Janeen Bjork, Neighbor

Television researcher Janeen Bjork applied the detective, analytic and presentation skills she garnered in a 30-year career to her family tree and then to the trees of friends, students and clients. Ms. Bjork’s sister-in-law recruited her to genealogy, explaining, “You are going to do this for your niece and nephew.” Her response was a dynamic tree that included over 100 years of family photos and over 150 years of newspaper stories. Her discoveries include thousands of items that range from the mundane to the sensational. She enjoys introducing others to the colorful characters in her family tree as well as to the research methods and strategies that made it possible for her to find and preserve their legacies for posterity. Her engaging and interactive presentation style uses audience participation with actual examples and case studies to prepare audiences to find the family members and stories that have eluded them. Ms. Bjork is the resident genealogy teacher at the Greenwich Senior Center where she has helped those who wanted to seek out, trace and record their family histories. Her infectious enthusiasm for newspapers as genealogy tools inspire others to search for “the rest of the story.”