Recently, a relative of my husband passed away and I felt moved to view her page on FamilySearch’s Family Tree. This led to spending some time exploring my husband’s ancestral line. I was amazed at all the pictures and records that were attached to his ancestors. They told a story and prompted me to find out more about a few of them. This led to a greater love and appreciation for these individuals of whom I knew little.

One of the ancestors that stood out to me was my husband’s great grandfather, Hollis Eugene Curtis. His parents were pioneers who crossed the plains and settled in Springville, Utah, where they raised a family with 14 children. This did not seem strange for the time period, but it greatly contrasted with Hollis’s own family. He only had two children (with two different wives) and only one child lived to adulthood. 

This stood out to me and I wanted to understand more about Hollis’s history. I learned that his first wife, Lucy Lee, died shortly after an appendix operation. It’s always sad to me when I find out an ancestor died of something that few people die from today. Tragically, her death came 6 months after their infant, Mary, died. She was born prematurely and only lived a day after her birth.

It’s hard to imagine the sadness that Hollis experienced during this time, losing both his wife and child so suddenly and so close together. Seeing a picture of him and Lucy made it more real, as well as reading Lucy’s obituary.

Hollis later married Ada Brunnick and had one daughter, Leta. It’s uncertain why they only had one child, but all three lived a long life into their nineties. 

Viewing Hollis’s temple ordinance page, I was surprised to learn that his temple work, including the sealing to his wives, was not done until after he died. The work was done two years after his death, all in the same day. Ada was alive at the time and must have taken part in the sealing ordinance to her husband. Perhaps she even stood as a proxy for Hollis’s first wife when that sealing ordinance was performed.

Sharing what I found with my husband’s father prompted a conversation about Hollis and Ada and I learned even more about them. Ada was like a second mother to my father-in-law, was very doting and always wore an apron around the house. Hollis, despite how serious he looked in all of his pictures, was quite a character and was known to not have a filter when he spoke!

How remarkable that one visit to a FamilySearch page led me to finding out so much about a family on my husband’s line. Looking at the pictures and records put pieces of their story together and made me want to find out more about them. I appreciate those who took the time to attach these memories to my husband’s ancestors and bring them to life. I feel closer to them because of it. It inspires me to add more to my own family tree so that others can feel the same love and connection to my ancestors.

-Christy Pugh, Innovations and Communications, Granite Family History Center