Born and raised in Grand Rapids, in 2003 I started my business, The Stories of Your Life, and joined the Association of Personal Historians (APH), a worldwide organization of 650 members dedicated to preserving individual, company, and community histories. I was born and raised in Grand Rapids and previously taught 33 years for the Grand Rapids Public Schools.
Soon after the birth of my first child in the early 1970s, I began researching and recording my family history. Upon learning of the field of personal history, I immediately knew this was an opportunity to turn my avocation into my vocation. Since then, I have helped more than 75 people write their memoirs and preserve them as books. In addition, I give presentations on memoir writing in the community, conduct interviews for the Veteran’s History Project, and teach classes at OLLI at Aquinas College.
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Testimonials
“You have become another person on my life’s journey that I must say: ‘If Not For You’ my book may never have happened. It turned out great. You have real talent!”
– Jack R., Grand Rapids
“From the bottom of my heart, special thanks to Deb. Without her help and encouragement, I could not have written my memoir. I always felt my story was safe with Deb and that she understood the challenges of my life.”
— D. M., Grand Rapids
“Thank you for helping Dad with his book. History and memories meant so much to him and his memoir brought joy to us all. My sister and I read to him from the book on the evening he died. Dad was always forward-thinking and we’re thankful he did it well before he was unable to do so.”
– Anne K., Grand Rapids
Media
The Stories of Your Life and the field of personal history have enjoyed the attention of local newspapers, magazines, radio and television. Here’s a sample.
Television
Here I am on Fox-17 News in 2014 with colleague Betty Epperly, promoting Ripple Effects, a book on local nonprofits that we co-authored.
Radio
Shelley Irwin of the WGVU Morning Show and I chatted on air in 2017. Listen here.
I spoke with WOOD Radio’s Justin Barclay in 2017 about the importance of personal history. Here’s our interview.
Dave Jaconette (right) interviewed Ron Rozema and me on WJRW radio.
Terri Hamilton wrote this profile for The Grand Rapids Press.
Collaborative Projects
SOUL of Philanthropy team (2007-08): One of a group of personal historians who worked with Calvin College filmmaker Daniel Garcia to produce a documentary on thirty leading Grand Rapids philanthropists entitled The Gift of All: a Community of Givers, which aired on PBS.
My Words are Gonna Linger (2009): Contributed to stories to the book published by the Association of Personal Historians (APH).
Ripple Effects: Ten West Michigan Nonprofits Serve, Inspire, Transform (2014): Betty Epperly and I wrote an anthology about fifty individuals and families whose lives were positively impacted by local nonprofits. The book is available on amazon.com.