Ron: Father Silas Russell Rasmusson was born and raised on a farm near Newark, Illinois. Mother Ruby Leola Spiekerman was born/raised in Skidmore, Texas. They met while "Russ" was stationed at Beeville, Texas training to be a Navy pilot.
Carol: Father Robert Gustafson was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mother Elizabeth Ruth Furst was born/raised on a farm near Olin, Iowa. They met while attending Iowa State University. (Carol never knew her biological father Bruce Johnson who died in a fighter aircraft performing bombing practice maneuvers near Calcutta, India in 1945.)
Ron's knowledge of his ancestry is sketchy at best and fueled primarily from overheard discussions among family members (many years ago in Newark, Illinois while visiting his dad's mother, brothers, and sisters). On one particular visit to Newark, the town Stavanger, Norway stuck in his mind as the origination of the Rasmusson / Voga line. He suspects that a great deal of family history resides with Russell's brothers and sisters and their children. Other than Donna Wolfhert (missionary cousin in Chihuahua, Mexico, donnaw@infosel.net.mx) he has had minimal contact with the Rasmusson line. This was not by design, it just worked out that way.
Carol's genealogy promises to be more complete due to her families dedicated efforts to record and document their family history. Carol's mother has been diligently searching through saved notes and letters the past few months and forwarding the info to us. Thanks to her efforts one side of Carol's line now reaches back to 1800 France.
We are currently using Legacy 3.0 Family Tree to assemble our genealogy data. It's easy to use and the price is right (free).
Carol's Great-Great-Great-Grandmother Hoffman/Anson. Sarah Salome Hoffman. Came to America in 1839 from Alsace-Lorraine at the age of 10.
