Raffaele and Lucia Genetti with their family in Weston, PA.
“We are who we are because they were who they were.” ~ unknown
A Quote to Ponder
A Quote to Ponder
A Quote to Ponder
“Remember me in the family tree; my name, my days, my strife. Then I’ll ride upon the wings of time and live an endless life.” ~ Linda Goetsch
The Gallery
Damiano Genetti standing in the doorway of the Genetti ancestral home in Castelfondo, Austria (Italy).
Have you visited The Gallery yet on The Genetti Family Genealogy Project? This section of our website contains a huge amount of information about our family. Here you’ll find an archive of photographs, individual family portraits, info and photos from our ancestral home of Castelfondo, a cache of family stories, pics from cemeteries where our ancestors are buried, and obituaries. The Gallery section is always growing as more cousins send in their family archives.
Stop by today for a visit! Click below to visit individual sections.
Genealogy Trivia
“If you figure there’s 25 years between each generation, 500 years ago there were 1,048,576 people involved in creating YOU! YOU are special!” ~from Teach Me Genealogy
A Quote to Ponder
“If you think your family is normal, then you are probably not a genealogist.” ~ Unknown
Family Memories by Don Lingousky
Left to right: Angela Genetti, her husband Raffael Recla; Peter Zambotti and his wife, Anna Maria (Mary) Genetti. Angela and Mary were sisters. About 1895.
Another Memory Page has been added to our Family Stories section! Don Lingousky, the great-grandson of Angela Maddalena Genetti Recla of Sheppton, Pennsylvania has shared a treasure trove of photographs and stories about his family.
During the past few months, I’ve became acquainted with Don and his wife Joyce, via email. While conducting his own genealogy research, Don found the Genetti website and generously offered his ancestral findings for our family archives. I was thrilled to see formal portraits from the turn of the century and read personal stories about another twig of the Genetti family tree. And even more excited – this particular twig was part of my branch of the tree! Don’s great-grandmother (Angela) and my great-grandfather (Damiano), were siblings – making Don and I third cousins. We share the same great-great grandparents – Leone and Cattarina Genetti.
Angela Maddalena Genetti Recla, 1865 – 1937. Photo taken sometime before 1937.
Through our combined research, we have uncovered a number of interesting facts that shed light on our mutual ancestors. Along the way, I introduced Don to another third cousin of ours, Nancy, who I met through Ancestry.com when our DNA results matched. Don and Nancy have the added bonus of being double 3rd cousins – both of their great-grandmothers (sisters Angela and Erminia Genetti) married brothers (Raffael and Emmanuel Recla). Now we are all communicating together and sharing our research.
Pour yourself a cup of coffee, sit back in your favorite comfy chair and reminisce while you’re reading Don’s Memory Page, (click here). Allow yourself to be transported 125 years back in time to the coal mines of rural Pennsylvania. It was an era when the Genetti family immigrated to America, worked hard and brought with them the dream of becoming entrepreneurs.
After you have enjoyed Don’s family lore, why not take a stroll down your own memory lane? Dig out that dusty shoe box of photos from the back of the closet. Pick a few of your favorites and begin writing. Soon you’ll find stories flowing from forgotten corners of your memory – precious moments your brain tucked safely away, waiting for the right moment to surface. And if you are so inclined, please share your special family tales with the Genetti Family Genealogy Project. We would love to hear from you!
Click here for our Contact page!
Need help or ideas on how to write your family story? Visit the online Bookstore and check out our Family Legacy Book selections.
We would like to thank Don and Joyce Lingousky for their contribution to and continuing support of the Genetti Family Genealogy Project.
Visit the Tributes Page
Thank you to Conrad Reich for contributing two obituaries to our Tributes page: Elizabeth Zambotti Reich (1995) and Nathan C. Hearn (2012). If you haven’t visited this section of the family website yet, take a moment and scroll through our list of Tributes to those who have passed on.
If you have an obituary of a loved one and would like to have it included on the Tributes page, please email it to info.genetti.family(at)gmail.com. Portraits and photos of cemetery markers can also be included in a family Tribute.
Visit our Tributes page.
Visit the Cemeteries and Markers page.
A Quote to Ponder …
Just a thought for the day …
I came upon this quote from a new book entitled “Find the Good” and felt it was fitting for a family genealogy blog – particularly since I read a lot of obituaries to learn the stories of our ancestors! Perhaps this bit of philosophy will cause you to pause … and think of what you are leaving behind for future generations.
“We are all writing our own obituary every day by how we live. The best news is that there’s still time for additions and revisions before it goes to press.” ~ Heather Lende from Find the Good
Family Memories from Jean Branz Daly
Standing: Jean Branz Daly and Leona Zambotti (daughter of Tillie). Seated: Ann Genetti McNelis, Tillie Genetti Zambotti and Catherine Branz La Porte (Jean’s sister), 1977.
During the past year I’ve met many family members through email correspondence. A few weeks after our site was launched in July of 2014, I received an email from Regina Branz Daly. Jean, as she is called, introduced herself as the granddaughter of Oliva and Damiano Genetti. She was excited about the website and wanted to contribute her own memories and photos. I’m always thrilled when a cousin contacts me with information for our family website. And so began our year-long correspondence.
Jean is 84 years old and of the same generation as my father. Matter-of-fact, Jean and my father were first cousins – they were born just two days apart! She remembers playing together as children. Over the past ten months we have written back and forth, shared family stories, and have become good friends. Since Jean was my father’s 1st cousin and the common relatives we share are Oliva and Damiano Genetti (Jean’s grandparents and my great-grandparents), but I am of the next younger generation – our official relationship is “1st cousin, once removed”.
This past month I compiled all of Jean’s stories and photos, with contributions from her sister Catherine, into a Family Memory Page. You can now find this lovely personal memoir under the Gallery section of the Genetti website – click on the Family Stories link to find the page. Jean, her sister Catherine, and I look forward to our continuing correspondence. We will be adding more stories and photos in the future to their ongoing memoir.
My sincerest thanks to both of the Branz sisters for sharing their little corner of our family history. In their memories, I have found many personal connections to my Pennsylvania Tyrolean family as I’m sure you will too! Click here for a direct link to Family Memories by Regina “Jean” Branz Daly.
On a final note, if you have a parent or grandparent, take a few moments and talk with them about family history. Ask them about their childhood, their parents and the town that they grew up in. Beyond dates and stats, it is the ancestral stories that matter most. Today the sages of the Genetti family are Jean’s generation. They link the memories of past and present. Don’t let this opportunity to connect with your ancestry slip away. Ask your father or grandmother a few questions, than document your conversation with a family journal, photographs and video. Your children will cherish the legacy you have created as will future generations when they look back at the words and images of their great great grandparents.
Special Note: If you are interested in preserving families memories, I have added three new books to our online Bookstore with advise on how to create a treasured family memoir. Click here to find out more and scroll to the bottom of the page.
The Genetti Family Genealogy Project 