Elaine Dorothea Irao

When my mom, Alice (Fowler) Harris, was struggling with heart failure and pulmonary decline, it occurred to me that I could join Ancestry and find out if she had any cousins to connect with. Her own mother died when Alice was just 18 months old, and although there had been three aunts and one uncle on that side of the family, my mom knew nothing about them. What was that Swedish family like? I wanted to find out for her.

A few days before she passed, my mom surprised me with some stories about a young woman who lived with the Fowlers for some time. She died in childbirth at age 32 when Alice was only 14. So I redoubled my Ancestry efforts to discover more about this mysterious lady named Helen Beryl McClintock. It’s very possible that Mama was the only person living who had photos and memorabilia from Helen’s life.

Alice graduated to heaven on April 1, 2015, her mind still sharp at 86. Although I didn’t find cousins for her, I spent those final months mining her memories, starting family trees, and learning how to research online to get at the mysteries. I added my dad’s family tree (Harris) and the Fowler line as time went on. In the absence of Mama, my dad (Harold G. Harris, 1930-2001), and all of their predecessors–and without children of our own–I find myself with an unprecedented drive to know the stories that have paved the road we walk on today.

As for me, I grew up (thanks to Dad) loving the outdoors and bonding with trees in the suburbs of the California Central Coast. My husband Ben and I now reside in Santa Cruz County, are active in our church (Twin Lakes Church in Aptos), and are starting a new non-profit called “Alice’s Re-Store, Inc.”