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Caryn Adler |
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Caryn
grew up in Niles Michigan and moved to Kalamazoo
in 1978 to attend college. In 1980, as a first anniversary gift to her
brother and sister-in-law, she began creating a
genealogy chart combining their two families.
The anniversary came and went, but Caryn was
forever impassioned to research her family tree. To date, there are about 5,600 names in her
genealogy database, with one line traced back to the
year 1066. In addition to documenting her own family's history, she
has assisted others in their research, including her
cousin's 74-year old husband who successfully found his
birth family.
Caryn also has many other activities that keep her busy,
right now she is involved in 2 writing classes for
helping genealogist write about events, family members
or even themselves if you're interested in doing your
own biography. |
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Ken Baker |
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kelticken@jasnetworks.net
Ken grew up in the Kalamazoo area, leaving for military duty and a
few years working for the Federal Government in Illinois. He
graduated form Western Michigan University. His career was in
aviation safety for 15 years with the Federal Government. He retired
from Consumers Concrete as their Director of Safety and Environment
and is a former president of KVGS.
Ken is a member of many genealogy and historical societies and has
participated and was successful in a DNA surname project with a 37
marker match.
Ken is also an active volunteer with the local food banks. |
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Christine Ballard |
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c2ballard@aol.com |
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Bill Brandt |
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billbrandt60@hotmail.com
Bill has been a member of KVGS for eight years, and has
volunteered to help with two of the Genealogy Conferences
and the last two Genealogy Saturdays.
About 15 years ago Bill began his genealogical researching
by asking his mother to write down on paper the names of his
father's siblings and their spouses (nine brothers and three
sisters).
This led to researching Wisconsin Germans that immigrated to
the US
in the 1850s and finding many cousins and helped with his
research. His mother's lines go back to the early
New England settlers, including three patriots
of the Revolutionary War. Bill combines travel with his
research, has visited Germany,
the LDS Library in Salt Lake City,
and has made several trips to the Allen County Public
Library in Fort Wayne.
He met his wife Judy while attending WMU. They have two
married adult children and two grandchildren. |
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Julie Brenneman |
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crazycamper58@yahoo.com
Julie has been involved with genealogy work for about
seven years, upon moving to Kalamazoo from Battle
Creek. After having talked with her parents about 'where
did I come from,' Julie wrote an autobiography in
elementary school. Now she knows what she could have
done.
Julie has attended many of our Fort Wayne bus trips and
attended lock-ins at the Kalamazoo Public Library. Her
next trip research is to Washington, DC, in
October. Julie has been on our Genealogy Saturday
committee and also helped with our conferences which
were held held at the Fetzer Center. She was also on the
cemetery committee. As her interest in genealogy has
increased, Julie decided to take on a more active role
in our society by joining the board. |
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Emily Dood |
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emilyd1@charter.net |
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Roger Drong |
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rfdrong2@yahoo.com
Roger has researched genealogy since 1993 and has a primary interest
in Scandinavian countries, which is understandable because his
families have their roots in Sweden, Finland, and Poland. He
got his start when he was able to help others who were researching
the Scandinavian countries. A native of Minnesota, he has been
in Kalamazoo since 1988.
A retired microbiologist (Upjohn), he likens genealogy to the work
he did with DNA research trying to find the connections. He is
single and been a member of KVGS since 2005. |
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Joe Ferrara |
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ferrara@btc-bti.com |
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Jan Getz |
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getzj1980@yahoo.com
Jan has been a member of KVGS since 2000 and
has served on the board as President for 2 years, past President for
another 2 years, and also served as Chairperson for the Cemetery
committee. She volunteers with Random Acts of Genealogical
Kindness (R.A.O.G.K.). She is a member of the Daughters of the
American Revolution (D.A.R.).
In 1980 she had a Kidney Transplant. In 1993 Co-founded Living
Organ and Tissue Transplant Support Group (L.O.T.T.S.). She
has held many board positions with L.O.T.T.S. and volunteers with
The Gift of Life, Kidney Foundation of Michigan and was on the
Transplant Game Committee for 8 years. She has also
volunteered with Girl Scouts of Glowing Embers Council for 25 years.
Jan
stated on her genealogy years ago when her grandmother was still
alive. Then it was put on the back burner for some years.
She picked it up again in 1998 and has been at it ever since. |
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Bev Grambau |
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Beverly began researching her family history in the 1980‘s and was a
member of KVGS for a few years then. Raising her family of three
consumed all her time and energy then so family history was put on the
back burner. When the youngest child went off to college, she
rejoined KVGS and resumed her research in earnest. She was
amazed at what the computer/internet age had done to facilitate
genealogical research. It is not uncommon for her to be up late
into the night as she finds bits and pieces that fit into her family
puzzle. Her present challenge is to get control of the
genealogical papers that have taken control of the dining room table.
As a former government and history teacher, genealogy fits very well
with her interests and education.
She received an AM and a MA in education both from the
University of
Michigan. She and her husband Geoff, are diehard
Wolverine fans and have been season football ticket holders for over
35 years. |
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George Haaf |
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Judith Halseth, Ed.D. |
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judith.halseth@wmich.edu |
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Mary Hodges |
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mhodges105@comcast.net |
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Kay Horton |
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mikvgs@yahoo.com
Kay has been interested in genealogy since 1965, but
it wasn't until she took Karen Kott's class at the
Senior Center in the fall of 2000 that she really got
serious about it. She joined KVGS and purchased
a laptop to help her get better organized, although
she still has a long way to go on documentation.
On a recent trip in 2005 to England, Kay had an
opportunity to visit the Canterbury Cathedral Archives
to verify a source and to do research in the Family
History Center in London. |
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Cheryl Ingersoll |
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curt.ingersoll@sbcglobal.net
Cheryl is a new member of KVGS who joined in the fall of
2008. She retired
from the QA office in the Diagnostic Division of Pfizer in
2005. A recent trip to
Philadelphia
turned up a biographical sketch of her
great-great-grandfather complete with a photograph! She is
currently trying to break down a brick wall and trace her
roots back to
Ireland.
There is also a German side to the family. Cheryl is
president of the Kalamazoo Shriners Ladies Club.
She has two children, one grandson, with another on
the way, all living in this area. She is looking forward to
working with the membership to develop interesting programs
for the coming year. |
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Curt Ingersoll |
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curt.ingersoll@sbcglobal.net
Curt is a newer member of KVGS who joined in the fall of
2008. He is a Metrologist (not meteorologist) employed at
Pfizer. Curt started his early work on his family tree after
purchasing a copy of Family Tree Maker (pre-Windows DOS
release!) from a sale bin at a local store. At first he
simply used the program to keep track of births, marriages,
and deaths in the family. As time passed, he began to trace
the family history backwards. His family was one of the
early pioneers in the
Portage
area around 1830 and he can now trace his roots in the
US
to the second voyage of the Mayflower in 1629. Curt is
active in a number of non-profit organizations, and is a
past Treasurer of the Kalamazoo Shrine organization. |
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Jim Jackson |
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jjacks01@yahoo.com
Jim has been interested in genealogy and local history since the
mid-70s, having served as Past President of the Detroit Society for
Genealogical Research, and Past-President of the Oakland County
Genealogical Society. He has also been the index editor of the DSGR
Magazine since 1994.
In addition to
having articles published in Genealogical Computing, Genealogical
Helper, and Heritage Quest, Jim has written The Guide
to the First Fifty Years of the DSGR Magazine, (selected as one
of the 50 most useful genealogical resources by the Michigan
Genealogical Council), and The List of Pensioners on CD-ROM
published by Heritage Quest.
Jim was honored to
receive the 2006 Lucy Mary Kellogg Award from the Michigan
Genealogical Council for "significant contribution to the
preservation and education of genealogy and history."
Currently Jim is
the Vice-President of the Calhoun County Genealogical Society and is
also one of the Michigan Genealogical Council delegates for KVGS. |
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Pam Jobin |
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pamelajobin@yahoo.com |
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Karen Kott |
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mikvgs@yahoo.com |
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Kurt Kremlick, Jr |
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kremlick@juno.com
Kurt
has been an active member of the KVGS since 1999, served as Trustee
for five years and has been serving as president since his appointment
by the Board in January 2007.
Kurt began his genealogical
research in the mid 1960s, starting with two handwritten pages from
one of his grandmothers and a brief, crude, undated ancestral chart of
her family. Since his retirement as a minister in the
Presbyterian church in 1998, he and his wife Fran, have delved deeply
into their family histories. One of Fran’s cousins provided them with
much help and inspiration. One of Kurt’s cousins gave him his
mother’s family bible which unlocked that part of his family’s tree.
He has, however, yet to discover where his paternal grandparents came
from when the arrived in
America in 1866, presumably from
Bohemia. His genealogy files continue to grow as
he discovers more about his family and their descendants.
Kurt enjoys helping others get started on their own genealogy
research. He has a working knowledge of the society and how
organizations function. He is looking forward to helping the
Society begin its sixth decade in the coming year. |
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Wayne Loney |
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wayne@mei.net
Wayne has been a member of KVGS since 1996 and has
served as treasurer since 2004. His early research
consisted in driving to cemeteries to photograph
tombstones. His wife, Ardis Pierce, convinced
him that genealogy as a “cheap hobby” three computers,
and trips to Germany, Ireland, Norway, Salt Lake City
and Washington D.C., and other places have made her
point. In 2006, his research abilities improved
to “heavy book lifter” at the Kalamazoo County Clerks
Office, assisting other local researchers, and now he
is a permanent fixture there.
Wayne is a retired sergeant from the Kalamazoo
Department of Public Safety and has three adult
children. He lives by the credo that genealogy
is the science of “disturbing the dead and annoying
the living.” |
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Doris Mettler |
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d.e.mettler@sbcglobal.net
Doris has been a member of KVGS since
May 2003, and a member in the late 1970s.
During the recent membership, she
volunteered for a number of events for the KVGS including Genealogy
Saturday events and the Genealogy Conferences.
Doris has been to several genealogy conferences and also
participated in the Portage Civil War reenactment. She been
doing genealogy research for about 30 years, but more
fervently since she retired. She has been to the "usual"
places: the Allen County Public Library in
Fort Wayne,
the State Historical Library, twice to
Salt Lake City,
and the Burton Library. Born in
Coldwater,
Michigan,
and spending the last 39 years in
Kalamazoo,
Doris has spent much time in the various archives in the
area. She has also been chairperson of her church's Mission
Committee for four years and continue to be involved with
them. |
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Suzanne Norton |
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Ardis Pierce |
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ardis@mei.net
Ardis has been an active member of KVGS since 1990 and has served as a
Trustee since January 2007. Previously she served the Society as
membership chair for about five years. Since 1997,
she has volunteered at the Kalamazoo County Clerk’s office on Friday
afternoons. She has also participated in the Rootsweb.com
projects in area counties, served as a R.A.O.G.K (Random Acts of
Genealogical Kindness) volunteer for Kalamazoo County, served as the
Chapter Regent for the Lucinda Hinsdale Stone Chapter, Daughters of
the American Revolution, and is a member of the New England Historic
Genealogical Society, Sons of Norway, Norwegian-American Historical
Association, Fairbanks Family Association, Friends of Ransom
Library (Plainwell), Friends of Historic East Campus and the
Association of Professional Genealogists.
Many years ago, she
assisted her mother by typing a manuscript that recorded family
history. However, she really got hooked after meeting in the
1980s a cousin, who had compiled a notebook of family members.
She now uses a computer to keep track of a huge database of her
extended family. She regularly works online and has made
extensive trips nationally and internationally to visit distant
relatives and ancestral home sites.
Ardis is a Kalamazoo native
who has lived in the Kalamazoo area all her life. She became a police
officer with the Kalamazoo Police Department in 1974 and worked up the
ranks to Lieutenant and retired as such. “Genealogy is much like
detective work – we should approach it as a detective would.” she
says. She and her fellow genealogist husband Wayne Loney, are
very active members of the Parchment United Methodist Church. |
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Sue Sanders |
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plainwellsanders@yahoo.com
Sue has been working on her family history since 1973
and needs at least another 30 to do the job right.
A retired WMU computer science instructor, Sue has
been a member of KVGS since 1996, during which time
she has been publicity chair, membership chair, and
vice-president. She has also organized the
spring conferences and has been a long-time volunteer
at the county clerk's office.
In her other-than-genealogy life, Sue volunteers at
the Cheff Center for Therapeutic Horseback Riding and
spends lots of time walking her dogs in the woods.
Sue's current obsession is transcribing the Kalamazoo
County Poor Farm Books, which she will hopefully
finish in her lifetime. |
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Judy Woolsey |
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jwoolsey@schupan.com
Judy has been actively researching her family genealogy since 2004.
As her children got older, she was looking for a hobby on which to
concentrate. She works as an Assistant to the CEO at Schupan &
Sons, Inc in Kalamazoo. Her day job seemed to be a natural
extension to filling in for different positions with KVGS, most
recently as the Board Secretary and Membership Chairperson.
She has lived in Kalamazoo since 1971 and married to her husband
Keith in 1980. They have three children, two sons and a
daughter. Their oldest son is in the Air Force and is
stationed in Japan. Judy earned a BBA from Western Michigan
University (she won't say when). She has enjoyed being
"mentored" by all her new friends at KVGS. |
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Tom Wrench |
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twrench3@hotmail.com
Tom has been researching his family since the early
1970s. His grandfather come to the United States from
England in 1910, so he has done quite a bit research with the England Census, specifically in
Lincolnshire.
Born and raised in Kalamazoo, and has six children
between him and his wife Jenny.
Tom has been a member of KVGS since 2006. |
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Janet Wright |
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JanWright8607@yahoo.com |
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