Bob Kellow

 Bob was on the Genealogy Friends Board for years and was married to Brenda Kellow, our founding president. Please keep Bob and his family in your thoughts and prayers. 

 Robert Strong Kellow

Robert Strong Kellow passed away peacefully in his sleep surrounded by family and his longtime, wonderful caregiver on July 3, 2025 in Richardson, Texas. He was born October 17, 1937 in Jacksonville, FL to James Campbell Kellow & Mattie Jane (Singletary) Kellow.
Bob, always prepared, wrote his own obituary in simplest terms, but we who loved him know his life was too rich to leave it at that. An extraordinary man who made a memorable imprint on those around him, his deep love for family and friends left no doubt how much we meant to him.

Bob worked passionately and genuinely loved what he did. Bob earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1959 from University of Florida. He then moved to Richardson, Texas, joining Collins Radio Co., which became Rockwell International and ultimately Alcatel. In 1993 after 34 service years, Bob retired as Business Manager of Alcatel's Lightwave (Fiber Optic) Dept.

Bob innovated nascent technologies, including emerging military radio programs, satellite telecom and fiber optics. While so engaged, he directed development of several high-power microwave amplifiers. After retiring, Bob consulted for another 20+ years, designing earth stations for Andrews Corp/Andrews Satellite.

An avid ham radio operator, Bob held his license since 1952 as W5LWY and earned his Expert License, W5LT. A longtime member of the Collins Collectors Assoc., Lone Star DX Association, ARRL, and other radio clubs, he also was a member of Beta Theta Pi, Sons of the American Revolution, and Genealogy Friends of Plano Libraries.

Bob was predeceased by his lovely wife of 58 years, Brenda Burns Kellow, and survived by their two daughters: Elizabeth Kellow of TX and Renee Quattromani and her husband, Marc, and grandsons, Nicolas and Michael of OR. Also predeceasing him were Jacksonville, FL siblings Betty Jane Kellow Weekley, James Campbell Kellow, Jr., Doris Marie Kellow Barnwell, and Grace Johnston Kellow Goldsmith of Visalia, CA. The Family plans a private ceremony and invites donations to Genealogy Friends of Plano Libraries.

For those mourning his loss, may your memories of Bob bring comfort and strength. He is forever in our hearts.

Ancestry's DNA Clustering Tool

 Ancestry has added a clustering tool to Pro Tools which is rolling out to Pro Tools Members. This tool finds connections between your DNA matches. 

Matches that share between 65 and 1300cM of DNA with the tester and share at least 20cM with each other are included. Up to 100 matches that meet this criteria will be displayed at a time. 

Here are links to more information

Ancestry - Science of: Matches By Cluster https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Science-of-Matches-by-Cluster?language=en_US

Ancestry - Matches by Cluster https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Matches-by-Cluster?language=en_US

Dana Leeds Video AncestryDNA's New Clustering Tool Explained https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg2RTuaU5mw

TxSGS Genealogy Essentials: July 14-August 25, 2025

 The Texas State Genealogical Society (TxSGS) is pleased to announce the second session of its online education program, “Genealogy Essentials,” designed specifically for individuals interested in beginning or expanding their family history research skills and dedicated to “Building a Strong Foundation for Family History.”

This is the second time that we will be offering our comprehensive, eight-session curriculum aimed at beginners and those that want to review the basic principles necessary to be successful as a genealogist. The courses will all be released on July 14, 2025, which allows students the opportunity to watch them as time permits.  A homework assignment booklet has been designed which will help participants practice what they have learned in the courses.  Zoom sessions will be held weekly to allow for discussion about their learning and answers to questions.

“In designing ‘Genealogy Essentials,’ we aimed to create an accessible, flexible program that helps participants build a strong foundation in genealogy,” said Emily Richardson, TxSGS president and course coordinator. “From understanding basic research concepts to evaluating sources and organizing family documents, this course empowers learners to discover their heritage with confidence.”

All participants will enjoy access to the course materials—including detailed handouts and Zoom session recordings—through August 25, 2025, allowing ample time for review and reinforcement. No prior experience is required; all you need is a computer with audio.

Here are a few comments from participants in the first session which started in January 2025.

• “Overall, it was great.  The recorded videos plus Zoom was a great combination. I’ve been doing things very ad hoc, and this helped me go back to basics with structure and purpose.”
• “It was interesting to hear how the different experienced researchers went about things. I enjoyed listening to their thought processes on tackling topics or problems etc. Very helpful.”
• “Thank you all for taking the time to offer this program, at a reasonable cost and virtual where one can watch on their own timeframe. I was pleased this course was not purely basic information and researchers on all levels could learn.”

For more information:

• Topic Descriptions and Speakers
• Speaker Biographies
• Pricing and Registration Information
• What to Expect
• Questions: genessentials@txsgs.org

July Genealogy News

 2025 National Archives Genealogy Series

Recordings are available https://www.archives.gov/calendar/genealogy-series/2025 for the presentations:

• Revealing Ties to Espionage in the Office of Strategic Services Records
• From the Territory of Montana to the Republic of Vietnam: Researching Native American Veterans in the National Archives, 1881-1966
• Washington DC, Law and Order: Cops and Robbers, 1861-1991
• Disaster Preparedness and Response for Family Collections
• Research Immigrant Ancestors: Alien Registration (AR-2) Forms

Past Event recordings are also available https://www.archives.gov/calendar/genealogy-series

Thomas MacEntee Amazon Prime Day Special - Free E Books

25 books written by Thomas MacEntee are free to download during Amazon Prime Days July 7 -July 11, 2025.  Link to article https://genealogybargains.com/amazon-prime-day-free-genealogy-ebooks/.

175,000 New Historical Records Released by Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland

The Virtual Treasury of Ireland was launched in 2022 and is working to reconstruct the records lost in the fire in 1922 at the Public Record Office of Ireland. Here is a link to a post on Dick Eastman's blog about the new records and the website https://wwweogncom.wildapricot.org/page-18080/13516932.

Black Pearls of Genealogy

This is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, restoring, and honoring Black family histories. 

https://thebpog.org/home-two/

Newspapers.com Added Page Category Options

Page Categories like politics, disaster, sport, etc. help you find what you're looking for faster. When you apply a Page Category filter to your search you will see results where your search term appears on pages related to the category.  Here is a link to their blog post about this feature https://blog.newspapers.com/explore-our-new-page-categories-options/?xid=8822&utm_source=Internal&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Find_July-2025