Lightning fingers from Heaven

Yes, these fingers came down to grace our books with wonderful FAST FAST typing.  This is Jackie Rhodes who answered my desperate plea last September 2009 for help.  She didn't know what she was getting in to!  She learned the system very quickly and has done an awesome job in working through notebooks.  Not only has she done cemetery transcription, but she has tackled obituary logging, mortuary transcription, death records, and census records.  All of these require a different template and looking at records differently.  She never complains but just jumps in where needed.  And did I say FAST?  She has completed 197 different records in less than a year.  That translates into about 20 notebooks varying in length from 40 pages to over 150 pages. 

Jackie has been married to Bob for 42 years.  Her father is Frank Vrba who died in 1992 and is buried in the small community of Tours, TX (St. Martin's Cemetery).  Her mother, Marie Vrba, lives in Waco, TX.  She has three sisters:  Darlene, Sherry and Carla all living in Waco, TX.  She has one brother, Jeff who died unexpectedly in 2005. 

Her favorite book is Gone With the Wind and she enjoys reading Jane Austen.  Her favorite movie is Twelve Angry Men.  She and her husband have travelled to 48 of the 50 states only missing Michigan and Alaska.  She and her sister toured Europe and it was one of her best experiences.  She would like to take a WALKING(!) tour of Switzerland in the future.

Jackie has photographed the St. Martin Cemetery in Tours, TX and in doing so she learned the importance and value of having accurate and accessible records relating to families.  When she heard of the Tombstone Transcription Project, was very interested in helping.  She says, "the records developed and placed on the internet as a result of our volunteer efforts will help people for years iinto the future who are doing ancestral research."  She also finds it fascinating to learn a little bit of New Mexico history when inputting the death information.  For example, a group of men died in a mining accident in the late 1800's; families lost many children due to a diptheria outbreak; and many mothers and babies died during childbirth long ago.  She feels she owes it to the past lives by inputting accurate information for future generations.

Thank you Jackie for fast fingers, wonderful insight and a willingness to take on almost any task!!