Currently my main emphasis is on memorials found in the Kelleys Island Village Cemetery. Kelleys Island holds a special place in my life. I spent the summers of my youth on the island and my family still owns the original cottage my paternal-grandfather had built in 1930.

A fellow FAG contributor easily convinced me that a memorial should consist of more than the minimal information found on a headstone. I found inspiration in the words of the chorus in the Garth Brooks' song "Pushing Up Daisies": "There's two dates in time that they'll carve on your stone and everyone knows what they mean. What's more important is the time that is known in that little dash there in between. That little dash there in between."

That little dash in between is the person's life and aside from living family, none of us know about that person's life. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we knew more about the person buried beside the gravestone?
I work to track down full dates of birth, death and where those events occurred. If I can add more information I'm always happy to make it happen.

I welcome any information you can provide me about the people in the memorials I've created or manage. If you can provide me with a compelling reason to transfer management of a memorial I will transfer. If you wish me to add an obituary, please follow FAG guidelines; please respect copyright laws and respect the privacy of the living relatives. Try to provide the name of the newspaper and the date of publication. I prefer to post the publication information.

In regard to my own family I am fortunate as my father's tree is very complete with branches extending back to New England in the 1600s. In early 2015 I began searching my mother's side for her ancestors. I have traced each branch back to immigration from Ireland, nearly all arriving in Brooklyn between 1840 & 1852, the era of the first Irish Potato Famine.

On my father's branch I am a descendent of the Kelley family who settled in Cleveland between 1810 & 1815. Other family branches who arrived in Cleveland from New England later in the 1800s include the Hills, McEwen, and Stanley families.

In 1929 my paternal grandfather commissioned the building of a summer cottage on Kelleys Island which was completed in 1930. My roots on Kelleys Island go back through my paternal great-grandfather, Norman E. Hills, who wrote the first published history of Kelleys Island and his mother Laura H. Kelley, back to her father, Irad Kelley. Together Irad and his brother, Datus, purchased the land from the Connecticut landowners who were originally deeded the land as part of the Firelands and Western Reserve. Our little parcel of land that comprises the family's property has since been passed on to me. Needless to say, Kelleys Island holds a special place in my heart.

You may visit my family trees on Family Search.org if you are searching for information on the families of James Dunne, Patrick Weldon, and John J Kiernan in my Dunne family tree. In the Williams tree there is information on the Williams, Hills, Kelley, Stanley, McEwen, and other connected families.

Currently my main emphasis is on memorials found in the Kelleys Island Village Cemetery. Kelleys Island holds a special place in my life. I spent the summers of my youth on the island and my family still owns the original cottage my paternal-grandfather had built in 1930.

A fellow FAG contributor easily convinced me that a memorial should consist of more than the minimal information found on a headstone. I found inspiration in the words of the chorus in the Garth Brooks' song "Pushing Up Daisies": "There's two dates in time that they'll carve on your stone and everyone knows what they mean. What's more important is the time that is known in that little dash there in between. That little dash there in between."

That little dash in between is the person's life and aside from living family, none of us know about that person's life. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we knew more about the person buried beside the gravestone?
I work to track down full dates of birth, death and where those events occurred. If I can add more information I'm always happy to make it happen.

I welcome any information you can provide me about the people in the memorials I've created or manage. If you can provide me with a compelling reason to transfer management of a memorial I will transfer. If you wish me to add an obituary, please follow FAG guidelines; please respect copyright laws and respect the privacy of the living relatives. Try to provide the name of the newspaper and the date of publication. I prefer to post the publication information.

In regard to my own family I am fortunate as my father's tree is very complete with branches extending back to New England in the 1600s. In early 2015 I began searching my mother's side for her ancestors. I have traced each branch back to immigration from Ireland, nearly all arriving in Brooklyn between 1840 & 1852, the era of the first Irish Potato Famine.

On my father's branch I am a descendent of the Kelley family who settled in Cleveland between 1810 & 1815. Other family branches who arrived in Cleveland from New England later in the 1800s include the Hills, McEwen, and Stanley families.

In 1929 my paternal grandfather commissioned the building of a summer cottage on Kelleys Island which was completed in 1930. My roots on Kelleys Island go back through my paternal great-grandfather, Norman E. Hills, who wrote the first published history of Kelleys Island and his mother Laura H. Kelley, back to her father, Irad Kelley. Together Irad and his brother, Datus, purchased the land from the Connecticut landowners who were originally deeded the land as part of the Firelands and Western Reserve. Our little parcel of land that comprises the family's property has since been passed on to me. Needless to say, Kelleys Island holds a special place in my heart.

You may visit my family trees on Family Search.org if you are searching for information on the families of James Dunne, Patrick Weldon, and John J Kiernan in my Dunne family tree. In the Williams tree there is information on the Williams, Hills, Kelley, Stanley, McEwen, and other connected families.