This Is The Face of Genealogy

My love for genealogy goes back to my high school years. I credit my paternal grandmother, Zella Alice Straw Olsen, with encouraging my interest in family history. She is shown above with her grandfather Daniel Tidd. My grandmother fed my interest by introducing me to family members who had information to help me in my search. She and other family members gave me family artifacts that helped me come to know my ancestors better. (For more on her ancestors read the Daniel Tidd story under research projects.)

In the meantime I married and have been raising a family of six. My research was off and on as time permitted. In the past ten years my efforts have been more diligent. I have volunteered in a family history center during that time and helped many other people with their research. I resumed my education through BYU and earned a BA with a focus in family history. Last year I earned my accreditation or AG through ICAPGen.

My family has been very supportive. They have joined me in searching cemeteries and allowed me to research on family vacations. My very understanding husband took the kids to water parks, Mt. Timpanogas, etc., so I could research. They know how much it means to me.

With children getting married and moving out, I now have an office to contain my work. My family is happy to have my genealogy research in one place, with copies of our personal family history provided to each of them. Extended family members know I am the collector of artifacts and the sharer of information. This has led to many wonderful discoveries. I have gained a love and appreciation for the sacrifices my ancestors have made in making my life possible.

We want to know more about our roots, because they are the foundation of our family. We are proud of our heritage and want our children to become acquainted with our ancestors. Our known ancestors have come from varied European countries, which include Denmark, England, France, Germany, and Norway. These are people who often left their homeland and came to settle in an unknown land, seeking a better life for their families. As we descend from them, we are the beneficiaries of their efforts. To learn about and understand their lives is a way to help us know ourselves better. It can help us to teach our families about their cultural inheritances, the sacrifices that were made and help us to create for them a personal connection to the past.