Author Archives: Roxanne Lowe

Meet the Board: Opal Myhres

by Roxanne Lowe

Opal Myhres

Do you know who’s running the show at the Washington State Genealogical Society? Did you know we have an Executive Committee, six standing committee chairs and three appointed non-elected officers? Who are all these people? In the coming months, we’ll introduce them to you, so you can say “hi” the next time you see them.

In today’s “Meet the Board” series, we’re introducing you to Opal Myhres. Opal lives in Yakima and is WSGS’s Region 5 Representative for Kittitas, Klickitat and Yakima Counties. She is a proud member of the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society where she has been president, secretary and treasurer. She is currently the head librarian of YVGS’s amazing research library located at 1901 S. 12th Street in Union Gap. Between the 18,000+ bound volumes on the shelves and the massive microfilm/microfiche collection, the library hosts an equivalent collection of 35,000 volumes of genealogical research material covering all 50 states and a large number of foreign countries. Quite a job to be the head librarian!

Mr. and Mrs. Louis Myhres

Opal Irene Walsh was born in October 8, 1927 in northern Minnesota. Her parents Charles and Ethel (Olson) Walsh named their first daughter after October’s birthstone – the opal. She was the oldest girl in a family of five boys and three girls. After graduating high school in 1945, Opal married her sweetheart Louis Myhres in 1946 as soon as he got home from the Navy after the war. Not long after, the couple moved to Washington where Louis’s family lived. Opal was a stay-at-home Mom to their two children until Louis was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. When Louis went back to school, Opal went to work for Sears until 1974 when he had to retire. But they soon bought a motorhome, and with Opal as the driver, they hit the road. Louis passed away in 1984 while they were snow-birding in Arizona.

In addition to her two children, Opal is the proud grandmother of three granddaughters – and 12 great-grandchildren, ages 23 to 3.

Opal’s interest in genealogy started early. Her father had always told the family that there was a family Bible that traced his mother’s family back to early England. It was passed down from the youngest son to the youngest son. When Opal and Louis lived in Olympia, she located the son who should have had the Bible who was living in the Seattle area. He told Opal the book was too fragile to send, but there was a book with the same info in the Seattle Library. What an amazing find! Opal copied it, and later found one to purchase. The book outlined the family lineage from England to Massachusetts from 1635, through the generations of Opal’s paternal line — the George Weekes family. Opal’s father also knew that his family came from Washington County, NY and his father was the youngest of 14, born in 1848. Opal went to the Olympia library and met Alma Greenwood, former WSGS president, who showed her how to order a census and how to find him. From those two experiences, Opal was able to fill in details about many members of her family – and become “hooked” on genealogy.

Besides being a member of the Washington State Genealogical Society since 2002 (and a WSGS Outstanding Volunteer in 2005), Opal belongs to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) where she is the state Archivist; the Daughters of the American Colonists, Descendants of Washington’s Army at Valley Forge, and Sons of Norway. She is also a former member of the Colonial Dames.

When she’s not researching her family roots, Opal enjoys quilting, embroidery and reading.

A few more interesting tidbits about Opal:

Favorite color – blue
Favorite dessert – anything chocolate
Favorite genealogy websites – Ancestry and Fold3

Now you know a little more about another of the WSGS Board members. The next time you see Opal, say hello and thank her for her service to WSGS.

How to Reach Almost 600 Local Genealogists

by Roxanne Lowe

Do you want to broadcast information about your local society, workshop, genealogical tip, or a research query? Just post to the WSGS Blog! You can reach hundreds of genealogists from around the state. Just email a Word document, text file, PDF or graphic to WSGSBlog@wasgs.org and the blog masters will do the rest.

We’re always looking to publicize local events and workshops, feature stories, updates from your society, and other genealogical information that might be of interest to our many subscribers.

We hope to hear from you soon! And don’t forget to encourage your Society members to subscribe to the Blog for the most up-to-date information from around the state.

You may manage your subscription options here.

Columbia Gorge Gen Soc to Celebrate 40th Anniversary

by Roxanne Lowe

You’re invited to celebrate the Columbia Gorge Genealogical Society‘s 40th anniversary on Sunday, 09 July at Sorosis Park in The Dalles, OR. The potluck celebration will begin at 1:00 p.m. You’ll meet some of the founding and current members, share stories and photos. RVSP by 30 June. Here’s the flyer for more information: 40th Anniversary11

Kids and Genealogy Event in Hoquiam

by Roxanne Lowe

The Grays Harbor Genealogical Society and Hoquiam Library are co-sponsoring a “Kids and Family Genealogy” event on 08 July, 10:30 – noon at the library, 420 7th Street in Hoquiam. Library staff and GHGS members will help kids learn about searching for their ancestors. For more information, visit the library website or contact Info@GraysHarborGenealogy.com.

Visit the Digital Archives

by Roxanne Lowe

Resident of Equality Colony (Skagit County), Washington, 1900 – 1914. Photographer unknown. State Library Photograph Collection, 1851-1990, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, www.digitalarchives.wa.gov. Accessed 12 June 2017.

Are you looking for a record related to an ancestor who lived in Washington State or Territory? Minutes of a local government meeting? An historic photo for your family history, newsletter, flyer or presentation (or any other use under the sun!)?

The Washington State Digital Archives, a division of the Secretary of State, is a treasure trove of digitized records, photographs and publications, including birth, marriage, death, census, cemetery and naturalization records. It currently has more than 195 million records preserved, almost 66 million of them are searchable.

One of the photo collections, the “State Library Photograph Collection, 1851 – 1990) consists of 5,274 images of various subjects related to Washington’s history, people, geography, and economic development, from 1851-1990. Subjects include agriculture, Boeing, bridges, canals, Capitol Campus buildings, cities, civilian conservation corps, counties, dams, expositions, fairs, ferries, fishing, forts, ghost towns, historic buildings and houses, historical markers, Indians, lakes, libraries, lighthouses, logging, mountains, parks, portraits, railroads, rivers, schools, Statehood, steamboats, totem poles, trees, universities and colleges, waterfalls, and other subjects.

All of the photos used on our WSGS home page come from the Digital Archives — all are free to use with the appropriate citation (which is even composed for each photo!).

We are so lucky to have such a rich online resource right here in Washington State!

Good News From Kim Wyman

by Roxanne Lowe

Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman has good news to share about her recent cancer fight. According to “Wyman’s Wire”…

I’m happy to report that I’ve finally completed my cancer treatments. Now there’s a period of recovery before I learn the results of the treatments. That will be a challenge, but I’m confident my doctors will help me through it. And of course, I couldn’t do this without the love and support of my family and friends like you. Thank you so much! And don’t forget you can check out all the crazy sock pictures on our Facebook page.

Kim is a good friend to our genealogical community. As Secretary of State, she oversees elections, corporation and charity filings, the Washington State Library, Washington Talking Book & Braille Library, State Archives and Digital Archives. We’ve also supported her by sending our best wishes through paper socks.

To get more updates about Kim and the Secretary of State’s office, subscribe to Wyman’s Wire by clicking here.

Society Management Classes Featured at NWGC

by Roxanne Lowe

Are you looking for ways to energize your local society? Here’s the perfect opportunity!

WSGS is sponsoring two free society management classes at the upcoming Northwest Genealogy Conference in Arlington, WA. The classes will include “How to Attract and Keep Members . . . Awake,” taught by WSGS Vice President Donna Potter-Phillips; and “The Nuts and Bolts of Society Management,” taught by WSGS President Virginia Forney Majewski.

Both classes will be held on Wednesday, August 16, 2017, during the “Beginning Genealogy Day.”  The free day of classes precedes the main conference, featuring internationally acclaimed professional genealogists Diahan Southard (Thursday, August 17), Daniel Earl (Friday, August 18) and Kenyatta Berry (Saturday, August 19). In addition, there will be dozens of other classes, vendors and networking opportunities throughout the conference.

Don’t miss the chance to improve your local society — and your own knowledge! Register at www.nwgc.org.

Blog Banner Photo Challenge

by Roxanne Lowe

Summer’s finally here and that means many of us will be on the road, in the air, or on a boat visiting people, places, and things. It also means you’re taking lots of photos. So…we’re sponsoring a Blog Banner Photo Challenge, looking for a few good photographs to highlight in our Blog banner.

The rotating banner will feature a series of photos taken by you, our readers. The latest entries in the Photo Challenge are:

  • Photo by Donna Potter Phillips

    Daffodils at Roozengaarde at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in April. Photo taken by WSGS Vice President (& Past President of Eastern Washington Genealogical Society) Donna Potter Phillips of Spokane.

  • Fort Vancouver — another photo from Donna.
  • Washaway Beach (Pacific County) — by Roxanne Lowe of McCleary, WSGS Recognition Chair and Web Manager
  • Memorial Day at the Colfax Cemetery (Whitman County) — another photo by Roxanne Lowe

Rules are few:
•Landscapes, landmarks, and scenery photos are preferred. If, however, you have a perfect photo that includes people, please obtain their permission to post the photo.
•Photo must have been taken in Washington State (this is the Washington State Genealogical Society blog, after all!).
•Photo will be cropped to 1100 x 250 pixels, so keep that in mind.
•You may enter as many photos as you want.
•Final decisions on suitable photos will be made by the awesome WSGS Blog Team.
•There’s no prize if your photo is chosen – just the satisfaction that your photo is being showcased on a blog viewed by hundreds of enthusiastic genealogists.
•There’s no firm deadline to submit photos, just keep ‘em coming. We want to rotate lots of photos to keep the blog fresh.

To submit your photo, please email the image (jpg only, please); what, where, when, and by whom the photo was taken to WSGSBlog@wasgs.org.

Got questions? Email the blog team at WSGSBlog@wasgs.org.

Meet the Board: Janet McKinnon

by Roxanne Lowe

Do you know who’s running the show at the Washington State Genealogical Society? Did you know we have an Executive Committee, six standing committee chairs and three appointed non-elected officers? Who are all these people? In the coming months, we’ll introduce them to you, so you can say “hi” the next time you see them.

Janet McKinnon

In today’s “Meet the Board” series, we’re introducing you to Janet McKinnon from Richland (Benton County). You might recognize the McKinnon name — she and her husband Mikal (Immediate Past President of WSGS) have been active in WSGS business for many years. Currently, Janet is WSGS’s Region 6 Representative for Adams, Asotin, Benton, Columbia, Franklin, Garfield, Walla Walla and Whitman Counties. Janet’s also a proud member of the Tri-City Genealogical Society where she has served as vice president and program chair. And if that’s not enough, she’s been the Librarian at the Richland Family History Center since 2000, helping patrons with their genealogy research. No wonder she was named a Washington State Genealogical Society Outstanding Volunteer in 2012!

Janet’s Grandmother Kate (on the right) watching her mother Emma get a picture taken next to a new car. Emma walked across the Mormon / Oregon Trail as a 13-year-old girl.

Janet’s 2x great grandmother (mother of Emma). This is the earliest female ancestor that Janet has a picture of.

It all began when little Janet Lemon was born in Coleville, Utah, the first of four children (and only daughter) of Karl and Bessie (Kirkham) Lemon. She was named after her mother’s middle name. Janet graduated from North Cache High School (Utah) in 1961 and entered the Utah State University that fall. On December 18, 1964, Janet married her partner for eternity Mikal A. McKinnon in the Logan temple. After their graduation from USU, the couple moved to California, then to Washington in 1975.

December 1964

Janet and Mikal are the parents of five children: four sons and a daughter. Their Down Syndrome son lives with them. They’re also the loving grandparents of 13 from a 10-year-old Boy Scout to a college graduate granddaughter.

Janet’s interest in genealogy started with her mother and her family. While Janet’s mother didn’t do formal research, she loved and valued her ancestors. Her father (Janet’s grandfather) pioneered areas of genealogy for the Genealogical Society of Utah. He and other family members did the research and shared it. Janet’s mother shared the stories that she heard first hand from the pioneer generation, and passed those stories on to Janet. Even today, Janet’s greatest interest is in family stories, photos, memories and sharing them.

Janet uses FamilySearch.org for much of her research, especially for her early American and English ancestors. One of her most interesting genealogical finds was a Civil War record for the son of a “Dependent Mother” listed in the pension books.

A few more interesting tidbits about Janet:

  • Favorite color: red
  • Favorite dessert: ice cream
  • When asked the word that best describes her, she replied, “friendly.”

Now you know a little more about another of the WSGS Board members. The next time you see Janet, say hello and thank her for her service to WSGS.

How to Post on the Blog

by Roxanne Lowe

Do you want to broadcast information about your local society, workshop, genealogical tip, or a research query? Just post to the WSGS Blog! You can reach hundreds of genealogists from around the state. Just email a Word document, text file, PDF or graphic to WSGSBlog@wasgs.org and the blog masters will do the rest.

We’re always looking to publicize local events and workshops, feature stories, updates from your society, and other genealogical information that might be of interest to our many subscribers.

We hope to hear from you soon! And don’t forget to encourage your Society members to subscribe to the Blog for the most up-to-date information from around the state.

You may manage your subscription options from your profile.