The German Interest Group of The Eastside Genealogical Society (EGS) will meet on Friday, Sept 7, 2018, from 1 to 3 pm in the Relief Society Room of the LDS Church at 10675 NE 20^thSt, Bellevue, WA 98004 with doors opening at 12:45 pm for networking. Visitors are always welcome at our meetings.       

Topic: Find Your Germanic Ancestor’s Village on Maps

You have the name of the village for your Germanic ancestor from any of many sources, like genealogical records, family stories, etc.  Now how do you locate that village on a map?  It could be a challenge.  So come learn some tips.

Presenter: Dorothy Pretare started collecting family history in 1995 and is active in 2 local genealogical societies, leader of the EGS German Interest Group and a member of 3 societies in Minnesota.  In 2008, she visited her ancestral villages in old East Germany and present day Poland.

For more information, kindly visit our website .  

Maureen Taylor, the nationally known “Photo Detective”,

is coming to Bellevue on September 15, 2018.

 “Finding Family History in Your Picture Mysteries”

Her Three Presentations:

• 10 Easy Steps to Identify & Date Those Pictures in the Shoeboxes
• Google Images and Beyond
• Genealogical Clues in Family Photos

This event will be held on September 15, 2018 at the Vasa Park Ballroom, 3560 W Lake Sammamish Road SE, Bellevue, WA  98008.  Doors open at 9 am with presentations from 9:30 am to 2 pm.

Private consultations with her are available afterwards.

This event is part of the Eastside Genealogical Society’s 40^th Anniversary celebration. Thus, members, who register before September 1st, will have free admission.

Boxed lunches are available for $15, if ordered by September 1^st.

Non-EGS Members and everyone after September 1^st will be charged $25.

For more details about the presentations and lunch, see our website    (Also, there are links to the digital files for the Color Poster and the Registration Flyer.) Of course, you can register for the event using our website.

Come and bring your friends for a fun day!

The Eastside Genealogical Society will meet on Thursday, June 14, 2018 in the Bellevue Regional Library (Room 1), 1111 – 110^th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98004 at 7 pm, with doors opening at 6:30 pm for networking.

Two events: 1) “Preparing to Visit an Archive”, including Fiske Genealogical Library, NARA in Seattle, and the Family History Library in Salt Lake City will be presented by Celia McNay, President of EGS. Now that the rain has stopped, are you ready to be out and search for records??? Preparing in advance for an archive visit will better enable you to be successful. Are there special collections? Is there someone to assist with resources? When is the best time to go? This and more will be covered so when you visit a library or archive this summer, you won’t come home empty-handed!

2) Honoring past EGS Presidents and serving refreshments, as part of the commemoration of the 40^th Anniversary of EGS. Come learn, mingle, and celebrate 40 years of finding ancestors!

Presenter: Celia McNay did her first family history project when she was 16 years old and has been doing genealogy, preserving family stories, and searching out relatives ever since. She has a bachelor’s degree in Family History and enjoys teaching others about genealogy. Celia is the current president of Eastside Genealogical Society, a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and is a Family History consultant for the LDS Church. She taught for the Bellevue Regional Library in their ‘Genealogy Boot Camp’ workshops in 2013, 2014, and 2016 and in the Family History Fair for four years.

See our website for FREE genealogical help and other Special Interest Group meetings. Visitors are always welcome at all meetings. Visit the website here

The German Interest Group of The Eastside Genealogical Society (EGS) will meet on Friday, June 1, 2018, from 1 to 3 pm in the Relief Society Room of the LDS Church at 10675 NE 20^thSt, Bellevue, WA 98004 with doors opening at 12:45 pm for networking. Visitors are always welcome at our meetings.       

Topic: “How to Find German Records on Family Search Efficiently and Effectively” – Many genealogists use FamilySearch and yet may not realize that they are accessing only a small portion of the records available. Learn several strategies for using FamilySearch to access the 70% of the records not currently indexed.  This means more than 1.33 billion records and 247,000 books not indexed on FamilySearch. The presentation will include step-by-step actions and examples to specifically access German records in the U.S. and Europe. (Feel free to bring your laptops.)

Speaker: Janet O’Conor Camarata, a member of Eastside Genealogical Society and South King County Genealogical Society, has over 25 years of experience in genealogy. She is an instructor in genealogy at Pierce College, a seminar presenter and trainer in genealogy societies across Washington, who takes advantage of the latest technology and staying mobile with the latest computing tools.

For more information, kindly visit our website

The Eastside Genealogical Society will meet on Thursday, May 10^th, 2018 in the Bellevue Regional Library (Rm. 1), 1111-110^th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98004 at 7:00 pm, with doors opening at 6:30 pm for networking.

Topic: Mary Kathryn Kozy will present “How Do I Know That’s Right”.

Also see our website for FREE genealogical help and other Special Interest Group meetings. Visitors are always welcome alt all meetings.  https://eastsidegenealogicalsociety.com/

The German Interest Group of The Eastside Genealogical Society (EGS) will meet on Friday, May 4, 2018, from 1 to 3 pm in the Relief Society Room of the LDS Church at 10675 NE 20^thSt, Bellevue, WA 98004 with doors opening at 12:45 pm for networking. Visitors are always welcome at our meetings.       

Two Topics:

1) Reading German Handwriting:   Old German gothic handwriting (known as Sütterline or Suetterlin) and print are very different from the Roman script used in English- speaking countries.  Claire Gibben will share resources to help us read, transcribe and learn Old German Gothic.

2) A Travelogue Through Germanic Lands:   Jon and Marilyn Schunke will continue sharing pictures of their trips through Germanic lands not included in the April presentation, which focused on Jon’s German ancestral homelands. The first part will be somewhat a continuation of that presentation, including coverage of side trips from Munich – Dachau and Neuschwanstein Castle. And Nuremberg and its wonderful museum which displays rooms furnished to depict the German family home as it would be in the 1800s.

    This will be a true travelogue through Germanic lands. They will choose from among the following places. Outside of Germany – Krakow, and Prague. Their favorite old German towns – Rothenburg ab der Tauber and Bacharach – with a trip down the Rhine River, including a visit to a small museum of Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher who defeated Napolean at Waterloo … and has a very distant connection to Marilyn’s Crawford ancestry. And newer, rebuilt towns – Leipzig, Berlin, and Passau, with a small trip down the Danube.

     And hopefully, they will take that look at Marilyn’s most recent ancestor (which was advertised for April), 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.

For more information, kindly visit our website

The Eastside Genealogical Society will meet on Thursday, April 12, 2018 in the Bellevue Regional Library (Room 1), 1111 – 110^th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98004 at 7 pm, with doors opening at 6:30 pm for networking.

Topic: A panel of experienced researchers will help people break down their family research brick walls.  Come learn their tips.

See our website for FREE genealogical help and other Special Interest Group meetings. Visitors are always welcome at all meetings. More Information click here

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 20^thSt, 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.

For more information, kindly visit our website