May 2019, Village Coordinator of the Month

Shari Stone

Hussenbach

Shari Stone has been co-coordinator for Hussenbach for five years. 

“It has opened a whole new world for me. I hadn’t realized the vast amount of info I could get,” Shari said. “Once your name is on the list as a Village Coordinator, you start getting emails and info from people all over the world. You become a hope for people that they can find family.”

Shari has been doing genealogy since the age of 17 when she met an old couple who shared stories of their heritage. Prior to meeting them, she had loved history, but hadn’t really understood that her family was German from Russia. After listening to this couple and realizing that the community in Montana where she grew up was German from Russia, she realized the significance of her heritage. In her role as a VC, she’s now also helping her own family research their genealogy.

She advised AHSGR members who are researching their heritage to contact their VC first before they decide there’s nothing out there and get frustrated. “Chances are resources exist and their VC can direct them to those resources,” Shari said. “VCs can give a life line by sharing what resources they have and building from there.”

As a VC, Shari is dedicated to finding resources for those she helps. She gave the example of a woman who she’s been helping for a year. “I finally found her great-grandfather’s obituary,” Shari said. “He died in 1996 and so I knew he had to have one, but I couldn’t find it. It was in Frankfort script and that’s why I didn’t see it at first, but I knew his sisters’ name and saw it in the script. Then I had someone help me with the script, and I found the obituary. I was so excited that I immediately called her. She was thrilled beyond words! This discovery has opened up a whole lot of more information, and now everything is starting to come together.”

From being a VC, Shari has realized, “We’re given this opportunity to do research that is so valuable for connecting families. To help someone else is very rewarding. I find it a great satisfaction.”

She would encourage anyone who is interested to definitely become a VC. It’s a bit time-consuming, Shari admitted, but stressed that if one has time they can help others to go beyond what they know. ”People appreciate the support. Sometimes they don’t want you do to do all the work; they just need direction, and then can have ownership in knowing that they found what they wanted.”