Who & What Drew Me to Family History & Genealogy?

Hello again! I owe a lot to my grandparents, including my fascination with family history. Here's how I got started. Thanks for reading!

I was first drawn to family history in elementary school when we created a framed family tree in class, but I think more than anything, my grandparents' stories are what have inspired my interest most.

My elementary school family tree, with living person's names removed for privacy. My mother's line is on the left, my father's on the right.

My Grandpa, Edwin Delmer Pirl (1928 - 2017), was interested in genealogy and did quite a bit of research to try to confirm or refute the long-standing oral history that the Pirls were descended from Scottish immigrants and once spelled their surname "Burl." (I have found no evidence of either claim so far, and I now know that his direct-line ancestors on the Pirl/Perl line were here in the U.S. from at least the late 1700s). More than that, he loved to tell long, winding stories, especially ones that ended in a big, hearty laugh!

My Grandma, Arlene Dolores Vrana (1935 - 2001), didn't have the opportunity to share as much with me, but she put a lot of love and care into the Grandmother Remembers book that my mom gave her when we were young - in it are little gems of her childhood in Pennsylvania coal country and morsels about her parents' lives growing up in Polish immigrant families. Recently I received some older photos of her family that she had labeled with names and relationships too, which I hope to share here soon.

My Opa, Raymond Edward Holloway (1928 - 1976), passed away years before I was born, so he wasn't able to share any stories with me directly. However, I think in part because of his loss, the stories shared about him by my Oma and my dad and aunt and uncle were especially cherished. His family also hosted reunions in Indiana, and I knew his mother, my great-grandmother Nellie Ethel Williams (1893 - 1993). Just thinking about the fact that I am alive today, in 2021, and I personally knew my great-grandmother who was born in the 1800s is pretty remarkable and inspires a lot of thought about the enormous changes that occur in society over time, juxtaposed with how the essence of what it means to be human stays the same across generations and centuries.

My Oma, Ernilore Marianne Wirth (1929 - 2014), was an incredibly strong and generous woman. She gave me the most treasured gift I have ever received: her story. It helped me to understand her and my family better and gave me a unique perspective on the trauma of war that she experienced and her resilience in its wake. I come back to her story often, and each time I gain a little more perspective, not just on her life, but on my own. In fact, family history in general, and Oma's Story in particular, have helped me a lot during this historic pandemic. I find comfort and confidence in the experiences of my ancestors.