I discovered Michigan's 'Polar Bear Expedition' and became fascinated with these 'average' men (who all enlisted/joined WW I from Michigan) and were sent to serve in Archangel Oblask, Russia because they were 'accustomed to COLD winters'. Their story is fascinating to me, as are the men who served. These 'average' men became unsung heroes. Even most of their families never knew what they went through. Many of their graves and their obituaries don't even mention the Polar Bears.

In addition to my interest in the Polar Bears, I am in the process of volunteering at/working with Owen Cemetery, (Thomas Township, Saginaw, MI) to record all of the names of the people buried there and photograph all grave sites.

I also have a special interest in photographing at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Saginaw, MI. The cemetery is HUGE and there are a LOT of people who are unrecorded because of the age and size of the cemetery.

It's become important to me to provide as much info. as possible for anyone looking for family members, so pardon my edits....but I'm hoping they'll help people find the correct family members, or just add info for people who are looking for family connections.

Grief never ends
but it changes.
It is a passage
not a place to stay.
Grief is not a sign of
weakness...or a lack of Faith.
It is the price of Love.

"Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another." __Ernest Hemingway

September 20, 2013.
I just discovered this site and am learning a LOT about my family history.
Thanks to this site, I found and 'met' my father's family. No easy task, when his mother died from complications of childbirth after having his youngest brother, and their dad left them.
Thanks to all of you who do this! It meant the world to me to 'find' them. Now I'm on a quest to find out more.....and in the process I want to help others...just as several others have helped me.

I discovered Michigan's 'Polar Bear Expedition' and became fascinated with these 'average' men (who all enlisted/joined WW I from Michigan) and were sent to serve in Archangel Oblask, Russia because they were 'accustomed to COLD winters'. Their story is fascinating to me, as are the men who served. These 'average' men became unsung heroes. Even most of their families never knew what they went through. Many of their graves and their obituaries don't even mention the Polar Bears.

In addition to my interest in the Polar Bears, I am in the process of volunteering at/working with Owen Cemetery, (Thomas Township, Saginaw, MI) to record all of the names of the people buried there and photograph all grave sites.

I also have a special interest in photographing at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Saginaw, MI. The cemetery is HUGE and there are a LOT of people who are unrecorded because of the age and size of the cemetery.

It's become important to me to provide as much info. as possible for anyone looking for family members, so pardon my edits....but I'm hoping they'll help people find the correct family members, or just add info for people who are looking for family connections.

Grief never ends
but it changes.
It is a passage
not a place to stay.
Grief is not a sign of
weakness...or a lack of Faith.
It is the price of Love.

"Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another." __Ernest Hemingway

September 20, 2013.
I just discovered this site and am learning a LOT about my family history.
Thanks to this site, I found and 'met' my father's family. No easy task, when his mother died from complications of childbirth after having his youngest brother, and their dad left them.
Thanks to all of you who do this! It meant the world to me to 'find' them. Now I'm on a quest to find out more.....and in the process I want to help others...just as several others have helped me.