April 4, 1913 - March 9, 1989
My interest in genealogy was inspired by my father, Walter William Frank Maas, who in the late 1970's became concerned about how quickly we were losing our history of and ties to our ancestors. He felt compelled to preserve our heritage for future generations and began collecting and compiling genealogical data for a Maas Family book. My genealogical pursuits took root in 1987 as I helped search for our ancestors in 19th century church records from Pomerania. As a result of our collaboration, and the untiring editorial and typing contribution of my wife, Norma, the book was completed in 1989. Unfortunately, my father died just months before the book was published.
While the book provided a great sense of satisfaction, I was always disappointed that we couldn't identify the ancestors of his grandfather, Julius Maas. Ten years later while researching our roots in Germany, we located the original Evangelisch Church registers at the Landeskirchliches Archive in Greifswald. We not only learned the names of Julius' parents but also those of several of his siblings who remained in Germany. Perhaps from his perspective in Heaven, Dad already knew them.