Thoughts on Legacy

A couple of days ago I was thinking about legacy. I've been having those thoughts more frequently with one brother who died last year and one sister currently battling stage IV pancreatic cancer. As the family historian, I do know facts about the lives of many of my ancestors. But much of their stories and… Continue reading Thoughts on Legacy

Serendipity: Finding One’s Self in a Eulogy

I believe in serendipity. Today I was going through paperwork on my desk and found the eulogy that I wrote and delivered to family and friends for my brother's celebration of life just over a year ago. The memories provoked a year ago when I wrote it were intense, and so are my memories today.… Continue reading Serendipity: Finding One’s Self in a Eulogy

On Ancestry Hints I’m Skeptical to Use

Those little leaves are tempting to just click and accept, particularly when they are connected to another's user's tree. Early in my ancestry research I accepted my mom's cousin's tree and the others that I found as vetted facts. I was humming along thinking it was great and simple and marveled at the progress that… Continue reading On Ancestry Hints I’m Skeptical to Use

The Holwadel’s and the Durbin’s – a short bio of John Edward Durbin

John Edward Durbin, born November 4, 1917, died October 28, 2002. When John was born in 1917, his father, John, was 33 and his mother, Mary Pauline (Daily), was 27. John was the third child of what would become nine children in the family. In 1920 the family was living in a tenement building at… Continue reading The Holwadel’s and the Durbin’s – a short bio of John Edward Durbin