Remembering Joyce Morey

Past President, San Mateo County Genealogical Society 3 July 1960 - 17 March 2019

Joyce Carol Nelson Morey of Belmont, California, passed away March 17, 2019 from ovarian cancer in Redwood City surrounded by her loving family.

We remember and love Joyce for her energy and enthusiasm, her inspiration and leadership, and the many projects and procedures that she spearheaded at SMCGS. She became a member in 2000, joined the board in 2014 as the newsletter editor, and then served as president from 2016-2017 until she was diagnosed with cancer.  

Joyce made it easy for members, non-members, and other societies to connect with SMCGS. 

She was inspired in her vision for SMCGS and tackled project after project making overall structural enhancements and opening new opportunities. For the record, here are some of the things that Joyce did at SMCGS:

•  New, powerful website with online calendar

•  Online portal for membership, seminar registrations, donations

•  Social media with Facebook and Pinterest accounts

•  Digitization of all past SMCGS proceedings, including newsletters, board minutes, scrapbooks

•  Email news, webinars, member interest surveys

•  Connections with local genealogical societies and events

•  SMCGS table at seminars, new membership letters, seminar registration order tracking

Joyce was born in San Mateo and grew up in Belmont. She graduated from Carlmont High School in 1978, and received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from UCLA in 1982. She married Ed Morey in 1988 and is survived by him, their three children Eddie, Jessica, and Joshua, her mother Patricia Nelson, sister Janet Weaver, and brother James Nelson.

Joyce was fun. She had a great sense of humor and a passion for family history. She had her own accounting business, was an avid genealogist, and brought people together. She belonged to the Daughters of the American Revolution, was president of the San Mateo County Genealogical Society, and attended Peninsula Covenant Church for 29 years.

A celebration of Joyce’s life will be held on May 4, 2019, 2:00 pm at Peninsula Covenant Church, 3560 Farm Hill Blvd, Redwood City. Anyone and everyone who loved Joyce is welcome – wear purple, it was her favorite color. In lieu of flowers, donations in Joyce’s name to SMCGS, DAR, or the Ovarian Cancer Society are welcome.

Cards of sympathy can be sent to: The Morey Family, 2206 Ewell Road, Belmont, CA 94002

A Story of Every Page #3

from the Journals of Valente, Marini, Perata & Co Mourtary, San Francisco
Jean Ann Carol with research by Kathleen Forneson

An Unusual Entry

Here we have a most unusual journal entry.  It speaks for itself.

It appears that body part reunification is available. Giuseppina died in 1942, and there is no mention of her leg in the entry for her death.

Research on this unusual event leads us to: “Disposal of Amputated Members; Catholic Physicians’ Guild,” July 1948. (After the fact for our case; interesting nevertheless.)

1. The ecclesiastical law commanding burial and forbidding cremation applies only to the bodies and amputated members of Catholics.  However, the general tenor of ecclesiastical documents indicates that even in the case of non-Catholics the burial of amputated members (in unblessed ground) is preferable to cremation when the latter is not necessary.                                                    
2. Even with regard to the amputated members of Catholics, the law applies only to such portions of the body as are reasonable considered notable or major. Perhaps the question---does the amputated member retain its “human quality”?—may be of service in determining what is a major part.                                                                                                                                         
3. The duty of seeing to the decent burial of major amputated parts falls primarily on the patient or his family; when these are willing and able to fulfill this duty the hospital authorities have no further obligations in the matter.  It does not seem necessary, however, or even advisable to urge this duty on patients or their families when it is known that the prescribed legal formalities or the expense would be a source of great inconvenience to the person involved.  And certainly, hospital authorities are excused from even suggesting this procedure when there is a well-founded fear that it would prejudice people against Catholic hospitals.                                              
4. When the patient or their families are unwilling or unable to see to the decent burial of the amputated members, the hospital authorities should provide for the disposal of the members according to the principles already explained.  If arrangements can be made for burial without much inconvenience, this should be done.   Cremation of such members is permissible when health or sanitation demands it; also, when burial is not feasible because of expense, inability to observe prescribed formalities, inability to provide a suitable place, and so forth.

One thing leads to another, and so now we have the tale of Santa Anna. You may recall, he was the Mexican politician and general who fought to defend New Spain and then for Mexican independence. He lost at the Alamo in 1936 and retreated to Mexico.  Several years later, in 1838, he was hit in the leg by canon fire. He ordered the leg to be buried with full military honors. He had many “legs” over time; one was reportedly used by soldiers of the 4^th Illinois battalion as a baseball bat.  Santa Anna had a replacement leg made which is displayed in the National History Museum in Mexico City. Wikipedia

Sometimes, you just can’t make this stuff up.

 

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Your Genealogy: Research,

Organize, and Solve

with   Michael John Neill

•  Problem Solving Applied to Genealogy

•  Organizing Online Research

•  Researching the Entire Family and Beyond

•  Finding Barbara’s Beaus and Gesche’s Girls

 

The focus is YOUR genealogical work.

-      Methodologies and examples of discovery.

-      Ideas to move your research forward.

-      Approaches to interpretation of results.

Join us for Michael’s practical and down-to-earth presentation with just the right amount of humor.

He is a National Lecturer on Genealogical Research.

Saturday, May 4, 2019

9:00 am – 3:00 pm

Silent Auction items:
Ancestry.com  (2) 6-month World Explorer Memberships
Fold3.com  (1) Annual Subscription
Newspapers.com (1) Annual Subscription
MyHeritage (1) 1-year complete plan ($334 value)
MyHeritage (1) DNA Kit
Genealogy Bank (2) 1-year subscriptions
FindMyPast.com (1) 12-month Ultimate British and Irish subscription 

Please go to smcgs.org/programs/seminars for more information.

Sharing Stories 2019

Submissions are open for your stories!

Join the fun and write a family history or local San Mateo County story.

Submit your story to SMCGS to be entered into a drawing for prizes, publication,

and/or reading aloud at a monthly meeting. Each entry receives a small gift.

For more info on guidelines & formatting, and to submit a story, click here.

 

Submissions close on May 31, so it's time 

to start writing!

At our monthly meeting on June 22, we will have drawings for prizes for all stories submitted, an extra drawing for those stories taking place in San Mateo County, and a small gift for all entries. We will round out the meeting with story readings and sharing a pot luck meal together.

 

We hope you get a story down on paper to share with your fellow genealogists, not to mention your own family!

       Questions? SharingStories@smcgs.org

 

Sharing Stories Readings and Pot Luck

June 22

Bring a main dish, side dish, or salad to share

 

More information: SharingStories