I am descended from German Volga immigrants from Rothammel Russia on my mother's side and from Austria-Hungary (now Czech Republic) immigrants on my father's side.

I don't conduct genealogical research. Instead, I've focused on summarizing biographical information for immediate relatives, as sourced from my mother's genealogical research (including her memoirs and her transcriptions of the oral histories she recorded), newspaper articles, Find A Grave contributors that posted original memorials, and oral histories of other still living immediate family members. I am also helping my sister-in-law add to the memorials of her relatives.

I started on Find A Grave by posting pictures of those who have passed so they would be known by more than just a stone with a name and date inscription. After pictures were added, I became driven to add details of their lives, so future generations would know at least something of the lives they led.

I am also driven to create memorials for relatives that have no grave marker. Without a marker or a memorial, there was a potential that they would be lost to history ; I couldn't stand by and just let that happen. Additionally, it is important to me to have memorials for a deceased spouse(s) and children linked on a memorial so they would always be known as family.