The Owners' Manual | Issue 21 | Spring/Summer 2021

My Grandfather (Pop-Pop) on my dad’s side of the family is VERY interested in his heritage and sharing all of it with all the grandkids. He has gotten even more in depth with his research over the quarantine period and has some interesting findings. He has been told lots of stories throughout his life being able to piece together where he came from and what his family members had done in the past, Samantha Malmfelt, Charlotte

but he even sent his DNA to Ancestry.com to take it deeper. Through him, I know that I have Irish, German, Scots & Swedish from that side of my family. He has traced things back to 1600s. There is also some English & Iberian Eastern European traces. My grandma on that side has a very rare finding, 100% Scots-Irish. I also found out through him that I had several relatives that were engineers way before me, which was unique because I thought I was the first in my family. My great-great grandpa also received his mechanical engineering degree. I have copies of 2 patents he had. My Great uncle was also on his way to getting his mechanical engineering degree when WWII began & he served in the US Army. I have a slide rule & drafting kit from his career that has been passed down to me. There’s much more, but thought I would share some of that, which relates some to my career today.

Jessica Fasi, Meriden

I’m fortunate to have a great uncle who was a genealogist (he passed away several years ago), so I’ve been familar with who my ancesters are – way before Ancestry.com and other sites became popular. I’ve heard about several interesting ancestors, like one of the first famous opera singers, Anne Louise Cary and James Storrow (Storrow Drive in Boston is named after him). My great grandfather on my dad’s side was Ernest Henderson who founded Sheraton Hotels. Our family has had reunions in Dublin, NH every year for as long as I can remember. After a virtual reunion last year, this July we’ll have our 125 th annual reunion! I’m lucky to have an opportunity each year to get together with lots of aunts, uncles, cousins and more extended family... some of our traditions are a little whacky, but I guess that’s what makes us family. :-)

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