Do you know who’s running the show at the Washington State Genealogical Society? Who are these people? In the coming months, we’ll introduce them to you, so you can say “hi” the next time you hear from them. (Note: This is an updated version of Ginny’s story, first published in January 2017.)
In today’s “Meet the Board” series, we’re introducing you to Virginia Majewski from Sequim. Virginia, more familiarly known to us as Ginny, is WSGS’s past President. Her dedication to WSGS is longstanding and worked many years to make it more relevant and helpful to local societies. Besides being WSGS president from 2017 – 2021, she previously served as WSGS’s Secretary, Region 3 Representative and Vice President.
Undoubtedly, one of Ginny’s greatest WSGS legacies will be her brainchild — the Pioneer Pursuit program. The effort encourages genealogists and history enthusiasts to document every man, woman and child in Washington Territory on or before November 11, 1889. To date, more than 3,500 individuals have been documented and verified as living in the territory before statehood. Ginny is very excited about the response the program has received. Although the contest element ended on October 31, 2023, Ginny encourages everyone to “keep sending in your families!”
Virginia Ann was born in Yakima to Wesley Roy and Nancy Jane (Grabill) Forney. She is a proud 4th generation Washingtonian and descendant of the Pioneer family of John C. Forney and his wife Kate H. Ebersold. Ginny’s name was handed down through her mother’s family – great grandmother, great aunts and aunts – even though Ginny’s dad maintains he picked out her name.
Ginny is a graduate of Quincy High School in Quincy, Washington (Grant County) and Sacred Heart School of Nursing in Spokane. She is married to Moe, her husband of 36 years. She is the mother of four grown children and, most importantly, grandmother of eight, ages 23 – 7. She retired from her career of 42 years as an Obstetrical Nurse in 2013. She is active in her church and manages its annual holiday bazaar, selling all hand crafted items.
Ginny has been involved in genealogy for more than 20 years. It all started with a couple of boxes of “junk” from her grandparent’s estate. She was bitten by the genealogy bug and it became one of her life’s passions. Her maternal and paternal lines go back to exiled Mennonites in Switzerland. In 2000, she took a three-week genealogical tour of Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands – following the path of her exiled ancestors.
Virginia holds a Certification in Advanced Genealogical Studies in both American Records and Methodology from the National Institute of Genealogical Studies in Toronto, Canada. Currently, she is the Treasurer of Clallam County Genealogical Society after having served as its president for a number of terms. She is also a member of a variety of genealogical and historical groups. She loves to do genealogical traveling and giving educational presentations to genealogy groups..
When asked what she finds most interesting about genealogy, Ginny muses about a bigamist, unknown illegitimate cousins, a civil war hero and many more interesting characters!
A few more interesting tidbits about Ginny:
- Her favorite color is turquoise.
- Her favorite dessert is a Cream Puff Cake.
- She urges anyone searching for their ancestors to use FamilySearch.org – an amazing resource available to everyone.
- Besides genealogy, Ginny’s other life passions are quilting, reading, gardening and travel – oh, and don’t forget those grandchildren!
- When asked what word describes her, Ginny laughs and asks if “genie-nut” is a word. We think it is when it pertains to Ginny!
Now you know a little more about one of the WSGS Board members. The next time you see Ginny, say hello and thank her for her service to the WSGS.
