The agenda will include the announcement of the 2026 Outstanding Volunteer and Team recipients, President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement and the Supportive Grant awards. We’ll also have a short presentation titled “Writing Your Family Story Using AI” with Forrest Adams, North Beach Genealogical Society and Grays Harbor Genealogical Society.
We hope you join us! If you want more information, email Info@wasgs.org.
The agenda will include the announcement of the 2026 Outstanding Volunteer and Team recipients, President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement and the Supportive Grant awards. We’ll also have a short presentation titled “Writing Your Family Story Using AI” with Forrest Adams, North Beach Genealogical Society and Grays Harbor Genealogical Society.
We hope you join us! If you want more information, email Info@wasgs.org.
For years, WSGS has run on the ENS-C (EasyNetSites-Classic) platform — and it’s served us well. But technology moves on, and ENS-C is being phased out. So we’re migrating to its successor, ENS-R (Responsive), built by the same company, Blue Crab Software in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
What’s changing
ENS-R keeps everything you rely on — our search tools, member database, Pioneer Pursuit Index, cemetery information and site organization — while adding a modern, mobile-friendly design. Pages will automatically resize for phones, tablets, and desktops, so browsing on your phone will finally feel as smooth as on a computer. You’ll also notice larger text and a top navigation menu instead of the sidebar.
What’s staying the same
The blog isn’t changing. It moved to a new server months ago without any issues, and this update won’t affect it.
What you need to do — right now, nothing
We’ve spent months testing in a private preview environment to catch problems before they reach you. As with any technology change, small hiccups are possible, and we appreciate your patience if anything needs fine-tuning after launch.
Once ENS-R goes live, we’ll email members with simple instructions for resetting your password to access the Members Only area. Until then, there’s nothing you need to do.
If you have questions about the new website, please email Info@wasgs.org. Thank you in advance for your patience!
The agenda will include the announcement of the 2026 Outstanding Volunteer and Team recipients, President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement and the Supportive Grant awards. We’ll also have a short presentation titled “Writing Your Family Story Using AI” with Forrest Adams, North Beach Genealogical Society and Grays Harbor Genealogical Society.
We hope you join us! If you want more information, email Info@wasgs.org.
The Board of the Washington State Genealogical Society is saddened to inform you of the death of Frank McLean of Yakima.
Whether you knew Frank or not, you likely knew of his accomplishments and contributions to Washington pioneers and our WSGS family.
Frank McLean
Frank joined WSGS in 1986 and remained a dedicated and contributing member until his passing on Monday, June 8, 2026. He served as President, Vice President and most recently, as Treasurer. Frank was named a WSGS Outstanding Volunteer in 2003, 2005 and 2006 and YVGS Yard Sale Team Award Volunteer for 2018.
Frank was instrumental in the development of the WSGS Centennial Pioneer Certificate Project, working with others who shared the vision of tracing all pioneers and Indigenous individuals living in Washington Territory at the time of statehood on November 11, 1889. He devoted countless hours reviewing submitted genealogies, carefully verifying source documentation, and helping add approximately 44,000 names to the WSGS Pioneer database.
In 2023, Frank assumed a similar role with the Pioneer Pursuit program. An excellent researcher and historian, he diligently reviewed more than 2,750 names of those living in Washington at statehood, ensuring that all supporting documents were accurate and well-sourced. His commitment to ensuring those genealogies would be available for free on the WSGS website is a testament to his commitment to family history.
In addition to his service with WSGS, Frank was President of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia and also served on its Board. He was deeply involved in his local organization, the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society, where he served in many roles, including President, Membership Chair, Publicity Chair, and Bulletin Printing Assistant. He also headed the society’s semi-annual yard sale and, since 2004, served as Building and Maintenance Supervisor for its library. As the society’s “tech guy,” Frank helped digitize thousands of obituary records from paper files and index cards and kept the computer working. Frank was also involved in copying and extracting information from Yakima County School Census records from 1900 to 1930.
To learn more about Frank, read his “Meet the Board” feature on the WSGS Blog here.
Frank is survived by his wife, Delma Roloff McLean and sons Bruce, Scot and Mark and wives and grandchildren and preceded in death by daughter Ann. Brookside Funeral Home, Yakima is handling the arrangements.
Members, your Board would like to inform you of the death of Frank McLean. Frank was president of Washington State Genealogical Society from 1994 to 1996. He joined WSGS in 1986 and has been a contributing member ever since. Currently, he held the position of Treasurer since 2022. Frank was instrumental in Pioneer Project along with others with the vision to trace all pioneers and indigenous individuals in Washington at statehood 11 November, 1889. He spent countless hours reviewing the genealogies submitted verifying the source information was correct helping to add about 44,000 names to our data base of pioneers. He also sent out Pioneer Certificates upon request. Frank later assumed the same position for Pioneer Pursuit (past president Virginia Majewski’s brain child project) and, again, reviewed over 4,000 names of those at statehood making sure the sources were correct.
Frank was president of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia and served as a Board member with them. He was heavily involved with his local society Yakima Valley Genealogical Society serving as president, membership, publicity and helped with bulletin printing; head of the semi-annual yard sale and, from 2004, on has served as Building & Maintenance Supervisor of this library and as “Tech” guy, he helped scan all our thousands of obituaries from paper and index cards.
Frank (3 January 1937-7 June, 2026) is survived by his wife Delma Roloff McLean.
Congratulations are extended to Kathy Sizer and Jill Scott who were elected recently as WSGS President and Secretary, respectively. Their terms run through Dec. 31, 2027. Kathy will be serving her third two-year term, while Jill is serving her second term as Secretary. Jill’s election was unanimous and Kathy’s was almost unanimous — someone with a sense of humor wrote in “anyone, but me.”
Kathy and Jill, and the rest of the WSGS Board, are anticipating a year filled with growth and service to its members. WSGS members are invited to attend (virtually) the monthly board meetings which are the third Tuesday of each month at 2:00 p.m. The minutes of each meeting are available in the Members’ Area of the website.
For more information about participating in WSGS, email Info@wasgs.org.
Merry Christmas to all and I hope you have a wonderful day.
Ella Frances (Dillingham) DeRemer was the first cousin to Anna M. (Dillingham) Hansen, my grandmother.
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