbol that I had not seen before. It was the Mayflower Society Descendant emblem. So, to make a long story, shorter, I found that I had a direct lineage (12 generations) from my maternal grandmother (Cora) to Edward Fuller. He, his son and brother were all on the Mayflower when it arrived in 1620. I went to the Mayflower Society webpage and found that (for $75) I can submit the names of my line and they would do a quick check to see if that was true. Six weeks later the answer came back, NO, because the 2nd wife of Hezekiah Bonham had not been "proven." They claimed to not know who his 2nd wife actually was and therefore the children that were associated with her (8 of them, 7 brothers, 1 sister), were therefore NOT proven either.
That was very confusing to me because there is a searchable Mayflower database at the website https://mayflower.americanancestors.org/ There is a fee for access of course and I had checked both the Mayflower database (which had the completed applications for those people born Before 1920) and it had Family Trees for all of the Mayflower Passengers that had descendants. So, my ancestor "Amariah Bonham" was in the Family Tree and to add insult to injury, I found nine completed (from the Amariah Bonham line) and approved Mayflower applications signed and dated by their "Historian General." The latest one dated Dec 10, 1975.
Well after a few emails to the Mayflower Society and doing my own research I found out that apparently the church records for that area were taken by a Tory church clerk and they were either hidden or destroyed by him or the British troops burned them. Church records were where marriage, birth and death records were kept during that time. There were other sources of course, Land, taxes, wills, etc., that were available. The Mayflower Society was formed in 1897 and they approved many applications from what is now known were from the "AH" brothers (Hezekiah Jr., Nehemiah, Zedekiah, Amariah, Malachiah, Amaziah, & Jeremiah, Isaiah, Obadiah, Zephaniah & Uriah). They won't tell me when they kicked them all off the island but it was obviously after 1975 and of course I do not have access to those records for those people who were born "after" 1920 and had applications approved.
For those who are interested, there is a series of books (circa 1930s) (in 7 parts) from Orra Eugene Monnette titled "First Settlers of Ye Plantations of Piscataway and Woodbridge, Olde East New Jersey 1664 – 1714. It's about 1200 pages and you can download it from it from Family Search for free. He was the premier genealogist of that time and it is searchable. He was also a Mayflower Descendant. There are other Bonham books and Mayflower books also you can get for free on Family Search. Looking for Mayflower descendant info the last couple of months has revealed to me that there is a lot of support for the "AH" brothers being proven, from websites to other sources. It's too bad the Mayflower Society can't get on board with it! Again!!
So those of you who will read this this issue is: Hezekiah Bonham, age 33, born in 1667, married Mary Dunn in 1690, had four children, and she passed away in 1699. Some sources say his 2nd wife was "Ann Hunt" or "Mary Bishop."
Did he or did he not have 2nd wife with lots of kids or did he decide to become a monk, took a vow of celibacy and lived happily ever after? Let me know if you can find something "provable" concerning the 2nd wife. Apparently after 400 years the Mayflower Society can't or the Land deed, taxes, wills, etc., from the "AH" descendants just doesn't make their standard!
So, what now! Working on Memorials for the Lynch family first. Trying to tie the "9" together in some form or fashion. Finally created grandfather Lynch memorial and added same. Looks like I will have three more to do for the two Aunts and one Uncle not found in Find A Grave. Then I will jump over to the Thiessen side for a while. I'm updating my "Father's" marriage story. Especially with his first wife, the half brother infant who passed away at birth and my half-sister, born in 1945 and died as an indignant in Utah in 2006. Details that I and my sister knew nothing about till this year. A really What If!! Update: that has now been done!!
Update 3.1.26 Completed the "Nine" project for the Lynch Family. I had a lot of info for the Uncles who were in the Navy but not so much later in their lives. So like with the my other memorials, they will be always be in the "update" phase as new genealogical discoveries occur.
Presently working on Purple Heart projects for Pvt Sidney Charles Thiessen who was KIA in Brest, France 6 Sep 1944 (age 28)and EM2 Robert O'Keefe Lynch who was at Pearl Harbor on 7 Dec 1941:
I couldn't find any records of Sidney's family receiving said medal so I submitted what info I had to the National Archives for his military records. Received email back that his records along with some other 17 to 18 million military records were destroyed in a fire in 1973 at the National Personal Records Center. Records were kept in 200,000 square foot rooms. No sprinkler system installed (they didn't want the documents to get wet) and no fire doors. I sent email to Army Human Resource Command and they referred me to their Purple Heart web page. It had a form to fill out but that was impossible due to the lack of military info that I had. I did give them a link to his Find A Grave page. They either didn't look at it or didn't really care. I then contacted Idaho Congressman's Fulcher office (twice) and no response there and no help, then I contacted Idaho Senator Crapo's office and so far no help there either. Update: In March 2026 the Army accepted Purple Heart package for processing!!
Update 30 Sep 2026, On 24 Sep, 2026 I received a phone call from the Awards and Decorations Branch that the Purple Heart had been approved and that his package would be sent to me. On 28 September 2026 I received said package.
I also found no records that Robert O'Keefe Lynch himself received Purple Heart. His parent received telegram he was killed (Pearl Harbor) and then two days later another message arrived that he had been wounded and was recovering in a hospital. I now have a request in for his military records.
My photo image: Something Younger Obviously!!
11.16.25
Born 1951, my twin sister passed away 18 hours after birth, so that's the first What If! My 2nd sister was born in 1952 and then my mother passed in 1953, that's the second What If! My family on my paternal side are Thiessen/Slusser and maternal side Lynch/Smith. My father remarried in 1959 and they had a son in 1962.
Grew up in southern California and at 18 joined the Air Force. It was that or wait for the Army to call me, which was certainty due to the "lottery" number that I had! For those of you who didn't know, yes, they gave us lottery numbers for the draft, it was the Vietnam era!! I did get my draft notice about my 2nd or 3rd week of Air Force basic training. The Training Instructor threw it to me at mail call and told me, "Congratulation you have been drafted," he was always so funny!
So, I stayed in the Air Force for 21 years. Was stationed in Thailand, Germany, South Korea, Spain, England and about three different locations in the U.S. My not so favorite place was Fortuna AFS in North Dakota. It was about 6 miles from the Canadian border, and the word "cold" in the winter doesn't begin to tell that story. Bunny boots and a parka was a must!
Yes, I did get married in 1985, she was also in the Air Force and the Air Force Reserve. She got her 20 years in and became a Math Professor at our local University. No children, just us with two dogs, then two cats.
Retired in 1991, finished up my education with a few degrees and started work with McDonnel Douglas (1997) helping to build the C-17 aircraft as a structural aircraft mechanic. Boeing bought McDonnel Douglas shortly thereafter. I then became a parts inspector and then got laid off.
In 2002 I got hired by our local Air Force base and ended up as an IT Specialist, assigned to the help desk. We fixed computer hardware, remoted in and solved computer issues and setup laptops for people that were remotely connected.
Retired from everything in 2013. Became a handyman around the house, planted tomatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, etc. Lots of flowers, did some painting (a lot really) read a few books and did 14 hours a week of PT (note: if you don't move then you must be dead!).
In 2006 Ancestory.com came out with a promotion that they would do research and fill in a Family Tree for 4 generations. I think the cost was $119.95 for some kind of leather-bound book with names and dates. I received it and was pretty impressed, and then shocked!! The 1930 Census showed that My mother had six, yes, six siblings!! When I picked myself off the floor, I couldn't figure out why I didn't know that! My father passed away in 1993 and there was literally no one around to ask WTF!! (Yes, I know, language!!).
My short novice genealogy career began with the National Geographic Society sending out a request for DNA testing so they could build a DNA database(2013) . Family Tree DNA website was assisting with their project. I submitted my sample and found out that I was a mutt, Germany, English, Irish with a few more thrown in.
So, I created a Family Tree on the Familytreedna website. It had about 15 people in it and I found the process to update it not to be user friendly. Especially when I would need a subscription to Ancestory.com to really get involved. So, abandon it I did!
In the latter part of 2024, Familytreedna sent email, they were getting rid of family trees but they would be more than delighted to transfer (at no fee to me of course) to MyHeritage. They did and I opened it and matches started popping up. Emails were already being received about other matches. So, with great assistance from my wife who had been working on her own family albums (for about 20 years) and self-publishing same, whole new worlds starting to form.
So, what I knew about my life before has completely changed from what I know now! Some highlights include the following: 1940 Census showed my mother now had eight siblings, which is why my Grandmother Cora Emily Lynch gravestone says "Mother of Nine."
My dad who had been married twice was found to have been married five times (5). The 1950 census showed both him and my mother "divorced." One of those who he married was not only my step-mother but is my 1st cousin, once removed and her daughters are my 2nd cousins (believe it or not).
I had a great grandfather named Johann Detlef Christian (JDC) Thiessen. He was born in 1843 and came to the U.S. in 1866. He created the "Thiessen Ranch" an 1100-acre ranch in Lewiston, Idaho. Built the three-story "Thiessen" building in 1901/2, which took 300,000 bricks to make. The "ranch" was sold of course and now is part of what is called "Locomotive Park." Wikipedia has an article on it. It's located in Lewiston, Idaho and it has a "Christmas Festival" every year. There has been tragedy too: Daughters Ida (1886) & Olga (1888) die from Diphtheria in 1891. Another What If! Do we really need to discuss the vaccinee issue?
Then there is George Roscoe Thiessen, 1st cousin, once removed who played a year for the Cleveland Rams football team and started "Thiessen Oil" in 1948.
So many people and so many stories to tell!!
Lastly, one of my many projects coming from these stories was receiving a "Discovery" from "MyHeritage" on 8.12.25. A person discovery for 12 people and the first person on the list was Amariah Bonham, the 2nd person was Hezekiah Bonham, his father. Little did I know then what a "rabbit hole" this was going to be!!
I added the "Discovery" and I noticed that among those 12 individuals added was a symbol that I had not seen before. It was the Mayflower Society Descendant emblem. So, to make a long story, shorter, I found that I had a direct lineage (12 generations) from my maternal grandmother (Cora) to Edward Fuller. He, his son and brother were all on the Mayflower when it arrived in 1620. I went to the Mayflower Society webpage and found that (for $75) I can submit the names of my line and they would do a quick check to see if that was true. Six weeks later the answer came back, NO, because the 2nd wife of Hezekiah Bonham had not been "proven." They claimed to not know who his 2nd wife actually was and therefore the children that were associated with her (8 of them, 7 brothers, 1 sister), were therefore NOT proven either.
That was very confusing to me because there is a searchable Mayflower database at the website https://mayflower.americanancestors.org/ There is a fee for access of course and I had checked both the Mayflower database (which had the completed applications for those people born Before 1920) and it had Family Trees for all of the Mayflower Passengers that had descendants. So, my ancestor "Amariah Bonham" was in the Family Tree and to add insult to injury, I found nine completed (from the Amariah Bonham line) and approved Mayflower applications signed and dated by their "Historian General." The latest one dated Dec 10, 1975.
Well after a few emails to the Mayflower Society and doing my own research I found out that apparently the church records for that area were taken by a Tory church clerk and they were either hidden or destroyed by him or the British troops burned them. Church records were where marriage, birth and death records were kept during that time. There were other sources of course, Land, taxes, wills, etc., that were available. The Mayflower Society was formed in 1897 and they approved many applications from what is now known were from the "AH" brothers (Hezekiah Jr., Nehemiah, Zedekiah, Amariah, Malachiah, Amaziah, & Jeremiah, Isaiah, Obadiah, Zephaniah & Uriah). They won't tell me when they kicked them all off the island but it was obviously after 1975 and of course I do not have access to those records for those people who were born "after" 1920 and had applications approved.
For those who are interested, there is a series of books (circa 1930s) (in 7 parts) from Orra Eugene Monnette titled "First Settlers of Ye Plantations of Piscataway and Woodbridge, Olde East New Jersey 1664 – 1714. It's about 1200 pages and you can download it from it from Family Search for free. He was the premier genealogist of that time and it is searchable. He was also a Mayflower Descendant. There are other Bonham books and Mayflower books also you can get for free on Family Search. Looking for Mayflower descendant info the last couple of months has revealed to me that there is a lot of support for the "AH" brothers being proven, from websites to other sources. It's too bad the Mayflower Society can't get on board with it! Again!!
So those of you who will read this this issue is: Hezekiah Bonham, age 33, born in 1667, married Mary Dunn in 1690, had four children, and she passed away in 1699. Some sources say his 2nd wife was "Ann Hunt" or "Mary Bishop."
Did he or did he not have 2nd wife with lots of kids or did he decide to become a monk, took a vow of celibacy and lived happily ever after? Let me know if you can find something "provable" concerning the 2nd wife. Apparently after 400 years the Mayflower Society can't or the Land deed, taxes, wills, etc., from the "AH" descendants just doesn't make their standard!
So, what now! Working on Memorials for the Lynch family first. Trying to tie the "9" together in some form or fashion. Finally created grandfather Lynch memorial and added same. Looks like I will have three more to do for the two Aunts and one Uncle not found in Find A Grave. Then I will jump over to the Thiessen side for a while. I'm updating my "Father's" marriage story. Especially with his first wife, the half brother infant who passed away at birth and my half-sister, born in 1945 and died as an indignant in Utah in 2006. Details that I and my sister knew nothing about till this year. A really What If!! Update: that has now been done!!
Update 3.1.26 Completed the "Nine" project for the Lynch Family. I had a lot of info for the Uncles who were in the Navy but not so much later in their lives. So like with the my other memorials, they will be always be in the "update" phase as new genealogical discoveries occur.
Presently working on Purple Heart projects for Pvt Sidney Charles Thiessen who was KIA in Brest, France 6 Sep 1944 (age 28)and EM2 Robert O'Keefe Lynch who was at Pearl Harbor on 7 Dec 1941:
I couldn't find any records of Sidney's family receiving said medal so I submitted what info I had to the National Archives for his military records. Received email back that his records along with some other 17 to 18 million military records were destroyed in a fire in 1973 at the National Personal Records Center. Records were kept in 200,000 square foot rooms. No sprinkler system installed (they didn't want the documents to get wet) and no fire doors. I sent email to Army Human Resource Command and they referred me to their Purple Heart web page. It had a form to fill out but that was impossible due to the lack of military info that I had. I did give them a link to his Find A Grave page. They either didn't look at it or didn't really care. I then contacted Idaho Congressman's Fulcher office (twice) and no response there and no help, then I contacted Idaho Senator Crapo's office and so far no help there either. Update: In March 2026 the Army accepted Purple Heart package for processing!!
Update 30 Sep 2026, On 24 Sep, 2026 I received a phone call from the Awards and Decorations Branch that the Purple Heart had been approved and that his package would be sent to me. On 28 September 2026 I received said package.
I also found no records that Robert O'Keefe Lynch himself received Purple Heart. His parent received telegram he was killed (Pearl Harbor) and then two days later another message arrived that he had been wounded and was recovering in a hospital. I now have a request in for his military records.
My photo image: Something Younger Obviously!!
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