Find a Grave has been a wonderful resource for my family. My aunt did a lot work to document the genealogy of my father's family, including on Find a Grave. My family frequently goes to Calvary and Holyrood cemeteries in the Seattle area, where many on my mother's side are buried. We are thankful for the remarkable work done at these cemeteries by Find a Grave volunteers.

My maternal family is of Croatian descent. Since my aunt worked on my father's genealogy, I have worked on my mother's side. When my maternal family arrived in America the late 1800s, their native lands were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and they called themselves Austrian. Geopolitical lines have changed multiple times since then. Over the years, many people in my family have countries such as Austria, Italy, and Yugoslavia listed in their U.S. records. (Some records I have even date back to the Venetian Empire.) However, their villages are now a part of Croatia, and I use Croatia to describe where individuals were born or died when preparing a memorial or suggesting edits.

Wherever possible, I strive to provide an exact village name, if available in the drop-down menu on Find A Grave. Many Italian exonyms were previously used for different parts of Croatia. For example, the village of Veli Lošinj was called Lussingrande and Stari Grad, Hvar was Citta Vecchia, Lesina. I note this here to avoid confusion on my edits, as I use the present-day Croatian village names. I am always more than happy to answer questions. There is a list of such Italian exonyms on Wikipedia, which can be a helpful starting point for researchers.

As a former professional researcher and analyst, I worked for many years solving puzzles and making connections. I am careful in my family history research and wherever possible use primary source information for dates and places, including baptism, marriage, and death registers from Croatia's Archives. If I am unable to learn an individual's specific birthplace, I prefer to leave town names blank and perhaps leave a note in the biography if there is additional information to share.

Many of my family members came to America as children or young adults and never saw their parents again. If I can find a death record and place of burial for their parents in documents from Croatia's archives, I try to create a meaningful memorial for them here. Their lives and final resting place deserve to be remembered, and it is fulfilling to link parents to their children on this site whenever I can find that information.

Find a Grave has been a wonderful resource for my family. My aunt did a lot work to document the genealogy of my father's family, including on Find a Grave. My family frequently goes to Calvary and Holyrood cemeteries in the Seattle area, where many on my mother's side are buried. We are thankful for the remarkable work done at these cemeteries by Find a Grave volunteers.

My maternal family is of Croatian descent. Since my aunt worked on my father's genealogy, I have worked on my mother's side. When my maternal family arrived in America the late 1800s, their native lands were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and they called themselves Austrian. Geopolitical lines have changed multiple times since then. Over the years, many people in my family have countries such as Austria, Italy, and Yugoslavia listed in their U.S. records. (Some records I have even date back to the Venetian Empire.) However, their villages are now a part of Croatia, and I use Croatia to describe where individuals were born or died when preparing a memorial or suggesting edits.

Wherever possible, I strive to provide an exact village name, if available in the drop-down menu on Find A Grave. Many Italian exonyms were previously used for different parts of Croatia. For example, the village of Veli Lošinj was called Lussingrande and Stari Grad, Hvar was Citta Vecchia, Lesina. I note this here to avoid confusion on my edits, as I use the present-day Croatian village names. I am always more than happy to answer questions. There is a list of such Italian exonyms on Wikipedia, which can be a helpful starting point for researchers.

As a former professional researcher and analyst, I worked for many years solving puzzles and making connections. I am careful in my family history research and wherever possible use primary source information for dates and places, including baptism, marriage, and death registers from Croatia's Archives. If I am unable to learn an individual's specific birthplace, I prefer to leave town names blank and perhaps leave a note in the biography if there is additional information to share.

Many of my family members came to America as children or young adults and never saw their parents again. If I can find a death record and place of burial for their parents in documents from Croatia's archives, I try to create a meaningful memorial for them here. Their lives and final resting place deserve to be remembered, and it is fulfilling to link parents to their children on this site whenever I can find that information.