Category Archives: President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement

Nominations for President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement Sought

by Roxanne Lowe

The nomination period for the Washington State Genealogical Society President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement is open. Nominations are due by 01 Aug 2024. The announcement will be made 01 Sep 2024.

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 ideal recipient of the President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement has:

• Exhibited long-term, consistent service in the field of genealogy, family or local history, the genealogical community, records preservation or made an important single contribution in those areas that will endure into the future.
• Demonstrated a high degree of energy, commitment, flexibility, and professional conduct.
• Provided significant support and impact to the local genealogical community time and time again.
• Exhibited personal influence and example to society members and/or the general public with their unselfish service.
• Supported or advanced local or statewide genealogical research.

Nominations may be submitted by any individual, local society or organization, regardless of WSGS membership. Nominees do not have to have been officers in their local societies.

Previous recipients of this prestigious award include:

  • 2015 – Fred Pflugrath, Wenatchee Area Genealogical Society
  • 2016 – Margie Wilson, Skagit Valley Genealogical Society
  • 2017 – Joanne Egbert Calhoun, Wenatchee Area Genealogical Society
  • 2018 – Ann Olson, Olympia Genealogical Society
  • 2021 – Helen McGreer Lewis, South King County Genealogical Society (posthumous)
  • 2022 – Jill Morelli. Seattle Genealogical Society
  • 2023 – Karen Mitchell, Clallam County Genealogical Society

Additional information, including the nomination form, is available here. Questions should be directed to Info@wasgs.org. Please type “President’s Award” in the Subject Line.

Karen Mitchell Presented with President’s Award

by Roxanne Lowe

Karen Mitchell, the 2023 recipient of the WSGS President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement, received her engraved pen/pencil set recently. Karen is a founding member of the Clallam County Genealogical Society and has never let up on her dedication to the society. CCGS will display the perpetual plaque for the next year.

For more about Karen, read this blog post. Congratulations, Karen and CCGS!

Karen Mitchell Named President’s Award Recipient

by Roxanne Lowe

WSGS President Kathleen Sizer is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2023 Outstanding Achievement Award: Karen Mitchell from the Clallam County Genealogical Society. The announcement was made at the WSGS Annual Meeting on 31 Aug 2023.

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. As you’ll see from reading about Karen’s dedication, she is worthy of this recognition.

Karen Mitchell

A founding member of the Clallam County Genealogical Society (CCGS), Karen has consistently displayed the values of the society through her commitment, determination and leadership.

During her 42-year history with the society, she has succeeded in developing the CCGS Research Center into one of the largest private genealogical libraries on the West Coast. The center is home to over 5,000 cataloged items which can be accessed using LibraryThing. The Research Center is a place to view maps, land plats, photographs, do research and check out materials. Visitors can also view vintage photographs and maps mounted on walls and atlases and periodicals.

Karen was instrumental is obtaining a rare bookcase that now houses books written before 1910 and have never been reprinted. She has created a lending room where members can check out items of interest.

As CCGS’s librarian, Karen was at the forefront of their successful move into a larger facility in 2020. She supervised the packing of over 3,000 items from the previous facility, removal of bookshelves, shipment to the new facility, reinstallation of shelving, books, maps, files, and all the material that make up the expanded library.

Karen has served as president twice and is currently seated on the board of directors as Past President. She obtained certification as a school librarian, worked as a librarian for 30 years, and brought her experience and commitment to record preservation and skill to CCGS.

Karen continues to volunteer at the Research Center along with her husband, Tom. She is often the go-to person on CCGS operating rules and bylaws regarding governance matters.

Because of her lifelong learning (she first worked in a library at age 14), her organizational talents, her patience and persistence have made CCGS’s facility a first-class resource center.

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.

WSGS Annual Meeting — Thursday, Aug. 31

by Roxanne Lowe

Don’t forget that you’re invited to the WSGS’s annual meeting! Thursday, August 31, 2023, 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.

Here’s the Zoom link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85164040192?pwd=ejZhaG9yaGE4MzZ3bDNnaTA1ZmVZUT09

Meeting ID: 851 6404 0192
Passcode: 816294

Via phone: (253)205-0468,,85164040192#,,,,*816294# US

The agenda will include the announcement of the 2023 Outstanding Volunteer and Team recipients, as well as the recipient of the President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement. We’ll also talk a little about the WSGS, Pioneer Pursuit and how to get involved.

We hope you join us! If you want more information, email Info@wasgs.org. 

2021 and 2022 President’s Awards for Outstanding Achievement Announced

by Roxanne Lowe

WSGS President Kathleen Sizer is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2021 and 2022 Outstanding Achievement Award:

  • 2021 — Helen McGreer Lewis, Renton, 1923 – 2017
  • 2022 — Jill Morelli, Seattle

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, as you’ll see from reading about the recipients below.

Helen Lewis

Helen Lewis

Helen Lewis’s final years of service to genealogy and family history were not only unfailing but critical to the success of archives and genealogy groups in Washington state and beyond. She not only volunteered in her local societies including South King County Genealogical Society (SKCGS) and DAR, but  also indexed public records for the Washington State Archives as a volunteer for over 25 years. Her work lives on through the Washington State Digital Archives.

She authored a number of books for which she gained no income; she assigned the proceeds to the South King County Genealogical Society. In her DAR work, she helped countless others as they worked to solidify their connection to American Patriots. She also served as liaison between the SKCGS and the DAR. 

Jill Morelli

Jill Morelli, C.G.

Jill is a self-described member of the “Roots” generation of genealogists.  From that spark, Jill has grown into a veritable wildfire of action within the genealogical community at many levels.  She is a writer, lecturer and researcher specializing in U.S. Midwestern, Scandinavian and northern German genealogy.

Jill was president (2012 – 2015), then publications director (2017 – 2020) of the Seattle Genealogical Society (SGS). She continues to provide her insights and energy to SGS as past president and co-chair of the SGS 100th anniversary committee.

Jill is also program director for the local chapter of the Association for Professional Genealogists. On the wider stage of national and international genealogy, Jill lectures nationally and has been successfully published in many journals, including the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and the Swedish American Genealogist.

In 2017, Jill founded the highly successful online Certification Discussion Group (CDG) which draws students from all over the globe. She is also a founding partner of the Applied Genealogy Institute, providing online practicum-based education for advanced genealogists.

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.