Finnestad Ancestry

Here is a photo* of two branches from Ole Jr and Caroline Finnestad's family tree. Jacqueline Wheeler, (granddaughter of Clara (Finnestad) Risetter and daughter of Verdell (Risetter) Wheeler & Bruce Wheeler). Wanda (Risetter) Dearth, (daughter of Lillian (Finnestad) Risetter) holding daughter Deborah Dearth. I am not sure of the date, but the photo appears to have been taken sometime between 1948 - 1950. *Photo provided by Roxanne (Dearth) Hamilton

Yesterday I posted Wanda Dearth's obituary. Both Wanda and her husband are buried at the Fairview Cemetery in DeKalb, Illinois. Here is a photo of Wanda's marker. Here is a photo of the marker of Wanda's husband, Leo.

Because the US census records are only available up to 1930 (the 1940 US census will be available in 2012) tracking down the many branches of a family tree can be an arduous task. It was this document that I found in the DeKalb Daily Chronicle in 2007 that helped me locate more of my distant cousins. Wanda Dearth was the great granddaughter of Ole and Mari Finnestad. Had Wanda's mother, Lillian not been mentioned (with her maiden name) it's questionable that I would have been able to track down the rest of that side of the family and connect them to Ole and Mari.