I was born and raised, worked, and live in northern Virginia. I'm a 74 year old Federal Government retiree with 43 years of service. Almost ten years after its inception, I found this site quite by accident when a co-worker asked me to help him at lunch time take a photograph of a headstone that was overgrown with bushes. After that, I was hooked fulfilling photo requests with photos actually taken by me, primarily at (then) nearby Arlington National Cemetery (ANC), and NOT by copying and uploading photos from the ANC Explorer database.

While I was fulfilling photo requests, I noticed that many of the those buried in ANC did not have Findagrave memorials, so I downloaded the data from ANC Explorer and compared them to those in Findagrave. I was able to add 40,000+ new memorials based on that comparison. Unfortunately, the ANC Explorer information was all that I had for the creation of those memorials, and I'm not able to provide any additional information about those servicemen or their spouses.

Then it occurred to me that this would be a great place (free (thus far)) to document my family tree for all to see, which would be based on the extensive genealogical research that my aunt has been doing for the past 25 to 30 years and that I have continued. This project of linking thousands of memorials is going to take a very long time (if it's at all possible) to complete due to several memorial creators, totally unrelated to my family, who will neither transfer ownership nor respond to SOC (Suggest Other Changes) edits. That is not to say that all memorial creators are like that. Indeed, most are very gracious and totally responsive, and for that, I whole-heartedly thank them. September 2023 update: After 8 years on and off, and the last 6 years more exclusively dedicated to linking memorials for family members to their parents' and spouses' memorials when those memorials exist, and if not, adding that information to their biographies, I can say that I have completed as much of this project as I can with the records and information available to me. With well over 4100 existing memorials for family members (listed in the virtual cemeteries for each of the various spellings of the family surname), there are fewer than 30 that remain totally unknown to me and cannot be connected to other relatives, a 99.3% success rate.

If I have a memorial for one of your relatives or even someone else whose memorial you're willing to maintain, I'll gladly transfer ownership upon request (except to anyone with the screen name Anonymous), if not related to me.

Here is how you request to have a memorial transferred to you:
1. Find and open the memorial you want to maintain.
2. Click on SUGGEST EDITS in upper center.
3. Click on "Contact manager" in lower center.
4. In the message box, type something like "Please transfer this memorial to me (with reason and anything else you want to convey.)"
5. Click "Send Message."
You should receive a transfer and an e-mail.

Regarding duplicate memorials, it's never my intention to create a duplicate on purpose. If you come across a duplicate I that have made, please submit an SOC on the Edit tab of the memorial page and let me know, and please, please, please provide the number of the original memorial. Thank you.

You have my permission to use any of my photos, as long as you include attribution. (Please don't ask, just use them.)

For those of you who submit suggested edits to the memorials that I maintain, thank you so very much. I do not require the submission of reference documents as proof to back up those edits. I believe that we are all adults here (with certain exceptions unfortunately) and should and will act accordingly.

You are more than welcome to copy and paste all or part of an obituary into a suggested edit, and I will add it to the memorial. Photos can be added directly by you. I no longer add either of them to the memorials of the recently departed. Thank you.

If you are seeking someone (other than Findagrave (#8)) to maintain the memorials that you no longer are able or willing to maintain, please consider transferring them to my care. I attempt to process all suggested edits within 12 hours, and I will transfer all non-family memorials upon request. Thank you.

Upon my becoming a fallen graver, I would like the vast majority of the memorials I maintain (for my non-relatives (those not in my various family virtual cemeteries)) to be transferred to ShaneO (47009366), who has agreed to maintain them. I have yet to decide who will maintain my family memorials. If you are a family member who wishes to do so, please message me. Thank you.

If you need to cancel or append a suggested edit, just go to your own profile page, click on the Edits link, click the tab for Suggestions I've Sent, and click the appropriate REMOVE REQUEST button.

I was born and raised, worked, and live in northern Virginia. I'm a 74 year old Federal Government retiree with 43 years of service. Almost ten years after its inception, I found this site quite by accident when a co-worker asked me to help him at lunch time take a photograph of a headstone that was overgrown with bushes. After that, I was hooked fulfilling photo requests with photos actually taken by me, primarily at (then) nearby Arlington National Cemetery (ANC), and NOT by copying and uploading photos from the ANC Explorer database.

While I was fulfilling photo requests, I noticed that many of the those buried in ANC did not have Findagrave memorials, so I downloaded the data from ANC Explorer and compared them to those in Findagrave. I was able to add 40,000+ new memorials based on that comparison. Unfortunately, the ANC Explorer information was all that I had for the creation of those memorials, and I'm not able to provide any additional information about those servicemen or their spouses.

Then it occurred to me that this would be a great place (free (thus far)) to document my family tree for all to see, which would be based on the extensive genealogical research that my aunt has been doing for the past 25 to 30 years and that I have continued. This project of linking thousands of memorials is going to take a very long time (if it's at all possible) to complete due to several memorial creators, totally unrelated to my family, who will neither transfer ownership nor respond to SOC (Suggest Other Changes) edits. That is not to say that all memorial creators are like that. Indeed, most are very gracious and totally responsive, and for that, I whole-heartedly thank them. September 2023 update: After 8 years on and off, and the last 6 years more exclusively dedicated to linking memorials for family members to their parents' and spouses' memorials when those memorials exist, and if not, adding that information to their biographies, I can say that I have completed as much of this project as I can with the records and information available to me. With well over 4100 existing memorials for family members (listed in the virtual cemeteries for each of the various spellings of the family surname), there are fewer than 30 that remain totally unknown to me and cannot be connected to other relatives, a 99.3% success rate.

If I have a memorial for one of your relatives or even someone else whose memorial you're willing to maintain, I'll gladly transfer ownership upon request (except to anyone with the screen name Anonymous), if not related to me.

Here is how you request to have a memorial transferred to you:
1. Find and open the memorial you want to maintain.
2. Click on SUGGEST EDITS in upper center.
3. Click on "Contact manager" in lower center.
4. In the message box, type something like "Please transfer this memorial to me (with reason and anything else you want to convey.)"
5. Click "Send Message."
You should receive a transfer and an e-mail.

Regarding duplicate memorials, it's never my intention to create a duplicate on purpose. If you come across a duplicate I that have made, please submit an SOC on the Edit tab of the memorial page and let me know, and please, please, please provide the number of the original memorial. Thank you.

You have my permission to use any of my photos, as long as you include attribution. (Please don't ask, just use them.)

For those of you who submit suggested edits to the memorials that I maintain, thank you so very much. I do not require the submission of reference documents as proof to back up those edits. I believe that we are all adults here (with certain exceptions unfortunately) and should and will act accordingly.

You are more than welcome to copy and paste all or part of an obituary into a suggested edit, and I will add it to the memorial. Photos can be added directly by you. I no longer add either of them to the memorials of the recently departed. Thank you.

If you are seeking someone (other than Findagrave (#8)) to maintain the memorials that you no longer are able or willing to maintain, please consider transferring them to my care. I attempt to process all suggested edits within 12 hours, and I will transfer all non-family memorials upon request. Thank you.

Upon my becoming a fallen graver, I would like the vast majority of the memorials I maintain (for my non-relatives (those not in my various family virtual cemeteries)) to be transferred to ShaneO (47009366), who has agreed to maintain them. I have yet to decide who will maintain my family memorials. If you are a family member who wishes to do so, please message me. Thank you.

If you need to cancel or append a suggested edit, just go to your own profile page, click on the Edits link, click the tab for Suggestions I've Sent, and click the appropriate REMOVE REQUEST button.