Book Awards
When one of our members reaches the age of 90, they get to choose a book for WVGS to purchase. The book gets presented to them at a Monthly Membership meeting, then the book goes back to the library to be accessioned into our collection.
F. William (Bill) Pack
The most recent honoree, F.
William (Bill) Pack was born and raised
in the Trenton, NJ area. After college, he
had a career in Personnel Management,
which involved working at the local,
state, and federal levels of government,
as well as being a consultant. His wife,
Barbara Rushmer Pack, was born and
raised in the Niagara Falls, NY area.
His mother and father were both of German
descent, with ancestors coming from many German
villages/cities in the western part of Germany.
Barbara’s parents had ancestors from Wales, Great
Britain, Switzerland, and Germany.
His role with family genealogy has primarily been to
take written documents of his father and his wifes father
and digitize that information using Family Tree Maker.
He continues to maintain the family trees for the Pack,
Emig, Rushmer, and Houseknecht families. His research
activities have been limited by other interests.
In 2004, he and his wife made a trip to Germany
and Switzerland for the sole purpose of visiting
ancestral villages/cities. Neither of them had ever been
to either country. During the trip, they had many
successes, with some disappointments. They visited
Wuppertal, Mettmann, Strumpfelbrunn, Nustenbach,
Sachsenflur, Schaftershein, Jobstgreuth in Germany,
and Nidfurn and Leuggelbach in Switzerland.
They met a first cousin once removed, as well
as her daughter and granddaughter; found three
2nd cousins living in the USA; met and matched
genealogy data from Bills great-grandmother’s
family; and located the homes where his wife’s
ancestors were born and raised in two villages.
On the suggestion of a few German/Polish SIG
members, Bill picked a book by Katherine Schober,
“The Magic of German Church Records: Finding the Key
to Your Ancestor’s Past.” He believes it will be beneficial
in researching church records from Germany
CDC Book Presentation
By Sheri Erickson, CDC