Family Story Finder

The sweep of family history across the generations

Abe Ratner in the seltzer business
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The Ratner family became established in the Fifth Ward of Albany, N.Y. Abe bottled soda water and Rose nurtured a brood of children.

An afternoon at Lake Merrit
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In July 2003, Stan and Helga came to the East Bay for a golden summer outing.

Demise of the cultured Lewi family
  • 1902 - 1942

Five siblings who stayed true to German ideals until the bitter end

Ed Eilertsen tribute puzzle
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Ed loved crosswords, so Dan Ruby created a tribute puzzle for his memorial. Kate and Twyla were the clue crew.

Helga in the League of Women Voters
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Helga expressed a commitment to liberal values in her lifelong work for the League of Women Voters.

Kindergarten campaigner
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In 1955, Helga led a committee of parents to open a preschool in Vestal.

Lest we forget—family Holocaust testimony
  • 1941 - 1942

Remembering our Ringel and Wohlgemuth/Paechter family members who perished in the Shoah.

Mel Brenner
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Mel accomplished many things in life, but his life’s greatest moments happened during the Battle of the Bulge

Ratner family passage to America
  • July 1890 -

Abe Blokh became Abe Ratner to avoid conscription and get out of Russia. With his young wife and her mother, they voyaged from Bremen to Leeds to New York

The Eilertsens in Brooklyn
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From Red Hook to Gerritsen Beach to Bay Ridge, Jack and Camilla Eilertsen lived the Norwegian immigrant experience in Brooklyn

The problem with anti-ballistic missiles
  • October 6 1968 - March 10 1969

Stanley Ruby entered the public debate over nuclear missile technology in 1968-69.

The Rabinowitz family in Jewish Harlem
  • 1875 - 1917

Joseph and Lena Rabinowitz were Russian immigrants who ran a corner grocery in Jewish Harlem. Their nine children were native Americans

Walter's first draft of family history
  • 2006 - Present

Cherry picking the best content from our founding document written in 2006: "The Ruby Family Histories — The Early Lives of Stanley and Helga Ruby"