Friday, June 16, 2006

Grave Photos for Raymond Edwin VALK and Frederick WILKINSON

This morning I had a nice surprise when I opened up my e-mail. Two different Find A Grave photo volunteers had fulfilled photo requests. One was for Raymond Edwin VALK, younger half-brother of my maternal grandfather, William VALK. Uncle Ray's grave is in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Cathy Shows took the time to find the grave and photograph it, along with Uncle Ray's wife's marker (she is still living, but her marker is next to his, and gives a birth date, which I did not have).

Frederick WILKINSON was the younger brother of one of my paternal great-great-grandmothers, Mary J. WILKINSON. He and his wife, Frederica, came out west about a hundred years ago, first to Oregon, and then later here in Washington State, settling on Whidbey Island, in or near Freeland. They are buried in Bayview Cemetery, and Nancy Robinson kindly took 10 photos of Frederick's grave and the cemetery itself (Frederica's grave apparently never got a marker). I was able to find the online cemetery records again, and noticed information on the webpage regarding the name of the funeral home. A quick trip over to Dex Online, and I was able to find the current address and phone number of the funeral home. I hope to call or write within the next few days to see if I can obtain more information. I also e-mailed the Everett Public Library with a request for obituaries. I'm not sure if that is the correct library system (it's in a different county), but both the local genealogical society and the public library system seem to be joint county (Island County and Snohomish County).

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