Hi, I’m Diane and I’m a genealogy addict. There is no 12-step program for this addiction, nor is it one people want to kick. Genealogy is my passion, my mission, and my calling. I grew up on a small farm in Shenandoah County Virginia, about 90 min from Washington DC. I was raised by my grandparents who taught the importance of family ties, heritage, and history. I have been researching genealogy over 50 years starting with my grandmother & aunt. There was no Internet. Ancestry, or Family Search; it was all boots on the ground. Canvassing graveyards and visiting elderly relatives were Sunday Afternoon traditions. Each one had their own collection of keepsakes. To me, as a child, they were “treasure chests,” and I have been blessed to inherit over 3 generations of family ephemera & keepsakes.
We would write down their stories & file them safely away at home. I really encourage you, if you are fortunate to have older relatives still living, visit them, talk to them. Ask questions about their childhood, and their earliest memories. Write down what they say. Or better yet record their answers. You know you’re gonna have your phone, pull it out and hit record.
I have a list of some questions I will post to get you started.
My Aunt & I drew a pedigree chart that went back a few generations with about 40 people We didn’t even know maiden names for several of the great grandmothers. From that tiny chart, I have built a tree on Ancestry.com with 11,000 ancestors dating to the 1400’s, with a few branches much farther back. I received formal training from the LDS church and the DAR and continue my training with both. I help people get started with Ancestry and Family Search programs and break through brick-walls in their own research. I have found lost and estranged living relatives. I do retrieval and transcription of courthouse documents from the 18th and 19th century and create wall art pedigree charts for my clients.
With that said,My life has been more than just searching for dead people. I was the second female member of the Woodstock (Virginia) Volunteer Rescue Squad and worked as a medic for Valley Medical Transport (a local Ambulance Service) to put myself through nursing school.
I obtained my associate degree in nursing from Blue Ridge Community College and my bachelor’s degree in nursing from Eastern Mennonite University. My master's studies were in Integrative Medicine. I worked ER & ICU, holding a Certification in Emergency Nursing for over 25 years. As a Nursing Educator at a 200-bed hospital in South Carolina, I developed and presented modules for employee orientation, oversaw newly hired nurses and their preceptors over a 12-week preceptorship program that was recognized for its success at the state level, and created and presented a program on “Incorporating Integrative and Alternative Modalities into Nursing Practice.” I was privileged to present a research project detailing how the use of translation phones improved cultural competency and patient outcomes at a regional nursing conference. I held the position of night shift house supervisor at a 500 bed Level II trauma center and was a travel nurse for several years working ER, ICU, and Telemetry units at various hospitals across the Mid-Atlantic. The last 5 years of my career I worked in Home Health, Hospice, and private duty nursing, retiring in 2019 after 30+years as a Medic & RN
I am trained in Therapeutic Touch, Reiki, Reflexology, and Chakra Energy Work, and gather and use herbs for herbal treatments.
I live with my husband and multiple furry feline children in a turn of the century farmhouse near Shenandoah Caverns, Virginia. We have known each other since 2nd grade, over 60 years and have been married for 12. Our blended family includes 6 children, Denise, Ricky, Ben, Sarah, Rachael, and Keegan, as well as 17 grandchildren, and 6 great grands.
I am a life member of the Shenandoah County Historical Society and the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Narrow Passage Chapter.
