Meet the Candidates

Meet the Candidates
These Kentucky Genealogical Society members have accepted
nomination to serve as KGS officers and board members in 2015. The
election will take place November 1, 2014 prior to the start of the
KGS/KHS Family History Workshop program.
PRESIDENT: Johnna Waldon
Hi, I’m Johnna Waldon, and I currently serve on the Board of KGS as Recording Secretary. You may also
know me as the co-editor of Bluegrass Roots. I was born in Manassas Park, Virginia but consider Bristol,
Virginia/ Tennessee my home. Main Street, Bristol is the state line and divides the city into two cities with
separate governments.
After graduating from Berea College, my husband and I moved to Lexington, where we have lived for the
past 24 years. I have been employed with the Lexington Pubic Library for those 24 years and am
currently the Assistant Branch Manager at the Tates Creek Branch.
When I’m not chasing ancestors, I do many of those stereotypical librarian things—read, knit, sew, and
cook. I have been working on my family history hard core for about eight years but dabbled with it my
whole life. I was raised in the house with my grandmother and grew up hearing the family stories. My
primary lines are Dingus, Dotson, Bakers, Lanes, Hibbitts all mostly out of Wise, Russell, and Scott
Counties in Virginia.
VICE PRESIDENT: Linda McCauley
Hi, I’m Linda McCauley. I currently serve KGS as Vice President, Program Committee and Technology
Committee Chair, and Webmaster. I also serve as a Director on the Federation of Genealogical Societies’ board
and am the Marketing Chair for the 2015 FGS Conference.
A life-long Kentuckian, I grew up in Mt. Vernon and returned there a few years ago after retiring from
Kentucky State Government. During my career, with the Cabinet for Families and Children, I lived in
Barbourville, Louisville, and Frankfort.
Genealogy takes most of my time but I enjoy photography and travel. When the travel and photography are
genealogy-related, that’s the best of all possible worlds. My maternal grandmother fostered my interest in
genealogy even though that didn’t happen until more than 20 years after she died. In 2001, I picked up a fillin-the-blanks family tree book she completed and decided there must be some kind of software that would
help me sort out what she had written. I was hooked long before I had everything entered in the database.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY: Fran Salyers
Hi, I’m Fran Nelson Salyers. I currently serve KGS as a board member at large, Publicity Committee chair, and
co-editor of Bluegrass Roots. Louisville is my hometown, but I have lived in Frankfort since 1966. Not until this
year did I discover my local roots! My 3x great grandparents John R. Cardwell and Margaret/Marguerite Arnold
married here in 1818, and many of their descendants still live in the area.
I am a graduate of Western Kentucky University. Before I retired in 2003, I worked as a writer and editor for
various state government agencies and advertising/public relations firms. My interests include genealogy,
family gatherings, feature writing, choral singing, and music (especially classical and Big Band).
My earliest proven Kentucky ancestor, Revolutionary War patriot Edward Jarvis, was in Crab Orchard (Lincoln
County) by 1792 and in Muhlenberg County by 1799. All of my known maternal and paternal lines have lived
in Muhlenberg and adjacent counties for at least a short time – some of them for generations. I am a member of
DAR and recently completed the research that qualified my husband, David, for membership in the Society of
Mayflower Descendants (John Howland's line). I plan to continue learning about my ancestors and sharing
their stories with my children, grandchildren, and extended family for as long as any of them will listen.
RECORDING SECRETARY: Jodi Roessler
Hi, I’m Jodi Spade Roessler, current Corresponding Secretary for KGS. I live in Lexington with my husband
Scott and our children Callie (7), Jameson (3), and Blake (1), but Toledo, Ohio is my home town.
I enjoy genealogy, blogging (when I can find the time), music, reading, and have recently become very
passionate about promoting Childhood Cancer Awareness.
I’m almost embarrassed to admit my interest in genealogy started in high school with the classic “Cherokee
Princess” family tale. Seeing as my Grandma Kathy’s kin were never further south than central Ohio, that
was quickly abandoned, but an avid interest was sparked. My family ties are loose, and genealogy helps me
to strengthen them for myself and my children.
TREASURER: Dudley Ellis
Hi, I’m Dudley Ellis. I’ve lived my entire life in Frankfort/Franklin County. I’m a semi-retired, registered
pharmacist. My interests and hobbies beyond genealogy are baseball, music, reading, book collecting,
geology, archeology, and gardening.
I’m a relative newcomer to genealogy, having worked at this sporadically for only about 10 years. My
late friend Sam Munson of Versailles, who was a prominent genealogist, first ignited my interest. I have
conducted most of my work through the auspices of KHS and the Kentucky Department for Libraries &
Archives.
BOARD MEMBER AT LARGE: Kathy Moats
Hi, I’m Kathy Lester Moats. I am a native of Fleming County and currently live in Richmond with my
husband, Bob. A few years ago I retired from Eastern Kentucky University, where I was the director of the
Small Business Development Center and part-time business instructor.
From the time I was small, I was interested in stories about my family. In the 1970s I began actively
researching my family roots. However, after a few years, life intervened and the family research went on
the back burner. A few years ago, I revived that interest; subscribed to ancestry.com; and found a plethora
of information that was not available 40 years ago. Within a few days I had traced my Lester line back 6
generations to John Lester, who not only fought in the Revolutionary War but fought in what many
consider to be the very first battle of the Revolution—the Battle of Point Pleasant.
As well as being “addicted” to genealogy, I enjoy creating hand-crafted glass and enamel jewelry and have
recently started painting enamel miniatures. I am an active member of the Boonesborough Chapter DAR
and am a DAR Genealogy Consultant. I also volunteer at the John Fox Library in Paris.
BOARD MEMBER AT LARGE: Lori Poole
Hi, I’m Lori Poole. I was born in Louisville and moved to Lexington to attend UK. I am a
circulation supervisor for the Lexington Public Library’s Eagle Creek branch. Aside from a lifelong passion for reading, I am an avid crafter and jewelry artist. I got into genealogy by pestering
a friend to tell me why she found dead people so fascinating. She asked me for my grandparents’
names, pulled them up on Ancestry, and said “Here. These are your great grandparents. Go away.”
I thought, “Who the heck is Columbia Sutton?” and went away to find out. Thanks to pension files
and court documents, I’ve been lucky enough to get to know her and other ancestors, not just as
names and dates but as people, traveling hard roads and struggling through sickness and poverty
and war to build lives for themselves and their children.
BOARD MEMBER AT LARGE: Debra Renard
Hi, I’m Debra Smith Renard. I currently live in Louisvillem but Hamilton, Butler, Ohio is my home town. I
am a full-time professional genealogical researcher and lecturer and the founder of Eureka! Genealogy,
specializing in Genetic Genealogy. My other interests include music and trying to keep up with my 4thgrader’s activities.
I began researching my own family history in 2008 and discovered a good part of my heritage is from
hearty pioneer lines, being eligible for First Family status in western Pennsylvania and Ohio. I am about
to be approved for DAR. membership under my Virginia patriot, the Rev. John Gerrard, thought to be the
first Baptist minister west of the Alleghenies. Lately, I have been focusing on researching my BadenWuerttemberg, Germany, ancestors. I am the editor of the Louisville Genealogical Society’s Lines and
By-Lines Quarterly and am the Treasurer of the Kentucky Chapter of the Association of Professional
Genealogists. Also, Debbie Campisano and I just started a Genetic Genealogy special interest group in
Louisville.