With few exceptions, nothing has given me more satisfaction than exploring cemeteries, taking pics, and gathering information.

On my father's side, my focus is McGINNESS, MATTHEWS, and LEAS of Lafayette, Jefferson, and Johnson counties in Missouri. My mother's side includes ALEXANDER, HANCOCK, BRYANT and STEWART of Darlington and Florence counties of South Carolina. I've been working on them for around four decades.

As a retired broadcast journalist, newsman, deejay, and radio and television announcer, I believe it's important, even a responsibility that recording information on the deceased be as correct as possible, because it's not a game to see how many Memorials you can collect, but many times a journal of their history. In other words, get the facts. Our ancestors and loved ones deserve that. It IS great that enough people find graves so people can at least locate them. But, keep in mind that the ones who have passed no longer have a say, and if a contributor just takes pictures and records dates, they're sort of missing the point. They really should make themselves easy available for adding or correcting information on the Memorialized person from those who have that info. Contributors are the only ones who can enter information about that person's life, and to whom they are related. Taking on a Memorial should be a responsibility, not just a hobby of collecting numbers.

My message to those who don't really care about their heritage is to keep in mind that if, say, your great grandfather's marriage proposal was turned down by your great grandmother, you would not even be here.

Keep an interest. Be the "keeper of the flame".

With few exceptions, nothing has given me more satisfaction than exploring cemeteries, taking pics, and gathering information.

On my father's side, my focus is McGINNESS, MATTHEWS, and LEAS of Lafayette, Jefferson, and Johnson counties in Missouri. My mother's side includes ALEXANDER, HANCOCK, BRYANT and STEWART of Darlington and Florence counties of South Carolina. I've been working on them for around four decades.

As a retired broadcast journalist, newsman, deejay, and radio and television announcer, I believe it's important, even a responsibility that recording information on the deceased be as correct as possible, because it's not a game to see how many Memorials you can collect, but many times a journal of their history. In other words, get the facts. Our ancestors and loved ones deserve that. It IS great that enough people find graves so people can at least locate them. But, keep in mind that the ones who have passed no longer have a say, and if a contributor just takes pictures and records dates, they're sort of missing the point. They really should make themselves easy available for adding or correcting information on the Memorialized person from those who have that info. Contributors are the only ones who can enter information about that person's life, and to whom they are related. Taking on a Memorial should be a responsibility, not just a hobby of collecting numbers.

My message to those who don't really care about their heritage is to keep in mind that if, say, your great grandfather's marriage proposal was turned down by your great grandmother, you would not even be here.

Keep an interest. Be the "keeper of the flame".