INTRODUCING THE NEW BOARD MEMBERS

Doris L. W Beff: The New Secretary

My name is Doris L. W Beff (Br U). I was born in Endicott, NY, the only child of Clinton and Lena (Van Auken) Van Valkinburgh. I don't know why my grandfather, Edward and one of his brothers spelled their surname with an "i" instead of an "e", when their father spelled the name with an "e". I graduated from Union-Endicott High School, and also attended Binghamton Business Institute, and worked at IBM, Endicott.

November 23, 1946, I married George W. Hughes of Endicott, NY. He was a widower with an 18-month old daughter. We had three sons and three daughters. George died October 20,1991.

June 18, 1994, I married John D. Beff of Charlotte, NC, whom I had dated my senior year in high school. IBM had transferred John from Endicott to Charlotte. John was a widower, also. He had one son and two daughters.

With the two families combined we have 10 children, 20 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. We do a lot of traveling to visit our families, as they are in various states of the United States, but we do travel to other places, too.

John and I are of the United Methodist faith and are involved with the churches in Endicott and Charlotte. Not only have I been active in my church, but also in PTA, Girl Scouts, and U-E Band Parents, to name a few.

Why did I join the NAVVF? I did not realize there was an organization until I was talking to my cousin, Bob Van Valkenburgh, of Pittsford, NY. He was telling me he was a member and that there was to be a meeting/reunion at Fishkill, NY, August 1995. It would be the 25th anniversary of their organizational meeting.

I expressed an interest, so Bob sent me the information. I made the contacts. John and I attended the meeting, which we enjoyed very much and joined. The following

NAVVF News Notes

year we were at Minneapolis, and would have been at Huntsville in 1997 had the meeting not been canceled.

In the early 70s, I remember my mother receiving a couple of notices of a Van Valkenburg get-together. There seemed to be a conflict, we so were not able to go.

As time passed, I began to think more about my Van Valkenburgh ancestors, so I started putting what I knew about my branch of the family together. My cousin, Dot W Wilford, of Murrell's Inlet, SC, had given me information, too. Then I began to question my other cousins about their families. A cousin, Emma (Donahay) Okerson, of Manasquan, NJ, died. She had two volumes of The Van Valkenburg Family in America, which the family gave me.

With the help of Volume II, I was able to find the missing link between my great-grandfather, William Henry (p. 57) and my great-great-great grandfather (p. 198) William Henry. The link was George (p. 198 and p. 57). To date I have not been able to link up any further.

My seven children and those who have spouses are members also. This year my daughter, Sally Wenzel, and children, of San Jose, CA, will be in Reno, too!

I enjoyed reading our president's message in the Summer '98 issue of News Notes. It made me think of the many times my mother was introduced with something sounding like Van Aukenburg by many people who did not know her maiden name was Van Auken. Doris L. Beff

Fall 1998