Recipients of President's Award

Margie has been a SVGS board member since 2006. She has been their librarian since 2008 and is currently publicity chair. She has given many educational presentations and has written a successful grant to implement the "Making Connections Through ROOTS Project" from 2012 - 2014. 

 

Margie is a member of the City of Burlington Historical Preservation Board, Burlington Certified Local Government Board, Burlington Historical Society, as well as actively participated in a number of local events.

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 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. She 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.

Karen is a founding and contributing member of CCGS for over 42 years. In that time, she has served as president twice and 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.

 

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.

Betty’s contributions to the Bainbridge Island Genealogical Society (BIGS) started as soon as she joined BIGS. For the past 15 years, Betty has held various volunteer roles within BIGS, including president, vice-president, treasurer, SIG leader and Treebuilder coach.   Betty has a strong passion for education that she brought to BIGS. A particular focus of hers has been to see that their skill building special interest groups survive. She created a regular forum for members to discuss issues and learn new skills. She also created a mentors’ program that puts a member in touch with another member with the skills or experience needed to help. She has an incredible skill of being able to find the right person for a given task and to get that person to agree to do that task!

Betty’s work extends beyond BIGS and its members. Not only has she opened up their educational sessions to those outside the area via Zoom, but she has been an active participant in the Washington Presidents’ Council since its creation. She was instrumental in arranging for a talk from national speaker Joshua Taylor for the state’s genealogical groups about the ways to meet future needs and continue to be relevant.