Gipp Family sponsors genealogy research help during Nordic Fest

Cyndi and Dean Gipp with their children Julia Galvan and Brian Gipp.

Are you curious about how to research your Norwegian ancestry? Cyndi Gipp of Bettendorf was the person in her family who was excited about genealogy research. That's why her husband Dean Gipp and family are sponsoring genealogy information help in her memory during Decorah's Nordic Fest this year.

Cyndi Gipp was diagnosed in December 2018 with pancreatic cancer. She was courageous in her battle, but passed away on March 8th, 2019. Through her passion for genealogy, she left her family with the invaluable gift of so many stories to share.

During Nordic Fest, a representative from the Norwegian American Genealogical Center in Madison, Wisconsin, will be available at Vesterheim Museum on Friday and Saturday, from 9:00 a.m.until noon, and again from 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.
                
The Norwegian American Genealogical Center staff are experts in knowing how to understand Norwegian government structure, naming patterns, and church records, plus genealogy software and research websites. They'll give advice on how to begin or continue an ancestry research project.

"Cyndi had a keen interest and uncanny ability to navigate records and find the missing links and information to complete impressive family genealogies," says Dean Gipp, "so our family knew Cyndi would want to support the work of genealogy programming at Vesterheim."

Cyndi's passion may have started out as a hobby, but eventually she was able to read five languages and became a resource to many others. Cyndi knew first hand that the work of a genealogist was not only in capturing the history and story of those family members who came before, but in telling those stories and connecting them to family members today. Cyndi wrote a touching and detailed book about the Gipp Family, published in 2016. "This book really is a gift to our family, so that the stories are forever captured for generations yet to come, and it means even more to us all today," says Dean.  

"Our family feels that this gift to Vesterheim in honor of Cyndi and her life's work in genealogy is such a beautiful way to truly honor her legacy and hopefully inspire another young genealogist."