52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

My friend and fellow blogger, Dana Leeds-The Enthusiastic Genealogist, posted about the "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge,"  that was started by Amy Johnson Crow. Dana is a wonderful researcher and writer and her blog post inspired me to jump in...How did I get started?

My father, Arnold L. Schralla, Jr. is responsible for sparking the flame of passion that I have for genealogy. It all began when he showed me a large handwritten chart of our family tree.

Dad was born in Tallahassee, Leon Co., Florida on 30 January 1920, and was the first born of Arnold L. Schralla, Sr and Miriam Mattie Green. Junie as he was called when he was little grew up in Quincy, IL, which was where his father was born and raised. At Quincy High School he was President of the German Club, played trumpet in the school band and was a class officer.

He attended the U.S. Naval Academy, and was the first class that was accelerated through due to WWII. During the war, he served on the submarine USS Shad and on the PT 131 in the South Pacific.

Dad met my mother in late Novemeber 1943 and married her approximately six weeks later on 25 Jan 1944. They were married for 56 years. They raised four daughters and one son.

Dad died on 14 Mar 2016, he was 96 years old.