Michael Savoca, a college student from Toms River, New Jersey was awarded the Suzanne Winsor Freeman Memorial Student Genealogy Grant Award at the Scholarship Breakfast on 9 June 2013 at the annual Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree in Burbank, California.
Funding for this year’s grant was partially assisted by the proceeds from sales of Denise Levenick’s new book How to Archive Family Keepsakes during the Blog Book Tour in January 2013. Thank you!
recipient of the 2013 Suzanne Winsor Freeman Student Genealogy Grant
The Freeman Student Grant was established by family and friends in 2010 in memory of Suzanne Winsor Freeman, family historian and life-long volunteer, and an enthusiastic annual attendee at the SCGS Jamboree. Each year, Jamboree has included a complimentary full-registration package for the recipient.
Denise Levenick, Grant Chair, and Paula Hinkel, Jamboree Co-Chair introduced Michael to the breakfast attendees where he received a warm and enthusiastic welcome to the conference. Mike’s father, Vinny Savoca, traveled with him to the conference and they were able to reconnect with California cousins while in Burbank.
Mike has been researching his family history for over a decade, and participating in online genealogy forums and message boards for nearly as many years. His expertise in Italian and Croatian research have made him a popular volunteer online and at his local Family History Center. He has been able to travel with family to their ancestral village in Croatia and complete research in original records provided by the parish. He has also worked extensively with Italian records and assisted with the records of the Gente di Mare genealogy website.
“Mike is a wonderful representative for genealogists of his generation,” noted Denise Levenick. “He brings enthusiasm, expertise, and a willingness to ‘give back’ to the genealogy community. It’s obvious that Mike has a great future in genealogy, and we are delighted to encourage his research and genealogical education with this award.”
In addition to researching his Italian, Croatian, Irish, German, and Hungarian roots, Michael is interested in learning more about using DNA for genealogical research and about professional archival management. He is a history major at Kean University and would like to become a Certified Genealogist.
You can contribute to the 2014 Grant Fund by donating HERE.
