In Brief:
I’m a 6th generation Texan, graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Speech Communication and minor in English. I taught public school (ninth graders—enough said!) and spent 10 years in the oil business. After a move to the Austin, Texas area, I worked at the Texas Legislature as a legislative aide and in several political and non-profit associations as director of development and executive director. Currently, I consult with non-profits for governmental funding. And through it all—I’m a genealogist.

Genealogy Background
I’ve been a genealogist for over 40 years, since I was a girl and would sit with my “Nana” to hunt our family tree. I would listen to her family stories and the ancestors became real to me. Nana and I were lucky; we had the genealogy notes of her mother—my great-grandmother—to start with. It must be in the blood!

My first formal genealogy class was in the 1980’s, taught by the registrar general of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (she is the one who reviews all research for potential members). As you can imagine, she was a stickler for documentary proof, and to this day, I believe it “ain’t so” until it is proven.

I worked ten years in the oil business as a petroleum landman. The specialty of the firm—and my entire focus—was locating hard-to-find mineral owners for lease purposes. My genealogy experience was so valuable in that pursuit!

My favorite story was finding the descendents of a “Mrs. J. M. Doe” from the 1920’s. Mrs. Doe (obviously I have changed her name) had won her royalty interest in a poker game in the boomtown days of the West Texas oil fields. There was so little to go on—I didn’t even have her first name, just her husband’s. But I found her grandchildren, who had a story or two to tell about their grandmother!

The stories are the most fascinating part to me. We forget that the names in a faded Bible or carved on a tombstone were living, breathing, crying, laughing people. The stories remind us that those folks were as human as we are.

I love what I do—there is always a different “hunt” and a different set of circumstances. Never boring!