Tully – Many Branches, One Tree

It’s an Honor to Meet You…

(Originally published April 23, 2013, and updated June 1, 2018) I am a proud member of Geneabloggers Tribe, and before that a member of its predecessor, Geneabloggers, Thomas MacEntee’s web-based group of family history writers and genealogists. It includes over 3,000 members – that’s 3,000 blogs – from all over the world. I joined in 2012 … Continue reading

Mystery Monday: The Distance between Two Pictures

Selma (Kangas) Tully (1894 – 1949) Selma (Kangas) Tully, about 24 years old. Anaheim, California, November 24, 1919. In this day and age, it is common to see hundreds, sometimes thousands, of photographs marking the great and small events of a person’s life. In the case of Selma Tully, however, we have … Continue reading

Motivation Monday: Look Up, Look Forward, and Lend a Hand

Matt Oskar Kangas (1876 – 1971) Look up and not down; look forward and not back; look out and not in; and lend a hand. – E. E. Hale Matt Oskar Kangas was born to overcome obstacles. “That’s Life for You,” by Madjag. Creative … Continue reading

Thankful Thursday: Legacy of an Ordinary Life

Arthur Raymond Tully (1897 – 1984) Arthur, we hardly knew you. Arthur Tully When your name came up in conversation, as it did from time to time, it was in disjointed bits and pieces, with little to connect them except for the few vital facts about you that most family trees contain. Those facts tell … Continue reading

Sentimental Sunday: Sunday Dinner

Making Memories Around the Table Left to right: John Charles McGinnis Mary Jane (Gaffney) McGinnis, Alice McGinnis, Thomas Eugene McGinnis, (John’s wife) Edith (Hoag) McGinnis, cousin Eileen Kelly, and Benita McGinnis. Photo taken at the McGinnis home, 8336 Drexel Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, sometime between 1914 and 1920. Like many a family in the early twentieth century, my … Continue reading

My Wonderful Mother

Joan Joyce Schiavon (1928 – 1987) My mother, Joan Joyce Schiavon Age 26 Chicago, 1954 “So when are you going to write about my Grandmother?” A few evenings ago, my son, Michael, asked the question I have avoided for far too long. I told him I was trying to work toward … Continue reading

Calling W6RMQ . . .

Calling W6RMQ . . . We lost Dad (aka my father-in-law, Welner “Bing” Tully) three years ago today. He had been in hospital for about a week after his heart and kidneys failed, and he was on his way home when he died in the ambulance as it left O’Connor Hospital. Dad was a … Continue reading

Patricia Ann Fay

Patricia Ann Fay Born: 12 July 1923, Stuart, Iowa Died: 16 January 1997, San Jose, California Faith, family, and charity were the recurring themes of Patricia Tully’s life. Born the youngest of eight children to Daniel Francis Fay and Sarah Ellen “Ella” Riney on July 12, 1927, in Stuart, … Continue reading

Where the Flowers Is: How Dad Impacted the World

“Where the Flowers is…” One of the great things about writing family history is that you get to write about whatever and whomever you want. One the of the hardest things about it, though, is that sometimes the things or people you want to write about are so close to you that it’s difficult … Continue reading

A Legacy Renewed, A Cause for Celebration

A legacy renewed, a cause for celebration On a cold wintry morning on the eve of the Civil War some 150 years ago, a dashing red-headed French baker and a wide-eyed, dark-haired Irish seamstress pledged their undying devotion in a loving embrace before God as they were joined in marriage in a small Catholic church … Continue reading