JanFar@wizard.com

Marriage and Family Highlights - Born in Westchester Co. and having graduated from Holy Cross University, Worcester, MA, (4-yr. baseball scholarship), James Farino and I met on Long Island and we married one year later in 1964. Our daughter Carolyn was born in Huntington, NY in 1968, and son Robert J. in 1970.

Carolyn graduated from CSUF (Fresno, CA) and studied another two years at CSUC (Chico), earning a degree in Graphic Design. She works in Seattle on projects for Microsoft, Starbucks and other companies and has her own consulting business.

Robert is a Fire Captain in Cambria, CA, with a Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo) degree in NRM, and is a teacher at the Fire Academy in Santa Maria, CA from which he graduated co-valedictorian. He owns a new Harley, motorboat, and a home in Cambria and is said to know how to really enjoy life! He also occasionally plays in golf tournaments with his Dad. He has trained for ocean rescue, jaws-of-life rescue, did EMT for firefighters who fought the Malibu fire of a few years back, and went to the National Fire Academy in MD for rescue training after the Oklahoma bombing.

Home/Career Highlights - Our first home was in Huntington, LI until 1972 when we moved to Colorado Springs, CO. Six years later we moved to the central coast of CA, to Atascadero in San Luis Obispo County where we lived for over 16 years and our two children graduated from high school and their respective colleges. I worked in a Christian day school as office manager, secretary to the Administrator and bookkeeper for six years and then for nine years doing the same work for a partnership of two civil engineers. Before my retirement in 1992, I started working on family research after talking with my uncle about his 20 years of research on my Dad's line. Playing detective has been my daily pursuit for over eight years. My paternal line in America began in 1635 with the arrival of Nicholas Holt, his wife and child to Puritan New England, which ancestry involves the Salem witch trials and Revolutionary War participants. I obtained DAR certification in Oct. 1997 but am too involved in research to be active in this organization. As our lives gravitated to the west coast and my successes grew, I was eager to search for my firstborn, a son given for adoption in 1957; by this time he was 36 years of age and I needed to try to locate him. With my husband's encouragement I informed our two children and joined a triad support group of men, women and young adults who were also at various stages of their own search. In Nov. 1993 it took me a month to find the courage to make THE phone call to Mark, and a few weeks later, just after Christmas, I received the return kiss that I had given him 36 years earlier. After learning about Mark's life, adopted by a dentist and his wife, and more recently learning about his birth father's life during those 36 years, I felt very relieved that my traumatic decision so long ago was the right one for Mark. At the time of my call, he was about to receive an MBA from Loyola University, following in the steps of his biological father and grandmother. He and his half brother and sister are "family" and Mark came into our lives just in time to be a participant in his brother's wedding. Having achieved this major goal, I resumed research on my Mother's ancestors and have discovered previously unknown data and the existence of cousins from Hyannis, MA to San Diego, CA. The cousins we've always known have become closer and have even contributed to my expenses. (I think they are anxious to receive the promised Family History Book.)

Travel/Vacation Highlights - One week in 1979 Jim and I island-hopped in Hawaii. In 1995 I flew to Seattle, WA for the annual FGS (Federation of Genealogical Societies) seminar with about 1500 other genealogists, and went sail boating on Lake Union with our daughter who is living there and had just been certified to take a sailboat out on the Lake. In 1996 the next FGS seminar was held in Rochester, NY and I attended because it is only 90 miles from Oswego, NY, the site where my maternal Irish immigrant great grandparents and their two sons settled. Nothing can compare to on-site research; touching the tombstones of ancestors, photographing the home purchased for $800 in 1893 and holding a copy of the deed written with pen and ink. In July 2000 I flew to Salt Lake City for the 20th International Conference on Jewish Genealogy and was so excited to finally set foot in the world's largest genealogy library that I didn't attend even one of the 81 lectures. About five times a year Jim and I drive to San Diego and to Cambria whenever a golf tournament calls.

Hobbies/Sports - Jim golfs as much as I play detective. Whatever works! I enjoy exploring antique shops and following stock market investments, but not lately!

Achievements/Awards/Outstanding Events - In 1993 I edited the Newsletter for the genealogical society in San Luis Obispo, CA, and I currently proofread the Newsletter for the Jewish Genealogical Society of So. Nevada, as well as act as the librarian and substitute secretary.

Anything at all that you may want to say.... My favorite quote is from Judge Judy who has published a book with the same title: "Beauty fades, dumb is forever." Beauty fades (does it ever!!); however, we are never too old to learn, and brain challenges keep those cells alive!

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