Since 2003, the Washington State Genealogical Society has recognized over 600 outstanding volunteers and teams, nominated by their local society or genealogical organization for their service and dedication. These volunteers are the backbone of their local society, giving their time and expertise, to the organization and the field of genealogy. In the coming weeks, you will be introduced to each of the 2022 award recipients and learn why they received the 2022 WSGS Outstanding Volunteer and Team Award.

Today we’re introducing Pat Tostevin who was nominated by the Mason County Genealogical Society.

When Pat joined MCGS in 2009, she hit the ground running by taking on their library, bringing order out of chaos by inventorying and organizing all the books and uploading them to LibraryThing. She carefully tracked where all the books were stored, keeping the inventory in pristine order. Pat led the society into the 21st century by guiding them to acquire tiny “cat” scanners and barcode labels.

Pat unexpectedly passed away in the middle of the barcode project, but her team was able to continue due to her excellent training and instructions. Consequently, Pam Harrell, Barbara Moore, and Sue Sheldon successfully completed the project.

Pat was truly one-of-a-kind, and the Mason County Genealogical Society is so grateful for all she did for them. Also, they are extremely gratified that the WSGS Awards program has returned so they can honor Pat by presenting this posthumous certificate to her children.

For more information on the WSGS Outstanding Volunteer Award program, visit the Recognition page of the WSGS website or contact Info@wasgs.org. Please type “Volunteer Award” in the subject line.