Get to know our newest members!
September 2024 – Margaux Breeze Thelander
12th in descent from Townsend, John ____-1669 Long Island, New York & Warwick, RI, Commissioner, Warwick, 1652, 1653, 1654 and his wife, Elizabeth (Cole).
August 2024 – Faye Margaret Lindsey
15th in descent from WILLIAM BREWSTER, c. 1566/67-1644, Mayflower Passenger, 1620
Junior Legacy member and granddaughter of Whiz Lindsey.
August 2024 – Dawn Linda Gallagher
15th in descent from WILLIAM BREWSTER, c. 1566/67-1644, Mayflower Passenger, 1620
Junior Legacy member and granddaughter of Whiz Lindsey.
August 2024 – Ellen Mackay Lindsey Jellison
14th in descent from WILLIAM BREWSTER, c. 1566/67-1644, Mayflower Passenger, 1620
March 2024 – Catherine Anneliese Grossman / Salinas:
10th in descent from HENRY BRACE, 1712-1787, West Hartford, Connecticut, Captain, 4th Company or Trainbrand, 1st Regiment, 1760) and his wife, Elizabeth (Cadwell).
Born on the Central Coast of California, Catherine is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science. Graduating in 2022, her interest in public policy and bettering her community began in high school, through her membership with the local CAL YMCA Youth & Government (Y&G) program. After drafting bills and engaging in debates with her peers, she became fascinated with the legislative process. It drove her to be one of the youngest attendees at Congressman Panetta’s Town Hall meetings, work with her Youth & Government peers to organize a voter pre-registration drive at her high school, as well as offer student input during a teachers’ symposium about gun control and school safety protocols. On the evening following her UC Santa Barbara graduation, she flew to Washington D.C. to begin the next day as an intern at a Congressional office, and soon after the internship ended, she joined the Climate and Energy team at a D.C.-based think tank. She has enjoyed living on the East Coast since 2022. In her leisure, Catherine enjoys getting outdoors and enjoying group sports in Washington, D.C. as well as weekend trips to discover nearby areas along the Eastern seaboard. Catherine is aware of her family history, and especially enjoys understanding more about challenges facing the earliest leaders of our country. Catherine is the daughter of member Lara Zaharchuk Grossman.
March 2024 – Elisabeth Erin Grossman / Salinas:
10th in descent from HENRY BRACE, 1712-1787, West Hartford, Connecticut, Captain, 4th Company or Trainbrand, 1st Regiment, 1760) and his wife, Elizabeth (Cadwell).
Elisabeth Grossman was born in Salinas, and has lived there until recently when she moved to San Luis Obispo where she is an Agricultural Business major at California Polytechnic University. She is a graduate of Salinas High School, where she played volleyball and golf, and was a member of Student Council (ASB), serving as a liaison between teachers and students. At Cal Poly, she is a member of Chi Omega sorority.
Elisabeth is a Junior member, and is the daughter of member Lara Zaharchuk Grossman.
March 2024 – Kate Ellen Harkness Zaharchuk / Phoenix, Arizona:
8th in descent from HENRY BRACE, 1712-1787, West Hartford, Connecticut, Captain, 4th Company or Trainbrand, 1st Regiment, 1760) and his wife, Elizabeth (Cadwell).
Kate is the mother of member Lara Zaharchuk Grossman. Kate was born in 1939 in Washington D.C., where her father was employed by the U.S. government as a civil engineer. His work eventually took the family to Louisville, Kentucky which was Kate’s mother’s childhood home. Kate grew up in Louisville, married there, then moved to Syracuse, New York, where her first child, Adam, was born in 1966. In 1968, the family moved west to Phoenix, Arizona, where her second child, Lara was born in 1969.
Kate obtained a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. She worked for 22 years as a Human Resources administrator, supporting the administrative growth of more than a dozen schools within the rapidly-expanding metropolitan Phoenix area during the 1990’s. She retired in 2003. Since then, Kate served as a member of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul of Phoenix, Arizona. She is a member of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, Paradise Valley chapter, and continues to enjoy the fascinating work of understanding her family lineage. Having many ancestors that she knew of from her genealogy research in Massachusetts during the time of the Revolution, she felt it was important to document the earlier ancestors from Connecticut, hence, her interest in Colonial Dames. Kate has two cats, including a Maine Coon Cat, Polly, as well as a muted calico cat, Pippa, who she found (and then adopted) while visiting her daughter in Salinas, California. She enjoys spending time away from the desert now and then in the woods of eastern Arizona at her cabin in Alpine, reading historical fiction or, watching college basketball.
March 2024 – Alicia Beth Castle White/ Marina:
12th in descent from Humphrey Atherton, 17 September 1661, Dorchester, MA, Major General, Bay Colony, 1661, and his wife, Mary (Wales).
Alicia was born in Shreveport, Cado Parish, Louisiana. Alicia received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baylor University in Economics and Finance. Throughout her professional career she was a consultant in the banking industry, worked for Gallup Industries and became a full time parent and community volunteer. Her volunteerism includes Durham Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, (Little Board), “On Track Guild” member; President, New Neighbors of Omaha; Past Regent, DAR, Omaha; State President, Daughters of Colonial Wars; Mayflower Society; Daughters of the Colonial Dames of the XVII Century; Pilgrim William White Society; American Association of University Women (AAUW), Monterey, California; Carmel Women’s Club, Carmel, California. Alicia’s special interests also include genealogy, quilting and gardening. Alicia and her husband, John Gregory White, are the parents of two daughters, Elizabeth Sheridan White of Austin, Texas, and Emily Ann White of Beaverton, Oregon.
August 2023 – Katherine (Kathy) Smith Ward / Courtesy Member CA Society / Dallas, Texas and Carmel:
10th in descent from Richard Tilghman II, 1672-1738, Queen Anne’s County, MD, Member, General Assembly 1698-1702, wife of Anna Maria (Lloyd).
Born in Baltimore, Maryland into an Army family, Kathy moved as a child until high school, when the family’s final assignment was the US Military Academy in West Point, NY, where her father was an engineering professor and later Dean. She majored in English and Political Science at Middlebury College and obtained a Masters in Business Administration from Golden Gate University. Kathy traveled for twenty years as a communications Army officer, followed by another decade in the defense industry.
Kathy and her husband, John, each grew up traveling in Army families, as their dads both continued as infantry officers after World War II. Both served as career Army officers, including in Desert Storm and serving under General Colin Powell in the Pentagon.
It was Kathy’s husband John’s Lockheed Martin work that brought the Wards to Dallas, Texas. Kathy became involved in Dallas’ non-profit work, primarily with the Dallas Opera, Rotary Club of Dallas, and the World Affairs Council of DFW. Now retired, with two rescued Labradors, the Wards drive to Northern California every summer.
February 2024 – Mary Alice Brown McCary/ Pebble Beach and Plymouth, Minnesota:
12th in descent from John Alden, c. 1599 – 12 September 1687, Plymouth & Duxbury, MA and his wife, Priscilla Mullens, Mayflower Passengers, 1620.
Mary B. McCary received her B.A. in Design from the University of Minnesota in 1981 at the age of 50. Mary founded her company, In House Design, in Wayzata, MN which she ran for 30 years, closing the doors in 2010. Mary has volunteered for numerous organizations including Junior League of Minnesota, retaining her membership as a Sustainer. Mary belonged to the Minikahda Country Club in Minneapolis for 56 years. Currently, Mary is a member of the Lafayette Country Club in Wayzata MN, The Beach Club, MPCC and Casa Abrego Club in the Monterey Peninsula Area. Mary enjoys her winters in Pebble Beach and her summers in Plymouth, MN. Mary was married to the love of her life, Tom, for 68 years and together they raised four children. Mary now has 13 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren.
February 2024 – Sara Elizabeth Mehlin McCary / Wayzata, Minnesota and Pebble Beach:
12th in descent from from John Alden, c. 1599 – 12 September 1687, Plymouth & Duxbury, MA and his wife, Priscilla Mullens, Mayflower Passengers, 1620.
Sara holds a B.A. from the University of Iowa. Sara has decades of experience in a variety of organizations, both private as well as non-profit, which include work in the New Business Investment Department at State Street Bank and Trust Co. (now State Street Global Advisors), AIDS Project at the Harvard School of Public Health, Director of Development of the College of Business Administration, University of Northern Iowa, and Major Gift Officer at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. Sara has participated on a number of boards including the Ann Bancroft Foundation in Minneapolis and the Parent Board at Bucknell University. Currently, Sara is a board director for the Carmel Public Library Foundation, a member of The Minikahda Country Club and the Minnesota Society of Mayflower Descents. Sara discovered, while researching her genealogy, that she and her husband, Kevin, are both descendants of John Alden. Sara and her husband live in Wayzata, MN where they raised their daughter, Isabella. Sara and Kevin enjoy music, theatre, laughing and their time in Pebble Beach with Mary McCary, Sara’s mother-in-law and fellow new member of the NSCDA.
January 2024 – Susan H. Nycum / Carmel:
7th in descent from Ephraim Hubbell, 1694-1780, Fairfield, CT, Lieutenant, Militia, and wife, Abigail Bradley.
Susan is a lawyer who specializes in computer security and intellectual property issues. She worked at the law firm of Chickering and Gregory in San Francisco[1] and then became a partner at the law firm Baker & McKenzie[2] where she headed its IT and intellectual property group. She was a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery and a member of its council. She was an early member of its special interest group for higher education, SIGUCCS, and was inducted into its hall of fame in 2004.[3][4] She was Chairwoman of the National Information Systems Advisory Panel in the early 1980s.[5] Nycum earned a degree from Ohio Wesleyan University. She attended Duquesne University School of Law and graduated from Stanford Law School.[6] Nycum has worked with fellow information security researcher Donn B. Parker. They co-authored the 1973 study Computer Abuse, a minor classic that was one of the first attempts to define and document computer-related crime.[7][8] Nycum is a computer law scholar and has produced studies on the laws surrounding software patents.[9] She has served as an advisor for the United States government as well as several foreign governments. She approved funding for the Internet in her role as an advisory board member for the National Science Foundation.[10]
January 2024 – June McBride / Monterey:
12th in descent from John Alden, Mayflower passenger, 1599-1687, and Priscilla Mullins, 1602-1680.
June is a descendant of John Alden of the Mayflower. Another colonial ancestor of note was Canada Waite, borne in captivity in Canada in 1678 during King Philips War, and her father Sgt. Benjamin Waite of Hatfield, MA who helped secure her release.
June began her genealogy journey out of mild curiosity and to spend time with her sister, Jane, back in the 1990’s (think microfiche). Little did they know where that journey would lead (think 30 BC). They were hooked!
June is a fourth generation Californian. She received an MBA from UC Irvine and is a CPA (inactive status). She served as a Chief Financial Officer in Sacramento for over twenty-five years before retiring to Monterey in 2023.
June enjoys pastel painting and spending time outdoors with her husband, Craig, and their toy poodle-mix, Penny.
November 2023 – Shirley Morgan / Carmel:
10th in descent from Edward Doty, immigrant passenger on the Mayflower in 1620, who came as a youth in the services of Stephen Hopkins. Died 1655.
Shirley was born in Burbank, California. She grew up, and went to school in San Jose, California. In 1975, she married Chris Morgan. They have one son. With Chris working for the US Forest Service and CalFire, they lived in different places in Northern California and Oregon. Shirley is retired from the University of California, Santa Cruz (Administrative). She worked at the University of California, Santa Cruz Extension site in Silicon Valley.
After retiring, Shirley and her husband moved to Washington State. While in Washington State, Shirley was a Volunteer Librarian for the Clark County Genealogical Society Library. She participated in Project FeederWatch, with the Cornell University Department of Ornithology. She moved back to California, after her husband passed away.
Shirley has worked on family genealogy for over 40 years.
She also belongs to the Daughters of the American Revolution, the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, and Colonial Dames XVIIth Century. Shirley collects Blue Willow china. She loves reading mysteries, and working on jigsaw puzzles. She also loves driving her red Jeep Wrangler Rubicon.
July 2020 (admitted to CA Society) – Deberra Lea DuBois O’Brien / Fredericksburg, Texas and Carmel:
May 2023 (transferred to TX Society), October 2023 (Readmitted as Courtesy Member CA Society)
10th in descent from John Dwight, c. 1601-3 Feb 1660, and wife, Hannah. Founder, Dedham, MA, 1635; Selectman, Dedham, MA, 1639-55
September 2023 – Priscilla Walton / Carmel:
8th in descent from Richard Jones, II, c. 1692-1759, Amelia County, VA, Justice, 1735; Burgess, 1736-1740, Captain, 1736, Major, 1741, Colonel, 1756, and wife, Sarah Stratton.
Pris was born in Washington, DC, received her Bachelor of Arts degree at California State University, majoring in Sociology, minoring in French. She received her Master of Arts at the University of Texas, Institute of Latin American Studies, Economics and Anthropology, and her Ph.D at Northwestern University in Inter-Disciplinary, History, Education and Sociology focusing on International Migration. She is married to John Walton, author, sociologist and historian and has one daughter, Casey Helm Walton Whalen. Pris volunteered with the Peace Corps. in Lima, Peru in 1962-63, she has been a high school teacher of Spanish and American Studies in Wilmette, IL, Director of the Children’s Migrant Child Care Center; Assistant Professor, University of CA at Davis; Consultant for Teacher Preparation, California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, Bilingual Credential, Reading Credential, Nurse’s Credential, Single Subject Foreign Language Teacher Credential development; Asst. Professor, Researcher (CREDE), University of Santa Cruz, and a multiple subjects teacher preparation program for CSUMB. Her Civics organizations include, Human Relations Commission, Davis, Davis Planning Commission, Chair, East Davis Specific Plan Committee, Chair, South Davis Specific Plan, President, Democratic Women of Monterey County, Board member, Chamber Music Monterey, President Carmel Valley Association, and Leader: Women to Women Delegation to Cuba. She still makes time in her busy schedule for walking, swimming, tennis, travel throughout Latin America, Western Europe, reading history, jazz,, classical and chamber music.
August 2023 – Beverly Lannquist Hamilton / Carmel:
12th in descent from William Bradford, bapt. 19 March 1589/90–1657, passenger on the Mayflower and Governor of Plymouth Colony
Beverly was born on October 19, 1946, and grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts and Cape Cod, aware that she descended from a DAR Patriot but identifying with her Swedish family. After graduation from the University of Michigan focusing on international affairs, Beverly became an investment analyst on Wall Street and the first woman vice president of Morgan Stanley. In 1980 she joined the aerospace and building systems company United Technologies in Connecticut (Sikorsky, Pratt Whitney jet engines, Otis Elevator, Carrier Airconditioning) to create an investor relations program and then to run its large corporate pension fund. After marrying Lyman Critchfield Hamilton in NYC in 1984, she shifted to become deputy comptroller of the City of New York and chief investment officer of its retirement system (fourth largest public in the US) and its cash management. The perfect job for her then materialized in Los Angeles in 1990 where, as president of oil company Atlantic Richfield’s SEC-registered investment subsidiary, Beverly focused on global asset allocation and managed a staff of highly active portfolio managers and analysts. She retired early when ARCO was acquired in 2000, and built a home in Carmel Valley. She has served on several corporate and non-profit boards, including those of the endowments of Stanford University and the University of Michigan, of two mutual fund complexes, and locally the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula and the Monterey/Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Currently Beverly is on the advisory councils of AmericanAncestors/NewEnglandHistoricGenealogicalSociety and of the Library of Congress in Washington and is a member of the Mayflower Society and the DAR. She began genealogy research in 2014 and hopes to finish the already 400+ page story of her family history by 2025.
July 2023 – Soren Du Preez / Hollister:
13th in descent from William Bradford, Mayflower passenger, bapt. 1589/1590 – 9 May, 1657, Plymouth, MA
Soren was born on the East Coast and grew up on the Central Coast of California. After graduating from Colby College in Maine with a BA in International Studies and Anthropology, Soren pursued a MA in International Relations and a MBA in International Business from Schiller International University located in Paris, France, and Madrid, Spain, respectively.
Soren started her career at The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease in Paris, managing registration and exhibition for their annual event, and went on to produce conferences and exhibitions for many years. Her expertise was infrastructure development in key African markets such as South Africa, The DRC, Kenya, and Nigeria. She developed event initiatives of all sizes to bring stakeholders together from across the continent to promote economic growth.
When the pandemic triggered a downturn in the events industry, Soren repositioned herself as a Project Manager and currently works at a Design Agency in San Juan Bautista. She has spent more than 20 years abroad, living in France, South Africa and Australia, but has recently returned to California with her South African husband and 14-year-old daughter. She has always been interested in culture and history. Her greatest passions are travel and equitation, and she is bilingual in English and French.
June 2023 – Tiffinie Meyer / Seaside:
10th in descent from Charles Springer, 1658-1738, New Castle County, Delaware.
Justice of the Peace, 1714, 1726, 1727
Tiffinie was born in Sacramento, California. Two years later, in 1967, her parents moved to Shell Beach on the Central Coast, when her father was assigned to Camp San Luis Obispo as a newly commissioned officer in the California National Guard. A few years later the family moved to Arroyo Grande, CA, and Tiffinie lived there until she married. She attended St. Patrick’s Catholic Elementary School and upon graduation began high school at St. Joseph’s Catholic High School in Santa Maria.
Tiffinie met her husband in senior year of high school and after a two-year engagement, they married in May 1985. A year and a half later they had the first of three children, one boy and two girls: Christopher, Jourdain, and Spenser. She is blessed with seven grandchildren: five boys and two girls.
In December 1984, a couple of months before marriage, Tiffinie’s husband joined the US Army. Through his 21-year military career, they have had the opportunity to live in many states, and overseas. They enjoyed time in the military, and all the places they lived, especially overseas in Germany.
In 2000 they moved to Ft. Hood, Texas. It was during this time that Tiffinie went back to school, graduating from Central Texas College with an Associate of Arts in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Business from Texas A&M Central Texas, while working full time for the US Department of Agriculture in Temple, Texas as a Human Resources Specialist.
During that time, a colleague told Tiffinie how she had discovered her ancestry thru Ancestry.com, and although Tiffinie’s mom had told her a lot about their California roots (4th generation Californian descended from the Fowler’s of Grass Valley, the Hopson’s of Siskiyou County, the Engelke’s of San Francisco, and the Brizard’s of SF and Arcata), she didn’t know much about their deeper American roots, so she joined Ancestry and learned a lot. She had known of her Colonial Ancestor, Charles Springer (Delaware), but didn’t learn his story until researching for membership to the NSCDA.
Tiffinie lives in sunny Seaside with husband, Russ, three dogs: Kleopatra, Kylleen (Kylie) and Kelsey, and a big, fat cat, Max. She works full-time as Assistant Director for Personnel and Logistics at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey. She has worked for the US Federal Government for over 35 years, and also serves her community as Commissioner for the City of Seaside Neighborhood Improvement Commission. In her free time she loves bargain hunting at estate sales, reading, gardening, and visiting historical sites and national parks.
Tiffinie joined the NSCDA, because she wanted to meet and build friendships with like-minded women in the area where she lives. Since becoming a prospective member, she has met lovely and friendly ladies with whom she hopes to build stronger friendships, especially now that she is a member of the Dames.
March 2023 – Laura Knops Neault / Pebble Beach:
11th in descent from Richard Gardner, c. 1621-1689, Salem, MA. Chief Magistrate, Nantucket with governing powers, 1673-1675
Laura grew up in a military family, moving frequently throughout the US and overseas. Her degree in technical writing led to many fun jobs in high-tech until her retirement from Microsoft in 2007, when her son was born. Laura continued to volunteer as a writer, fundraiser, board member, aide, and supporter of nonprofits. She moved to Pebble Beach in 2019 with her husband and 2 children.
Her interest in genealogy was piqued by many conversations with her uncle who had spent countless hours researching the Gardner family tree and shared intriguing details, including about Laura’s grandfather, who was considered to be the “black sheep” and estranged from the Massachusetts Gardner family.
Then in 2020, Laura’s middle-school son competed in the local National History Day competition and won a Colonial Dames award for his entry. His History teacher suggested that Laura might be interested in joining Colonial Dames herself….and the journey to becoming a member began.
March 2023 – Lara Zaharchuk Grossman / Salinas:
9th in descent from Henry Brace, 1712-1787, Hartford, CT. Captain, 4th Company or Trainbrand, 1st Regiment, 1760
Lara Grossman grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. She moved to California in 1991, living in Southern California first, then migrating up northward until she and her husband settled into the pastoral Salinas Valley after marrying in 1995. As a young girl, her mother instilled a respect for her ancestors; the family lore held that Harriet Beecher Stowe was a “great-great-great aunt” (still unproven, sadly). Additionally, Lara had been told about the sudden death of her great-grandfather at age 26, when he passed away only a few months shy of her grandfather’s birth. This event profoundly affected the family, and this unusual circumstance about her mother’s family had intrigued Lara throughout her life.
It was not until Lara and her husband’s two daughters were nearly grown that she felt obligated to understand and recognize her lineage in more depth. Thankfully, the family record-keeping provided a basis for learning more, and ancestry continues to interest Lara in more ways than she anticipated. She is particularly interested in American history, and enjoys visiting historic sites and reading historic fiction and non-fiction. As a newly-initiated Dame, Lara appreciates the learning opportunities provided by NSCDA, and looks forward to supporting and contributing to the local Town Committee and the National Society in the years to come.
Lara has worked in the agriculture industry for most of her career; she holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration and a MBA in Finance. She has been married for many happy years and has two daughters, Catherine and Elisabeth.
January 2023 – Edie Appleton / Marina:
12thin descent from John Dwight, 1603-1660, Massachusetts, Founder, Dedham, MA, 1635; Selectman, Dedham, MA, 1639-55
Edith Appleton grew up in Southern California and had the privilege of living in many places around the country as an adult. Edith’s degree is in American History and she worked for many years in the public schools. Historical preservation is a special interest of hers along with genealogical research. While Edith was researching her family tree she found some remarkable coincidences. For example, around the time she began doing genealogical research her husband took a job in New England. It turned out that was in the place Edith’s early ancestors helped settle in the 1700s. Another example was in the 1930s when her mother lost her father. Edith’s mother and grandmother returned to the home her great grandparents built in Dedham, Massachusetts in 1920. Her mother never knew that she grew up in the town where her early ancestor John Dwight was an original founder. She would have been delighted!
January 2023 – Mary Elizabeth Britton / Carmel:
11thin descent from Isaac Allerton, 1586-1659, Plymouth, Massachusetts, Mayflower Passenger, 1620
Mary Phillips Britton grew up in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, but spent summers in New England. As a child, she was taken to her family’s ancestral farm in North Berwick, Maine, and was entranced by life on the farm: cows, horses, chickens, pigs, kerosene lamps, and best of all, a player piano! Mary attended Mount Holyoke College and graduated from Simmons College in Boston. After her marriage she lived in Hanover, New Hampshire, Boston, Denver, Wahiawa, Hawaii, Hanover, New Hampshire, Boston, and finally Palo Alto, California, where her daughters grew up and her husband practiced Internal Medicine. Eight years ago Mary and her husband moved to Carmel Valley Manor, which is close to one of their daughter’s homes in Carmel Valley Village.
July 2022 – Cynthia Davis Miller / Alamo, Texas and Pebble Beach:
12thin descent from Richard Warren, 1580-1628, Plymouth, Massachusetts, Mayflower Passenger 1620
Cynthia was born and raised in Los Angeles as were both her parents. Her grandmother and grandfather settled in Los Angeles in the early 1900s (from Iowa and Kansas) and went into the real estate business. Her mother and father retired in the mid 1980s to Pebble Beach and Cynthia and Forrest spend many months on the Monterey Peninsula and value long existing friendships there.
Cynthia and her husband Forrest were high school sweethearts, both graduating from USC in the mid 1970s. Following graduation, Cynthia became employed by Pacific Bell in the Marketing Department and Forrest worked as a CPA for Coopers and Lybrand until he entered Stanford’s Graduate School of Business program in 1979. Following graduation, they moved to the East Bay (Lafayette and Orinda) and welcomed their sons, Matthew Rutledge Miller and Andrew Davis Miller (and now have 4 grandchildren.) Corporate life necessitated a move two year move to Connecticut (Fairfield) and then to San Antonio, Dallas and upon retirement, back to San Antonio, Texas.
Cynthia and Forrest are keenly interested in Modern and Contemporary Art and have a small but growing collection they enjoy. Their interest in art often (pre-Covid) marries nicely with their interest in travel and cuisine. Some of their favorite cities are Copenhagen, London and San Sebastian.
Cynthia and Forrest are avid golfers and members of MPCC. She loves playing Hand & Foot (a canasta game) and Mah Jongg (both the “Texas Card” and the “American Card”). They enjoy time with their family including 4 grandchildren.
Cynthia is a member of the Alamo Heights Terrell Hills Garden Club (GCA), the Charity Ball Association, the McNay Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Museum. She has a new and growing interest in photography which meshes nicely with her garden club.
June 2022 – Cynthia Riebe / Carmel Valley
8th in descent from Matthew Blair 1704-1770, Blandford, Massachusetts, Ruling Elder, Blandford Church
My grandparents enchanted me with stories of my ancestors:
- Richard Morris’ arrival in Salem Harbor aboard the Arabella in 1630 to escape religious persecution in England
- Captain George Lamberton of New Haven colony and subject of Longfellow’s poem “The Phantom Ship”
- Finding the grave of my American Revolutionary patriot Solomon Morris
- Inheriting my great grandfather Herman Swanke’s concertina that he played while cruising down the river as a lumberjack on the Mississippi.
My family honored my Blair great-grandmother by naming several generations of daughters after her. She descended from Matthew Blair, of Blandford, Massachusetts, an immigrant family originally from County Ayrshire, Scotland. I am proud for him that he has recently been recognized by the NSCDA for inclusion in the Register of Ancestors (ROA).
Note from Sandy Parsons, CA State Soc. Registrar:
Cynthia is to be congratulated for establishing Matthew Blair as a new Ancestor for the NSCDA Register of Ancestors (ROA).
Her membership chair, Marcia Harrington, suggested that Cynthia establish Matthew in the ROA as she hit a brick wall with her 8th generation grandmother. Bravo to Cynthia and Marcia for this wonderful work!
March 2022 – Alison Jager / Kansas City and Carmel
9th in descent from William Wentworth, 1615-1696, Historic Founder, Exeter and Dover, New Hampshire, Ruling Elder, Dover Church. His wife was Elizabeth Knight.
Alison enjoys dividing her time between her two homes, Mission Hills, KS and Carmel Point, CA. Her childhood drew her to Carmel every summer where her parents and grandparents owned homes on Carmel Point and in Pebble Beach. Following graduation from Trinity University in San Antonio, majoring in Journalism, she married Eric Thor Jager. They have two sons, Niles Ericsson Jager (Lindsay), Paul Bartlett Jager (Lynsey), and four grandchildren, Tommy, Olivia, Lucy and Henry. Her professional experience has included managing a subsidiary of the Dallas Times Herald and working in the Metroplex Lending Division for First National Bank in Dallas. Alison’s commitment to her community extends to leadership positions in The Junior League of Kansas City , Belles of the American Royal, The Children’s Place, Children’s Therapeutic Learning Center, Nelson Adkins Museum of Art, Kansas City Chapter of the American Red Cross, Kansas University Hospital Advancement Board, Children’s Mercy Hospital, Children’s Relief Association, Garden Club of America, Westport Garden Club and the Jewel Ball. Alison and Eric enjoy membership in the Kansas City Country Club, The River Club (Kansas City, MO), the Monterey Peninsula Country Club (Pebble Beach), The Preserve Golf Club (Santa Lucia Preserve, Carmel) and Casa Abrego Club (Monterey). Her other special interests include travel, hiking, Kansas City Royals baseball, mah jongg, investment clubs and collecting modern art.
March 2022 – Cydney Crampton / Monterey
11th in descent from William Kelsey, 1609-1675, Connecticut, Founder, Hartford, Connecticut
Born at the tail end of 1957 in San Jose, Cyd Crampton is a third generation Californian. Both parents were born in California with her father and her grandfather born in the San Luis Obispo area. Cyd was raised with two older brothers in Sunnyvale and Cupertino CA. With a degree in Psychology, emphasis on statistics and experimental design from SJAU, Cyd started in the financial advisory business in 1984. She currently works with RBC Wealth Management in Monterey, CA, coming up on her fortieth year in her career.
Moving to Monterey in November of 2012, Cyd and her partner, Sandy Freeman, found a Mills Act home in the Monterey Vista neighborhood, above Monterey High School. The home was built in 1929 and has a Spanish eclectic style architecture. The gardens have different “rooms” and provide views from the home that are quite serene. Sandy is the landscape designer and provides the inspiration for the plant design and does the ornamental pruning. Cyd does the weeding and feeding and is responsible for the koi pond.
Introduced to the Colonial Dames by Susan Clark, the realtor that represented Cyd and Sandy in the purchase of their home, the decades long pursuit of family genealogy by Cyd made for a rather quick submission for membership. Until this process, she had no knowledge of the ancestor that qualified her for membership, William Kelsey, a founder of Hartford, CT. Since then, two other direct ancestors that founded Hartford have been discovered.
Monterey has provided many opportunities to get involved in the community. Cyd currently serves on the Parks and Recreation Board in Monterey, and serves on the Women’s Leadership council and the council for the College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences at CSUMB. She currently funds a scholarship at CSUMB in her mother’s memory that promotes teaching English in the local area high schools. Cyd also serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board for CSUMB’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.
Cyd and Sandy are owned by two dogs, three cats, and eight koi. They live to travel, love to cook, and enhance their garden.
