Volunteer Appreciation - Family History & Genealogy Message Board

Volunteer Appreciation

majorxl4 — 2009-06-02 07:55:14Z

I wish to give a tribute to all the volunteers who administer the public boards in there own time. Since the system of trust and appreciation for there work is taken for granted. And when those who do this ask for clarification to resolve issues they are met with no response. Is it not about time that those who run this site took notice that if it was not for those who participate the site would not be as successfully. Since I joined this site I have noticed that ….. to make critical remarks of disapproval even when constructive criticism is presented just means deletion, so even to make reference to what I have noticed does not mean very much for this is treated with contempt . But I do not have to say anything for those who do administer no what is going on.

In Memory of Vee Housman aka Chief Vee and Auntie Vee

reberkheiser — 2009-05-11 12:42:50Z

Hi again everyone!

This is way long overdo, and I apologize for not doing it sooner. Its hard to believe Vee has been gone almost 4 years. She passed away suddenly in 2005 leaving many friends she's made over the years on the PADUTCH-LIFE Mailing List on Rootsweb. She was the admin of that list from its start in February of 1998 to right up to the very end of her very full life in October of 2005.

She would often share with us stories of her daily life including her past achievements down to her struggles of failing health.

She entered the Navy as a WAVE and retired a Chief Petty Officer.

She had a unique ability of reaching across cyberspace to become a friend and "aunt" to many. We would always gather around her Virtual Kitchen Table to enjoy her company on the list.

She will TRULY be missed and the list has never been the same without her.

Rest in Peace, Vee.

Rick B

------------------------------------

Vee L. Housman

Of Youngstown, NY, October 1, 2005, age 74, sister of John C. (Jeanette) Housman and Norma L. (Holland) Sesto; aunt of Douglas Holland, Debra Targon, Aliciaga Massengill, John Housman and Dedra Vee Housman; also survived by a number of grand-nieces, nephews and great-grand-nieces and nephews. Friends may call at the HARDISON FUNERAL HOMES, INC., 3648 Ransomville Rd., Ransomville, Tuesday from 2-4 and 7-9 PM. Funeral Services will full military honors will be held Friday, October 7 at the James F. Stone Funeral Home, Harrisburg, PA. Memorials to the Town of Porter Historical Society, PO Box 442, Youngstown, NY 14174.

Published in the Buffalo News on 10/2/2005.

Re: Allan Wheatley & T42 cemetery photos

reberkheiser — 2009-05-11 12:22:14Z

Hi everyone!

I'm a little late to this thread but I wanted to add my thanks to Alan for all of his years of hard work making photos of tombstones available to everybody.

Its a valuable service that I hope continues long after he's gone.

Thanks Alan! :-)

Rick B

In Memory of Dan Rich

reberkheiser — 2009-05-10 20:11:15Z

Hi everyone!

Dan Rich was one of the dedicated volunteers on my St. Joseph Co., IN Message Board. He had written and compiled many booklets pertaining to that county and he was always willing to help someone out that needed information. His contributions will be greatly missed.

Rest in Peace, Dan.

Rick B

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Dec. 24, 1932 - April 30, 2009
SOUTH BEND - Daniel (Dan) Thomas Rich died on April 30, 2009, at the age of 76. He was born on December 24, 1932, in South Bend, IN, to the late Ronald Emil and Lucille Cecelia (Bickel) Rich. He graduated from John Adams High School in South Bend in 1950 and then attended the University of Notre Dame for two years, at which time he was called to serve in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. After service, he returned to South Bend and then attended and graduated from Purdue University in 1959 with a BS in aeronautical engineering. Upon graduation he accepted a position with AiResearch Manufacturing Company (later The Garrett Corporation - Signals Companies - AlliedSignal and now Honeywell) in Phoenix, spending his entire career working on gas turbine engines. He retired from there in 1988 and started a new career by buying a business - JC Printing/Jiffy Copy, Inc., in which he was a part-owner (along with his son, Tom) at the time of his death. Dan spent many years active in youth sports programs, having served 10 years with Madison #1 Little League, and 27 years with the Arizona Pop Warner Football program, of which he was the commissioner from 1979 through 1992. About 20 years ago, Dan got involved in genealogy and had traced his and his deceased spouse's families back to 1680. He had over 64, 000 individual names in his genealogy database. He was a member of several genealogy societies, including the South Bend Area Genealogy Society. He was also a member of the South Bend Alumni Association and the Purdue Alumni Association On August 31, 1957, he married Barbara Jean Lyvers in St. Joseph Catholic Church, South Bend IN, who preceded him in death on January, 21, 2004. He was also preceded in death by a grandson, Dustin Rich. Survivors include three sons, Ronald J. (Dena), Paul E. (Sharon) and Thomas J. (Kris), granddaughter, Heather, and great-grandson, Sean, all of Phoenix. Also surviving are a brother, Joseph (Marilyn) R. Rich of Roswell, GA, and a sister, Mary Virginia Sears (Raymond) of Green Valley, AZ. Arrangements were handled by Whitney & Murphy Funeral Home, with interment at St. Francis Catholic Cemetery in Phoenix. Private services have been held. A private memorial Mass will be held at a later date at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Phoenix, AZ. Family suggests memorial donations to The Holy Cross Association, P.O. Box K, Notre Dame, IN 46556; or to the St. Mary's Food Bank of Phoenix. Published in South Bend Tribune on 5/10/2009

THANK YOU! to board admins

just1lucy — 2009-03-20 15:34:19Z

I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly thank those fellow admins who, despite the recent "Important Reminder" from staff, have continued to correct Surnames entries when reported to them.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

Re: Allan Wheatley & T42 cemetery photos

Diane Hettrick — 2009-02-11 18:43:23Z

I am always pleased to see Allan's posts on my boards. It is a real service to the genealogy community.

Diane Hettrick
dhettrick@earthlink.net

Re: Allan Wheatley & T42 cemetery photos

jaws64 — 2008-10-23 13:55:17Z

Appreciation to Allan is long overdue. Each of us involved in genealogy should welcome his contribution and applaud them.

STANDING OVATION

Thank you, Allan.

Jackie

Re: Allan Wheatley & T42 cemetery photos

13confido — 2008-10-19 22:09:25Z

Here! Here! It is high time Allan was recognized for his contribution to keeping genealogy FREE. (Why didn't I think to do this?!)

Allan has given selfishly of his time for years, without remuneration, to bring the cemeteries to us. Countless genealogists have benefited from the fact that Allan walks the cemeteries and photographs the stones and then shares them FOR FREE online.

Having worked on cemetery transcription projects with my genealogical society, I know both how tedious and time consuming this work can be --- AND how important it is to preserve the monument inscriptions of those that went before us.

I have always appreciated seeing Allan's notices on the boards and lists I steward of what the latest group of photos were that he had prepared to share.

Thank you Allan, for honoring our ancestors. And to think.... you've honored nearly 200,000 of them!

Kindest Regards,

Lauren Boyd
Rootsweb Volunteer since 1996

Re: Allan Wheatley & T42 cemetery photos

JudyFlorian — 2008-10-19 18:14:26Z

Researchers worldwide can only hope they, too, find someone like Allan. He not only walks cemeteries and takes photos of every stone, he's got to import and manipulate each digital photo... give it a file name... catalogue it according to cemetery... THEN find the right board, create a post, and finish that item.

I doubt ANY other person has contributed so many FREE photos documenting a vast area like a cemetery.

Everyone at or who uses the boards should be sending "thank-yous" to Allan for his wonderful work.

Judy

Re: Allan Wheatley & T42 cemetery photos

KCutshall — 2008-10-19 12:41:30Z

Glad to see a "thank you" notice for all of his work. I am always pleased to see his posings on any of the boards I admin.. You never know when one of these will be the key for someone's blocked line.
Thank you Allan Wheatley !

Re: Allan Wheatley & T42 cemetery photos

Nan_Lambert — 2008-10-19 12:14:53Z

I can't even begin to guess the amount of time he puts into posting all this information, which helps researchers worldwide. Thank you, Allen!

Re: Allan Wheatley & T42 cemetery photos

ValorieCowanZimmerman — 2008-10-19 11:13:03Z

When Allan posts to one of my boards, and the burial is recent enough, I try to follow up by finding the SSDI record and/or an obituary, and post that as a reply.

My county library system allows access to America's Obituaries and Death Notices database, which is useful. If he found an older gravestone, I guess I could look for a census record, although that hasn't come up yet.

Thanks for all your work, Allan. I appreciate it!

Re: Allan Wheatley & T42 cemetery photos

hdpth_DNA — 2008-10-19 07:39:12Z

I don't know of anyone with the dedication Allen has unselfishly bestowed upon the RootsWeb community with his tombstone photography. He has gone well above and beyond the calling of a volunteer :)

We can only hope, that "like a smile ... [his] genealogical kindness, causes a chain reaction" with many others too :)

Kenny -
hdpth-DNA

Re: Allan Wheatley & T42 cemetery photos

modusa — 2008-10-19 06:00:00Z

What Nancy said!!

I LOVE it when I see T42 on my boards. Thank you, Allen, thank you.

Mo!
http://xri.net/=mobang

Allan Wheatley & T42 cemetery photos

Nancy_Pelham — 2008-10-19 04:52:05Z

Allan is so deserving of our thanks for all of his efforts to photograph well over 100,000 cemetery tombstone inscriptions and to post them on the web in a searchable manner that is free for all of us.

Thank you Allan Wheatley!

Re: Thank You to Pops Jackson

popsjackson — 2008-03-10 02:34:18Z

I have just now discovered this messageboard and your very kind words. I don't know what to say except Thank you. My activity with Rootsweb/Ancestry is a source of deep pleasure for me. If I have helped anyone along the way, I am happy for it.

I really am sorry this response is so late in coming.

Thanks again,

Jim "Pops" Jackson

Thank you, ELLinSpain

mi2early — 2007-11-25 16:19:46Z

ELLinSpain, thank you for being such a helpful and prolific poster on the UK message boards. Your kind assistance has broken down many brick walls. You epitomize "SKS".

People Like Her

CJHarris16 — 2007-11-14 17:30:12Z

I just wanted to give Jo Dean James a GREAT BIG THANK YOU!!!!
She did some research for me and it has been a great help to me. She also gave me some suggestions on things to do and a places I need to check into. I thought I knew alot about my Herbel/Hintergardt Family background(I did not) and she has opened it up to new directions and made my research so much easier. Thank You does not begin to tell her how much I appreciate her help and advice. The world needs more people like her.

Thank You So Much, Cami

MESSAGE FOR STAN MAPSTONE

2006-11-07 18:41:45Z

Just want to say thank you for your help in August, re; WJ Stewart MP. Made some contacts and am getting a little information, but unfortunately he was a quiet politician. What you said about him starting work etc was in his obituary, also that he had a son, but was not named, pity it would have been nice to have contacted any other relations there may have been. Thanks once again.

A Big Thank You . . .

2006-04-13 23:02:48Z

. . . to Gordon and Mary Lee Klaus for their work with transcribing cemetery data in Adams Co.

Though my own interests are rather narrow, compared to theirs (my focus is on my mother's family, not the whole county - just the Jorandbys in the West Arkdale Cemetery, descendants of the Jorandbys, Hansons, and Bjornebys who homesteaded in Strongs Prairie Twp in the 1850s), I hope that others at this message board join me in appreciating their work. I think we're all in their debt.

A short story

2006-04-01 15:57:49Z

Re: A short story

2006-03-21 00:27:34Z

Re: A short story

2006-03-20 21:43:02Z

Collen...Thank you for your reply. Yes if i ever get to Ontario dorothy will be the first person I stop to see and extend a thank you too. This story was a little more involved. We were always told the Kirk name in our family died with my grandfather. His brothers died without having children. My grandfather had two daughters thus no namesake. I was baptised Stephen Kirk..... to keep the name alive.My first son was baptised Christopher Kirk..... to keep that tradition going. Then Dorothy did her research, revealing the descendents of many of my Great Grreat and Great grandfater's brothers and sisters and we rediscovered cousins throughhout twe world we never knew existed. We have been invitied to the next Kirk reunion in Simcoe.

I'll buy Dorothy dinner if I ever meet her. My sister did send her a gift. MOST OF ALL Dorthoy is recognized on an individual full page in the family history book my sister was writing, dedicating the Canadian ancestors chapter to her and her research. She did not ask for that but deserved nothing less.

My roots go back to England, Ireland, Scotland,& Germany and my children's to also Italy, but the place I loved finding my ancestors had lived was Ontario, Canda. If I ever had to retun to my roots Ontario Canada would be my destination of choice. I have lived in New York my entire life. Don't get me wrong I love New York but with it's overcrowding and expense sometimes I just wish my ancestors had stayed in Ontario.

Stephen - New York

Walter Farwell, Fremont Co., Iowa

2006-03-14 15:51:49Z

Walter has contributed thousands of hours posting items of local interest from old newspapers. What a wonderful contribution in preserving and sharing the county history. Many thanks.

Re: A short story

2006-01-31 18:11:38Z

Heather...sorry I forgot to mention this. What did Dorothy ask for in return for months of research. -0-, nothing, nada, not a thing.
So why did she do it? That is why they call it RAOGK.

I think I need a second cup of coffee. I din't need to wake up to your e-mail.

Missing Fitzwater information - no longer!

2005-10-01 14:19:29Z

I want to send a HUGE thank you to Katheryn Devine for all her help and support these past 5+ years in helping me locate my father's birth family. It all started when we found out his birth name was FITZWATER. Arrmed with that information and Katheryn's expertise, we were able to get the answers we were seeking. Katheryn is unbelieveable in her knowledge and kindness to have helped me each step of the way. I cannot sing her praises enough. I have to say that the entire FITZWATER family should be grateful to have such a knowledgable and good hearted person working so hard to keep the records correct and intact. When it comes to geneological research, accept no substitues! Katheryn is THE BEST!

Re: Thank You to Pops Jackson

ValorieCowanZimmerman — 2007-02-20 22:55:33Z

So true, Rick! We who have administered lists and boards know how much work it is, and how much public good Pops has done for the genealogical community. Hip hip hooray!

Valorie

Candace (Teal) Gravelle - West Georgia / East Alabama transcriber!

ValerieFreeman — 2006-01-15 21:40:09Z

I would like to add Candace (Teal) Gravelle to the Volunteer Appreciation board.

She lives in OREGON! But her knowledge is equal or greater than many researchers who still live "Back Home." Her family has circled my husband's for years and we often cross paths in our research. About 5 years ago, she even LENT me by mail, several books in her collection for me to use as needed. Living on the West Coast, like me, has forced her to find alternative sources to just walking down to Grandma's family cemetery.

She is currently transcribing Randolph Co., Alabama newspapers from the early 1900s.

She has done same for Heard Co., GA and Cleburne Co., Alabama. She has also transcribed Homestead records and many, many CSA / Civil War Pension Applications.

The researchers of this area are very blessed to have Candace making her contributions.

Respectfully,

Valerie Freeman

A Great Big THANK YOU!!!!! to Terry Lasky

tubbyrose1 — 2006-04-26 14:56:20Z

Just wanted everyone to know what a great person she is for the time she takes to help other researchers. She goes above & beyond the duty of Lookups to help people. THANK YOU TERRY!!!!

Many Thanks to Sandy Oddie RAOGK Cook Co,IL

LLoser7720 — 2006-03-03 19:44:52Z

Sandy has gone out of her way trying to find information for me. When obits were not available she called funeral homes, cemeteries etc. I'm sure she has spent many hours on my elusive ancestors.

Barb Huff, Shelby Co., Indiana

cghoffman — 2006-06-27 18:18:01Z

I would like to give a standing ovation to Barb Huff, volunteer from Shelby County, Indiana.

Last year I was putting together an update of a 1942 book on the family of James and Rebecca Shaffer Gray. Barb very diligently searched through microfilm of a local newspaper for obituaries and other items on one particular branch. It's the most well documented branch of them all. And, she continues to send me items as she finds them, even though she is not a member of the family.

Volunteers like Barb Huff make genealogy fun! I wish I could clone her for EVERY genealogy website!

THANKS

Bobbyedna24 — 2006-10-10 02:21:43Z

Many THANKS for all the searching ,and all the helpful information.

Warm fuzzies...

JPSmith49 — 2006-08-30 18:01:19Z

I have rarely felt warm fuzzies for a group I have tried to be part of. Free RootsWeb has allowed me to contribute my gedcom and become something greater than myself. And of course that is possible because of the good-natured giving that volunteers do. Many thanks, JP Smith.

Re: Please give recognition to Joan Young