BOARD MEMBER AND OFFICER BIOS


SPOTLIGHT ON VOLUNTEERS

Alice became addicted to genealogy in 1995. She decided to join the Society and become a library volunteer after venturing into the “old” SCGS library on San Fernando Road and meeting so many nice, helpful people. She has since spent the first Sunday of almost every month helping in the library. Additionally, she is a member of two Hispanic genealogy groups in Southern California. Over the years, she has served on the board of directors for various non-profit groups which gave her experience in fund-raising, working on committees, public relations and reaching out to the community.

Jamboree attendees will recognize Alice as the person directing traffic in the Convention Center. She has been a member of that committee for several years.

Fran is a valued volunteer who has served in many capacities over her years with SCGS. She is currently corresponding secretary, director of the U.S. Research Team, and member of the book committee. She has also served as a member of the Board of Directors, librarian, recording secretary, treasurer, and member of the membership team.

A second-generation Los Angeles native, she and her husband Virg have been married 45 years and currently live in Camarillo. They have two children, Eric, and Tamara, and one granddaughter Anika.

She is researching many surnames, including Thomas, Bell, Ross, Parrish, Reece, Loughrey, McGee, Tindal, Bremner, Reid, Shotwell, Barkley, McComb, Herring, Williams, Whitfield, Goodman, West, Lawrence, Payne, Evans, Moythan, Witman, Schwan, Hildebrand, Reigle, Eisenbeis, Bingaman, Yeager, Fuller, Culver, Woolison, Green, Munro, Bumann, Grapengeter, Bochmann, Riebesehl, Hofeditz, Muhs, Sorenson, Dittmer, Kock, Massman, Jahn, Schween, Thone, Gross, Horn, Hahn, Albert, Severin, Meyer, Nissen, Kobarg, Bornemann, Engelbrecht, Fischer, Lehm, Gordon, Marshall, ... and on and on!

Besides endless hours of genealogical research for herself and others, Fran loves to travel, especially in their RV; cooks, quilts, and playing the cello.

Lois joined SCGS with the merger of the German Genealogical Society, where she served as Founding President, Treasurer, Secretary, Newsletter Editor, and Seminar Chairman.

Lois is actively involved as the German Interest Group, where she has organized and sometimes leads the monthly workshops sincs 2002. She worked the Wisconsin State Table at Jamboree for over ten years. She is also an active member of the Conejo Valley Genealogical Society.

Beverly Easley

Beverly is one of the back-office volunteers who helps to maintain the Library collection. She prepares new books with security controls and covers soft-bound books to protect them. She processes duplicate genealogy books, including pricing and getting them ready for sale at Jamboree. She's lived in El Monte, Glendale, and Burbank, California. Beverly and her husband, Bill, have been married for 55 years. Her son and family live in Menifee, California; one grandson lives in Chino and the other serves in the Navy. Beverly has three great grandsons. She enjoys reading and genealogy and is active in the DAR and in her church.

She is researching the following family surnames: Johnstone/Johnston, Hanson, Ball, McCarty, Peyton, Lewis, Blackwell, Jacobs, Jones, Fowke, Fossaker, Montgomery.

Sally Emerson is a member of the book committee and holds a pivotal role in day-to-day operation of the SCGS Library. Having acquired a Library Technician degree from Pasadena City College, Sally has been involved in the library vocation most of her adult life, both working and serving as a volunteer. She has been a member of SCGS for nearly thirty years. Her involvement in genealogy, however, goes back nearly forty years. A native Californian, Sally is married to Dick Emerson, who is an active member of the SCGS IT Team. Dick and Sally have two children and three grandchildren, and Sally loves to travel when she has the time and is not working in the SCGS library.

Laurel is a librarian who staffs the SCGS Family Research Library on the fourth Saturday of each month. Born in Los Angeles, California, she moved to New York City at 21. She married a man who worked for a company that transferred the famliy from New York to Baltimore, Maryland, to Miami, Florida, and back to Los Angeles in 1963. Laurel has been here ever since. Her family consists of her husband Bob, three married children, and four grown grandchildren. She is retired from her 20-year career as an accountant for a civil engineering firm and she now enjoys quilting, writing, and gardening.

Laurel is researching the following surnames: Stickney, Bartlett, Coombs, Cleaves, Grover, Hall, Heseltine, Swan, Hill, Bennett, Ensign, Campbell, Falley, Ball, Aldrich, and Rector.

Pam Folden is a librarian and is also in charge of ordering supplies. She is a speaker with the German Interest Group and is also a data entry typist. She considers South Bend, IN, as home. She's lived in Miami Beach, Spencer NC, Chicago IL, Mobile AL, Dauphin Island AL, and Eagle Lake MI, and has lived in Los Angeles for 42 years. Pam and her husband Steve Folden, a Los Angeles native, have been married for 40 years. They have six children and nine grandchildren. She loves to research and enjoys history, music, travel, and walking, and she also teaches Sunday school.

Surnames sought include Soutdemeire, Starch/Stark, Cranford, Barrett, Coffey, Rainey, Hanley, Tate, Farr, Kerr, Earnhardt, Julian, Riley, Stoney, Lallot, Morrow, Parker, Jacobs, Thomason, Harris, Merrill, Turner, Folden, Coats, Hastings, Farthing, Means, Craft, McKay, Meyer, Bailey, Edwards, Gwaltney, Lockhard, Culp, Burt, Glenn, Kincaid, Wycoff, Gray, Pabodie, Alden.

Lin LaRochelle

Peggy Schulz keeps very busy as the Society's Financial Secretary, Library volunteer, and a valuable member of the Jamboree registration team. She fulfills mail orders and distributes all website orders. In the past, she has served on the Board of Directors, processed bulk mailings and served as Volunteer Coordinator.

Peggy has been instrumental in compiling and producing several publications, including cemetery and death record indices and a family history book.

She was born in Los Angeles, grew up in Houston, lived briefly in Gardena, and has lived in Sherman Oaks for 43 years. Her daughters and their families are in Pasadena and Glendale, and her son lives in Oakland. Her favorite pastimes are genealogy, genealogy and genealogy!

She is chasing the following ancestor surnames: Jayred, Jones, Bierce, Gates, Lock, Taylor, Faries, Hayes, Carey, Whiting, Conant, Lyon, Morris, Conover, Douglas, Page, Duffy, Dod, Star, Hide, Carter, Manley, Hartshorn, Turner, Foote, Lee, Humphreys, Lewis, Wooley, Brown, Spencer, Matthews, Dunkerton, Robinson, Gard, Hayden, Perine, Huntington, Webb, Alden, Price, Howland, Brewster, Fuller, Freeman, Ford, Pierce, Sturtevant, Cushman, Fuller, Sampson, Carter, Lucas, Nettleton, Woodmansee, Hunt, Clark, Janes, Hinsdale, Thacher, Gray, Bridgman, Curtis. Peggy says that those are all names in her family, and she has also researched her husband's family, her sons-in-law's, and several friends'.

Jennifer Shaw

Beverly Truesdale

Carolin “Connie” Wills

Connie is a librarian who gives tours and provides assistance to patrons and, as she puts it, is "general assistant for whatever needs doing, especially if it needs a long or high reach." She also works in the back room, organizing periodicals and helps out at Jamboree. In the past, she was involved with PTA and the League of Women Voters.

She grew up in Hinsdale, Illinois and attended college at Champaign-Urbana in Illinois. She has lived in homes far and wide: Cambridge, MA; The Hague, The Netherlands; Palo Alto, CA; South Pasadena, CA; Taipei, Taiwan and finally Pasadena, CA. She's been married to her husband, Jack for 52 years, who is a semi-retired professor. Jack and Connie have 5 grown children, 7 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren. Connie is a not-entirely-retired tax preparer and spends her leisure time reading mysteries, doing stitchery and solving jigsaw puzzles.

Connell, Bickel, Stevenson, McBride, Elliot, Gilliland, Scott, Dosh, Keeports, Irrmann, Kringel, Otto, Schmidt, Bieth, Vőglin, Raasch, Gross, Sensfelder, Wills, Hicks, Ewan, Cast, Whitcomb, Smith, Mitchell, Whitlock, Tunnel