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Gerald Munns: My Beloved Grandpa
I’m publishing this article on 4 February 2021, to mark what would’ve been my grandpa’s 100th birthday. Love you forever, grandpa. Name: Gerald Francis MunnsRelationship to Me: Maternal GrandfatherParents: Thomas Jay Munns & Irene Leola CrellyBirth Date/Location: 4 February 1921, Rock Rapids, IowaDeath Date/Location: 20 September 2012, Rock Rapids, Iowa Primary Residence: The Munns farm where he was born, grew up, raised a family and farmedEducation: Attended country school and then town high school in Rock Rapids. Graduated high school in 1938.Occupation: Farmer My grandpa, Gerald Munns, was born to parents of pretty much all Irish descent. If he could take a DNA test today, there may be a small…
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45 Years After Their Vows
Today, January 31, 2021, marks exactly 45 years since my parents married. This is the first year they’re both in heaven for their anniversary. Dad’s been gone for nearly 21 years, and after he passed, mom remarried an amazing man. Still, this day always marks sadness and happiness for me since I arrived later in the year that they married. So, here’s a little backstory. This is based on a conversation I had with my mom at her house in 2019, the year before she unexpectedly passed away. Mom, Margaret “Peggy” Munns, had graduated from Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1974. She wanted to teach high school Spanish and…
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Rings of Life
The last couple months, we’ve been doing a fair amount of work and cleanup at the Munns family farm. We’ve been tidying up inside the house built in 1899 and also doing some outside cleanup. The farm buildings definitely aren’t in their heyday, but it’s important to me and other family members that we care for this piece of our heritage. Today, we had to take down a dead tree that’s one of several planted by my great-great grandfather William Munns. Although it was sad to see it come down (yes, I cried a little), it was just time for this tree. William purchased the farm 130 years ago in…
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The McGinnis Family in Sligo, Ireland
On 28 March 2017, my husband Monte and I met in person with a genealogist who conducted research on the McGinnis and Munns families. This meeting took place at the Sligo Genealogy Center in Sligo, Ireland. I covered a bit of the Munns/Monds side in another blog; however, this account covers findings on the McGinnis side. How I’m Tied to the McGinnises Growing up in Rock Rapids, IA, I was close to my maternal grandma, Isabelle Antoinette Kellihan Munns. I got to know her mother and my great-grandmother, Frances Mae Sample Kellihan, when I was in my early elementary years. She was a competitive little lady who didn’t like to…
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The Life of Bridget Ryan Kelly & Relatives: Transcript
This blog documents a written history about Bridget Ryan Kelly (my 3GGM). The narrative was passed down to me via my great-grandmother Irene Crelly Munns (Bridget Ryan Kelly’s granddaughter). Irene was an avid sharer and note taker on family history (the old-fashioned way before the internet). The memories were written down sometime after 1961 and before 1976, because 1961 is the latest year of reference for someone passing away. Also, there is no death date for George Kelly, who died in 1976. Content is transcribed exactly as written other than my notes for additional context as shown in italics. Note: I set aside my grammar-geek self and did not copy…
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My Amazing Mom
This last week, my amazing mom passed away unexpectedly. She had been dealing with advanced kidney disease since late 2019 but had maintained with meds. She had just gotten on the kidney transplant list in late April 2020. Soon after, her blood levels were all over the place. Two days after her 68th birthday on May 24, she went into the hospital with kidney complications for several days and then was released. A day later, she had a stroke and aneurysm at home. Doctors tried to address the aneurysm and bleeding on her brain, but the compounding of health issues meant surgery was not an option. We lost her to…
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Looking for Monds/Munns Cousins in Ireland
This summer, I’ll have the good fortune to travel to Ireland again! After visiting in 2017 with my husband, we’re going back and bringing our three kids on their first international trip. We were in Sligo when my husband told me this place was so magical, we must bring the kids someday. Also joining the adventure this year will be my mom, my aunt and my aunt’s husband. It’ll be my third trip, as I also visited during university in the late 1990s. My mom has been to Ireland once for a few days and only briefly visited Cork, Blarney Castle and Dublin. My aunt (mom’s sister) and uncle have…
- Ellston, Idaho, Iowa, Maryville, Missouri, Mt. Ayr, Nebraska, Payne, Pocatello, Reynolds, Rock Rapids, Utah, World War II
Mark Payne Memories
This weekend marked what would’ve been the 67th birthday for my dad, Mark Payne, who was born on January 25, 1953. This year is a milestone one since we lost him unexpectedly, because this coming March will be 20 years. I was 22 when the call came. My dad was someone who wanted better and expected more from his kids than what he had growing up. He was also someone who got pulled back into bad habits, so he often balanced that tight rope. Mark Edward Payne was born in Maryville, Nodaway Co., Missouri. He was the oldest of five kids born to Milo Howard Payne and Lois June Reynolds…
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Munns Family Research with a Sligo Genealogist
In spring 2017, my husband and I visited various parts of the UK, Ireland and Germany – where we specifically chose some of our destinations to do family research for our own family trees. I did a lot of prework especially in Co. Sligo, Ireland, because my research had shown that both my maternal grandparents had ties there. I was especially interested in their background, since I had grown up very close to them. In Co. Sligo, I met with a genealogist in person for several hours. I had sent the local office in advance what background I had on both the Munns and McGinnis families – in hopes they…
- Galway, Germany, Iowa, Ireland, Jesse James, Kellihan, Munns/Monds, Payne, Robert Burns, Rock Rapids, Scotland
How the Genealogy Bug Bit Me
At more than 40 years old, I’ve been blessed to grow up around extended family, at least for one side of my family. (Unfortunately, my dad’s side lived at least a five-hours drive away in southern Iowa and northern Missouri.) When I was in second grade, we moved to my mom’s hometown of Rock Rapids, IA, where at first we lived a mile from my maternal grandparents, Gerald and Isabelle (Kellihan) Munns. Getting to Know My Grandparents For about five years, it took us just a few minutes to drive to grandma and grandpa’s house. There were also many summer days when we rode our bikes to their farmhouse. When…
