The German Interest Group of The Eastside Genealogical Society (EGS) will meet on Friday, April 6, 2018, from 1 to 3 pm in the Relief Society Room of the LDS Church at 10675 NE 20thSt, Bellevue, WA 98004 with doors opening at 12:45 pm for networking. Visitors are always welcome at our meetings.
Topic: “A travelogue through ancestral German homelands, with a little side trip into World War II France”
Join Jon and Marilyn Schunke as they travel through Germany discovering the origins of Jon Schunke’s paternal immigrant ancestors – Schunke in Sachen-Anhalt, and Himmelsbach and Stumpf in Bavaria. Along the way, you’ll see how using information at home led them to the correct research facilities in Germany to search for birth records and land locations.
Their study of maps, current and historical, was critical in finding the right locations…and oh the benefits of visiting the local Landeshaupt. Is it Bobbe and Wulfen or Bobbau and Wolfin? It makes a difference of 25 miles.
Discover why you should “like” Facebook pages and join Facebook groups. This led to learning about the recent discovery of the German origins of Jon’s maternal “Volga German” or “Germans from Russia” ancestors. The Conrad and Anna Margaretha “Reuswig” family emigrated to Norka, Russia, on the Volga River in 1766. See a “Pleve Chart” which shows their descendants down to the three generations of their “Reispich” descendants who immigrated to America in 1878. Jon’s “Reisbick” grandparents migrated to Portland, Oregon, by 1901. Prime example of why you can’t say spellings of names don’t change over time.
And finally, they’ll take a look at Marilyn’s most recent ancestor, her father, who landed on Omaha Beach 13 days after D-Day. They’ll journey through Normandy and along the Brittany coast. While retracing her dad’s footsteps, they discovered firsthand how the French have not forgotten the American servicemen.
Presenter: Marilyn A. Schunke has been researching her family for 20 years. She is a graduate of the University of Washington’s Genealogy and Family History Certificate Program. She is currently a member of the New York Genealogical Society, Washington State Genealogical Society, Eastside Genealogical Society (EGS), as well as South King County Genealogical Society (SKCGS). She has supported genealogy education in Puget Sound as Education Coordinator at Heritage Quest Research Library for several years and presenter of a Microsoft Windows 10 class. Marilyn is currently serving as co-leader of the EGS Legacy Special Interest and on the SKCGS Board as circulating librarian.
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