One of
Thom's books
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President and syllabus editor:
Thomas Kent Edlund, Utah
Thomas Kent Edlund, a specialist in East European languages and manuscripts, is a Professor of Family and Local History, Brigham Young University.
He has authored many books on language and genealogy, including The Lutherans of Russia, Die Ahnenstammkartei des Deutschen Volkes, Medieval Latin for Family Historians, An Introduction and Index to the German Minority Census of 1939, and A Compendium of Nahuatl Dialectology.
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Secretary:
Kahlile Mehr, Bountiful, Utah
web page
Kahlile B. Mehr M.A., M.L.S., is Manager, Slavic Collection Management and Cataloging at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Previously he was manager of Member Research Guidance.
As a collection development specialist from 1995 to 2002, he developed the collections for eastern Europe, Spain, Portugal, and the Pacific; visited the archives in eastern Europe on nine separate acquisition trips.
Before that, Kahlile was cataloging supervisor form 1986 to 1995, directing the work of 20 to 25 catalogers and technicians handling materials for Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
Kahlile speaks Russian and Portuguese, and reads various Germanic, Romance and Slavic languages.
He is the co-author of Hearts Turned to the Fathers: A History of the Genealogical Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1894-1994. He has written for a variety of genealogical publications, including the FEEFHS Journal, FEEFHS Quarterly, Genealogical Helper, Avotaynu, Genealogical Journal, Archivum, and The Encyclopedia of Mormonism.
Kahlile was an adjunct instructor for the Brigham Young University Independent Study Program and Family History Conference (1994-1998). He has delivered papers at conferences of the Federation of East European Family History Societies, Federation of Genealogical Societies, American Library Association, Society of American Archivists, Mormon History Association, Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, and International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies.
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Conference administrator:
Peg Ivanyo, Springville, Utah
Peg brings over twenty years of event and meeting planning experience to FEEFHS. She is the former Assistant Director of Conference Services at Utah State University; former owner of Convention Consulting Services; and present owner of All Things Related. Having decided a few years back to turn her first love -- family history research -- into a full-time focus, she now provides a variety of services to both genealogical patrons and organizations. She enjoys learning about Eastern European (Slovakia) research.
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Treasurer:
Don Semon, West Jordan, Utah
Don Semon has had extensive experience in things financial, having worked for NORAD in Electrical Engineering, The County of El Paso in Colorado and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in California as Facilities Manager.
Having studied at the University of Illinois in Electrical Engineering, he knows a Spread Sheet and Profit and Loss Statement from a Pedigree Chart and Family Group Sheet. He co-authored a 799-page book on the genealogy of his wife's father in Wuerttemberg, Germany supplying a great deal of computer technology knowledge.
Collaborating with his wife, he has researched his genealogy in four countries: Poland-West Prussia, Bohemia, Germany and France.
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Publicity Secretary and Newsletter editor:
Dee Semon, West Jordan, Utah
Dee Semon has had 33 years of experience extending the family lines back to the 1500s in France, Belarus, Schlesien (Silesia-Poland), Westpreussen (Pomerania-Poland), Bohemia, Moravia, the Bavarian Pfalz, and Wuerttemburg. Born into a family who spoke Polish (Belarus dialect), Czech (Moravian dialect) and Russian (Belarus dialect) at home, she also worked with French, German and Italian while pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance at the University of Illinois.
Serving as Research Chair for the German Research Association of San Diego and currently as the Public Relations Secretary, E-News Editor, and Research Chair for FEEFHS has expanded her genealogical knowledge. She authored with her husband, Don Semon, FEEFHS Treasurer, a 799-page book entitled The Uebele Family 1574-2004.
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Past-President:
Dave Obee, Saanich, British Columbia
DaveObee.com |
Volhynia.com
Dave Obee is author of Making the News, published by the Times Colonist in Victoria, British Columbia, in 2008 to mark the 150th anniversary of the newspaper. It is a comprehensive history of Vancouver Island, drawn from old newspapers. Dave is also the co-author (with Sherry Irvine) of Finding Your Canadian Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide, published by Ancestry in 2007. He has compiled seven other books for Canadian genealogical sources, and has given more than 250 talks at seminars and society meetings since 1997.
Dave runs CanGenealogy, a Canadian link site, and Volhynia.com, dedicated to the past and future of the region in the northwest corner of Ukraine.
He is one of the owners of Interlink Bookshop and Genealogical Services of Victoria, B.C., which runs the Genealogy Unlimited website.
Dave has visited 17 countries in Europe during 14 visits. He has a keen interest in the world war battle areas in France, Belgium and Luxembourg. He served as president of the Federation of East European Family History Societies from 2004 through 2007.
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Founder:
Charles M. Hall
1930-2010
Charles M. Hall was the founding president of two societies, Palatines to America in 1975 and the Federation of East European Family History Societies in 1992. He was a professional genealogist for 20 years, and compiled the 10-volume series of atlases entitled The Atlantic Bridge to Germany.
He gained bachelors and masters degrees in French and German from Brigham Young University. He later learned Russian, Esperanto, some Dutch, Spanish and Turkish.
As a professional genealogist, Charles specialized in Germanic research at the Family History Library and elsewhere in America and in Europe. He was a foreign language teacher for 12 years and was a professional translator, dealing with French, German, Russian, Norwegian, Esperanto and Latin.
At conferences, he has spoken on topics relating to German-speaking ancestors. He can provide an overview of resources for all of East Europe and introductory level lectures on Poland, Hungary and the former Soviet states.
Charles was born in Mountain View, Wyoming in 1930, and married Frankie Jane Taylor, of Richland, Washington, in 1957 in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple.
Charles died in Holladay, Utah, on March 15, 2010. He was survived by his wife Frankie, six children, 21 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Charles Hall obituary
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