CLUBS
both parents. Upon receiving the results, I called back to say
they were wrong — but was assured they were correct.”
In shock, Fodi called her brother, one of seven siblings, to
explain and ask if he had any knowledge that they were half
brother and sister, but he was just as surprised to hear this
news.
“It turns out my father, who was married to my mom seven
years before I was born, is not my biological father and I
wouldn’t have guessed in a million years,” Fodi said.
UNCOVERING THE TRUTH
Processing the information took a while, but thinking about
it, she concluded although her parents kept it from her, life
had been good and she was thankful. It was a relief finding
the truth, because she always felt different in some ways from
the other siblings and thought it was crazy to feel that way.
Learning the identity of Fodi’s natural father followed within
about four months with the help of online tools and connecting
Gone, but not forgotten.Through probing her past, Flo Giltman received
this photo of her brother and sister from a newly found first cousin. Adela,
7, and Aron, 3, died at Auschwitz in 1944.
Port St. Lucie Magazine 51
with tech-savvy people on Ancestry.com.
“Out of all the people in the whole world, they lined up the
chromosomes and found my family,” Fodi said. The siblings
already knew all about her because their father had told
them.
“The closest famous relatives identified from the DNA
sample were Loretta Lynn and her sister Crystal Gayle,” Fodi
said. “I’m from Ohio and most of my ancestors are from Kentucky
and West Virginia. I have been interested in genealogy
since about the age of 10, because of my grandmother and
even joined the Mayflower Society.”
Flo Giltman, known as the family genealogist by her friends,
encourages people to begin seeking out information now.
“Ask your parents and family members questions or you
will lose out on important knowledge,” Giltman said. “Many
members of the Genealogy Club are approaching the age
where they want to preserve family history and pass it down
to the younger generations before they die.”
RELUCTANT RELATIVES
Giltman, who is the club’s vice president, is also starting a
genealogy resource group at Temple Beth El Israel in Port St.
Lucie, open to anyone wanting to learn about Jewish heritage
or find ancestors. She says growing up, her father William
Froelinger would not talk about his past, because he said,
“This is not a subject for young people to know about.” So, it
was up to her to seek out information.
Her father emigrated alone from Europe during World War
II because his family could not obtain exit visas. While he
was working to bring his wife and two children to America,
they were swept up by the Nazis and deported to Auschwitz,
where they were killed.
“Genealogy uncovers those kinds of stories, and another
interesting piece to this is, not everybody wants to know
those stories,” Giltman said. “I was immediately drawn to genealogy
about five years ago. Someone told me to check out
the archives of Yad Vashem. Upon finding pages of testimony
of my relatives, I was determined to find out as much as
possible about my family. I’m doing this for my children and
grandchildren.”
The club began about a year ago when Fodi put a message
on Nextdoor asking about interest in genealogy. The website
is a private online social network for neighborhoods. Giltman
saw the posting and immediately responded. Ten to 15
people showed interest and a membership roster and bylaws
materialized — Fodi has done this before. The 35 members
receive expertise and learn about new information venues
from invited speakers.
PATH THROUGH ELLIS ISLAND
During a recent meeting, a video on Ellis Island’s history
was shown, prompting an informative discussion on other
ports of entry, including Canada.
“When I learned my grandfather had come through Ellis
Island, it made me want to learn about steerage, because
people were coming in that way,” Giltman said. “I wanted
to know what year they came, and what was going on that
made them leave their families, why did they come by steerage
all the way across the sea?”
“You know steerage is the bottom of the boat,” Fodi said,
“No windows, nothing, you are like cattle. Every single
person watching the video presentation said they knew of a
family member who came through Ellis Island. Many of those
records are available online, so we try to teach people sources
that they can access at home and work on their genealogy.”
Fodi is a retired registered nurse and hospital administrator.
Giltman is a retired clinical social worker and professional
mental health advocate. They are both genealogy mentors
offering resources, guidance and encouragement. Mentoring
includes basic computer lessons so club members can make
the most of online resources available.
The members have very different journeys — for example,
one member is adopted. Ethnicities include African Americans,
Russians, Germans, Italians and South Americans with
a variety of religious backgrounds including Quakers, Catholics,
Jews and Protestants. >>
/Ancestry.com