Roxanne Lowe Named President’s Award Recipient

WSGS President Kathleen Sizer is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2024 President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement: Roxanne Lowe of Grays Harbor Genealogical Society. The announcement was made at the WSGS Annual Meeting on 30 Aug 2024.

Created in 2015, the President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement is designed to single out that rare individual, society or organization who has demonstrated exemplary service above and beyond expectations. The award is not given every year as it is based on merit and accomplishments. This year, to avoid any conflict of interest, an individual from outside WSGS with professional experience assessing proposals, evaluated the submissions. As you’ll see from reading about Roxanne’s dedication, she is worthy of this recognition.

Roxanne Ferbrache Lowe

Roxanne has been described as energetic, enthusiastic, a cheerleader and a positive influence to members of the Grays Harbor Genealogical Society (GHGS), as well as the Washington State Genealogical Society (WSGS) and the Washington Presidents’ Council.

Roxanne has been a member of GHGS since 2006. At one of her first meetings, she volunteered to be the newsletter editor and now, more than 100 issues later, she’s still the editor. She also served as president from 2019 – 2023, shepherding the society through the COVID-19 pandemic shut-down and transitioning to hybrid meetings. She similarly led the effort to recover from the 2018 devastating fire that destroyed the Aberdeen Museum of History where GHGS’s research library was housed. She is currently volunteering at the Museum’s warehouse where post-fire artifacts and new donations are being inventoried for a future museum which will also house the GHGS.

Roxanne’s commitment to the genealogy community doesn’t just stay in Grays Harbor. She joined WSGS in 2008 and has served on the WSGS Board of Directors as Recognition and Special Awards Chair and now as Webmaster. She also became an early member of the newly formed Washington Presidents’ Council. She has volunteered frequently to make presentations to community groups and help with one-on-one research.

Roxanne will receive a personalized pen/pencil set. Her name will be added to the perpetual plaque for display at GHGS for the next year.

More about the award

If you want to know more about the qualities needed for this prestigious award, click here. Previous recipients are listed here.