Stephen Garst
- Member for
- 10 years 1 month 21 days
- Find a Grave ID
Bio
After college graduation in 1970, I subsequently became a Certified Public Accountant. After working in this field for various companies, and in different capacities, I decided to make a mid-life career change to what I'd wanted do to since about age 5. I became a police officer. I worked as a civilian dispatcher for Conroe, TX PD while attending an academy. Upon completion and certification as a Texas Peace Officer I worked for Conroe ISD PD for 10 years, obtaining the rank of sergeant. After Columbine occurred on my birth date in 2001, I was appointed as the Coordinator of School Safety for Conroe ISD, tasked with designing safety plans for all 60+ campuses and support service centers. Later, I became a patrol shift supervisor (Sergeant) for the Little Elm PD, Little Elm, TX. Subsequently, I became their crime prevention and community services Sergeant. I retired as a Master Peace Officer in 2014 and moved back to my childhood home near Conroe, in Willis, Tx. I enjoy doing genealogy research on my family and others and adding a lot of data to family members memorial pages on Find A Grave. I think memorials should have as much detail as possible and should contain a bio that tells a bit about the life of the person. Generations from now, relatives can read and learn a bit about their ancestors and see exactly how they are related.
My philosophy with regard to creating and maintaining memorials is very simple. Every memorial should be about the individual, their ancestors and their descendants. Despite the rather narrow-minded and myopic viewpoint of Find A Grave, I believe that a family member, ANY family member, is entitled to maintain the memorial of a loved one, especially if/when they have relevant data to contribute to the page. That said, if I create a memorial page for someone to which you are related by any means, no matter how distant, and I am not, I will gladly and immediately transfer it to you when requested.
I despise any person, who usually by simple virtue of their geographic location, create a memorial, sometimes merely from a picture of the grave marker or newspaper obituary, add a little mundane data and then proudly claim it as "theirs", refusing to transfer it unless you fall strictly within Find A Grave guidelines. Creating and/or maintaining a memorial is NOT about the creator whose egos are so fragile they need to stroke it by piling up meaningless numbers of memorials they create/maintain. Those people are unashamedly selfish. If you fall in that category, shame on you. It is despicable. It isn't about YOU. It is about the preservation of a loved one's memory, with as much detail and relevant data as is available and like it or not, that data most likely lies with relatives, no matter the relationship, NOT YOU. If you fall in that category of people who selfishly hold on to a memorial simply to improve your numbers, I truly feel sorry for you. If you have any semblance of a conscience, search it and do the right thing for the family and the person's memorial and transfer it to a requesting family member. You probably end up more blessed for it in the end.
My philosophy with regard to creating and maintaining memorials is very simple. Every memorial should be about the individual, their ancestors and their descendants. Despite the rather narrow-minded and myopic viewpoint of Find A Grave, I believe that a family member, ANY family member, is entitled to maintain the memorial of a loved one, especially if/when they have relevant data to contribute to the page. That said, if I create a memorial page for someone to which you are related by any means, no matter how distant, and I am not, I will gladly and immediately transfer it to you when requested.
I despise any person, who usually by simple virtue of their geographic location, create a memorial, sometimes merely from a picture of the grave marker or newspaper obituary, add a little mundane data and then proudly claim it as "theirs", refusing to transfer it unless you fall strictly within Find A Grave guidelines. Creating and/or maintaining a memorial is NOT about the creator whose egos are so fragile they need to stroke it by piling up meaningless numbers of memorials they create/maintain. Those people are unashamedly selfish. If you fall in that category, shame on you. It is despicable. It isn't about YOU. It is about the preservation of a loved one's memory, with as much detail and relevant data as is available and like it or not, that data most likely lies with relatives, no matter the relationship, NOT YOU. If you fall in that category of people who selfishly hold on to a memorial simply to improve your numbers, I truly feel sorry for you. If you have any semblance of a conscience, search it and do the right thing for the family and the person's memorial and transfer it to a requesting family member. You probably end up more blessed for it in the end.
After college graduation in 1970, I subsequently became a Certified Public Accountant. After working in this field for various companies, and in different capacities, I decided to make a mid-life career change to what I'd wanted do to since about age 5. I became a police officer. I worked as a civilian dispatcher for Conroe, TX PD while attending an academy. Upon completion and certification as a Texas Peace Officer I worked for Conroe ISD PD for 10 years, obtaining the rank of sergeant. After Columbine occurred on my birth date in 2001, I was appointed as the Coordinator of School Safety for Conroe ISD, tasked with designing safety plans for all 60+ campuses and support service centers. Later, I became a patrol shift supervisor (Sergeant) for the Little Elm PD, Little Elm, TX. Subsequently, I became their crime prevention and community services Sergeant. I retired as a Master Peace Officer in 2014 and moved back to my childhood home near Conroe, in Willis, Tx. I enjoy doing genealogy research on my family and others and adding a lot of data to family members memorial pages on Find A Grave. I think memorials should have as much detail as possible and should contain a bio that tells a bit about the life of the person. Generations from now, relatives can read and learn a bit about their ancestors and see exactly how they are related.
My philosophy with regard to creating and maintaining memorials is very simple. Every memorial should be about the individual, their ancestors and their descendants. Despite the rather narrow-minded and myopic viewpoint of Find A Grave, I believe that a family member, ANY family member, is entitled to maintain the memorial of a loved one, especially if/when they have relevant data to contribute to the page. That said, if I create a memorial page for someone to which you are related by any means, no matter how distant, and I am not, I will gladly and immediately transfer it to you when requested.
I despise any person, who usually by simple virtue of their geographic location, create a memorial, sometimes merely from a picture of the grave marker or newspaper obituary, add a little mundane data and then proudly claim it as "theirs", refusing to transfer it unless you fall strictly within Find A Grave guidelines. Creating and/or maintaining a memorial is NOT about the creator whose egos are so fragile they need to stroke it by piling up meaningless numbers of memorials they create/maintain. Those people are unashamedly selfish. If you fall in that category, shame on you. It is despicable. It isn't about YOU. It is about the preservation of a loved one's memory, with as much detail and relevant data as is available and like it or not, that data most likely lies with relatives, no matter the relationship, NOT YOU. If you fall in that category of people who selfishly hold on to a memorial simply to improve your numbers, I truly feel sorry for you. If you have any semblance of a conscience, search it and do the right thing for the family and the person's memorial and transfer it to a requesting family member. You probably end up more blessed for it in the end.
My philosophy with regard to creating and maintaining memorials is very simple. Every memorial should be about the individual, their ancestors and their descendants. Despite the rather narrow-minded and myopic viewpoint of Find A Grave, I believe that a family member, ANY family member, is entitled to maintain the memorial of a loved one, especially if/when they have relevant data to contribute to the page. That said, if I create a memorial page for someone to which you are related by any means, no matter how distant, and I am not, I will gladly and immediately transfer it to you when requested.
I despise any person, who usually by simple virtue of their geographic location, create a memorial, sometimes merely from a picture of the grave marker or newspaper obituary, add a little mundane data and then proudly claim it as "theirs", refusing to transfer it unless you fall strictly within Find A Grave guidelines. Creating and/or maintaining a memorial is NOT about the creator whose egos are so fragile they need to stroke it by piling up meaningless numbers of memorials they create/maintain. Those people are unashamedly selfish. If you fall in that category, shame on you. It is despicable. It isn't about YOU. It is about the preservation of a loved one's memory, with as much detail and relevant data as is available and like it or not, that data most likely lies with relatives, no matter the relationship, NOT YOU. If you fall in that category of people who selfishly hold on to a memorial simply to improve your numbers, I truly feel sorry for you. If you have any semblance of a conscience, search it and do the right thing for the family and the person's memorial and transfer it to a requesting family member. You probably end up more blessed for it in the end.
