About
History remembers only the celebrated, genealogy remembers them all.
~ Laurence Overmire
~ Laurence Overmire
A little about me...
My name is Dusty van der Steen and I grew up down a gravel road in the Burwalde School District near Morden and Winkler, Manitoba. It is here that I was raised on the Wiebe family homestead which has been in our family for over 100 years. It would be many years before I would understand the hardships of my ancestors in their native homeland, their journey to Canada for a better life and their lives here in this country.
In early adulthood, I decided to learn more about my roots. The first step is asking your grandparents. My paternal family had kept extensive genealogy records and I was fascinated by the pages full of names and places I knew and even more so by the ones I didn't. My grandparents on my maternal side were long gone by this time and the family lore from my aunts and uncles had me yearning to find out where my mother's side had come from. It has taken many, many years of research; trial and error, brick walls, dead ends, breakthroughs and victories but I have painted an incredible picture of my family tree - on both sides. I am a Heinz 57, if you will. My paternal side are mainly "Russian" Mennonites, whereas they came from the Mennonite communities in what was then, Russia and is now Ukraine, to Canada in the wave migrations that took place in the late 1800's and early 1900's. These Mennonite ancestors trace back to the original Mennonites of the Netherlands. My maternal side is much more diverse with a healthy mix of English, Welsh, Irish and Scottish ancestry.
I am a self taught genealogist and through my personal research, I have become quite adept at researching and have developed valuable skills along the way. My interest in genealogy has trickled out to extended family and friends for whom I have done extensive research on their behalf and led me to pursuing genealogy as a business in 2020. While my paternal family history was fairly straight forward in the direction of research, my maternal family history is quite complicated. My grandmother had a teenage relationship and had a child, followed by 2 marriages and death of both husbands and 6 more children in between. Through all of the many branches of my grandmother's family tree and that of her children, I have spent countless hours wading through waters, climbing the mountains, scouring the forests, knocking on doors and looking in closets for skeletons and ghosts. It is a history I'm determined to uncover and trying to uncover it has given me so much experience! I daresay it's an addiction; the desire to uncover the past - for myself and for others!
Today, I live near Elm Creek, Manitoba on a farm where my husband Bert and I raise beef cattle. We have a son and I am a stay at home mom who also works as an on-air radio personality out of my little in-home studio (I've been in the radio biz nearly 13 years collectively - many years live behind the mic), in addition to genealogy work. Growing up on a horse farm, I rode and trained horses all my life and was a competitive barrel racer. I continue to own and ride horses and compete in barrel racing but on a smaller scale than in my younger years. I plan an annual charity barrel race which is close to my heart as my father - among numerous other family members - died of cancer and the race supports our local cancer resource who in turn, supports local cancer patients and their families. We have raised just over $90,000 in 4 years of running the event. I am also an avid reader, Formula 1 fan and The Grand Tour junkie. I relish spending time with my son and in my spare time I enjoy planting flowers and keeping a perennial garden, writing about my family history (see Tall Tales & Rabbit Trails), riding my horses and barrel racing.
My husband and I became avid "over the pond" travelers before becoming parents and when our son is old enough, we plan to share that love of travel with him. We have visited the Netherlands on more than one occasion (as that is where my husband is from) and from there, we rent a car and travel Europe. We have visited Poland, Germany, Belgium, France and England with a desire to visit more countries in the future. We have also been to Jamaica. We are both war history buffs and have visited Normandy, Vimy, Ypres, Passchendaele, Auschwitz-Birkenau and many historic war locations in the Netherlands.
Though I continue to pick away at the unknowns in my family tree - as your tree is never truly complete - I have offered my skills to others to help them find their roots. I would love to help you with yours!
In early adulthood, I decided to learn more about my roots. The first step is asking your grandparents. My paternal family had kept extensive genealogy records and I was fascinated by the pages full of names and places I knew and even more so by the ones I didn't. My grandparents on my maternal side were long gone by this time and the family lore from my aunts and uncles had me yearning to find out where my mother's side had come from. It has taken many, many years of research; trial and error, brick walls, dead ends, breakthroughs and victories but I have painted an incredible picture of my family tree - on both sides. I am a Heinz 57, if you will. My paternal side are mainly "Russian" Mennonites, whereas they came from the Mennonite communities in what was then, Russia and is now Ukraine, to Canada in the wave migrations that took place in the late 1800's and early 1900's. These Mennonite ancestors trace back to the original Mennonites of the Netherlands. My maternal side is much more diverse with a healthy mix of English, Welsh, Irish and Scottish ancestry.
I am a self taught genealogist and through my personal research, I have become quite adept at researching and have developed valuable skills along the way. My interest in genealogy has trickled out to extended family and friends for whom I have done extensive research on their behalf and led me to pursuing genealogy as a business in 2020. While my paternal family history was fairly straight forward in the direction of research, my maternal family history is quite complicated. My grandmother had a teenage relationship and had a child, followed by 2 marriages and death of both husbands and 6 more children in between. Through all of the many branches of my grandmother's family tree and that of her children, I have spent countless hours wading through waters, climbing the mountains, scouring the forests, knocking on doors and looking in closets for skeletons and ghosts. It is a history I'm determined to uncover and trying to uncover it has given me so much experience! I daresay it's an addiction; the desire to uncover the past - for myself and for others!
Today, I live near Elm Creek, Manitoba on a farm where my husband Bert and I raise beef cattle. We have a son and I am a stay at home mom who also works as an on-air radio personality out of my little in-home studio (I've been in the radio biz nearly 13 years collectively - many years live behind the mic), in addition to genealogy work. Growing up on a horse farm, I rode and trained horses all my life and was a competitive barrel racer. I continue to own and ride horses and compete in barrel racing but on a smaller scale than in my younger years. I plan an annual charity barrel race which is close to my heart as my father - among numerous other family members - died of cancer and the race supports our local cancer resource who in turn, supports local cancer patients and their families. We have raised just over $90,000 in 4 years of running the event. I am also an avid reader, Formula 1 fan and The Grand Tour junkie. I relish spending time with my son and in my spare time I enjoy planting flowers and keeping a perennial garden, writing about my family history (see Tall Tales & Rabbit Trails), riding my horses and barrel racing.
My husband and I became avid "over the pond" travelers before becoming parents and when our son is old enough, we plan to share that love of travel with him. We have visited the Netherlands on more than one occasion (as that is where my husband is from) and from there, we rent a car and travel Europe. We have visited Poland, Germany, Belgium, France and England with a desire to visit more countries in the future. We have also been to Jamaica. We are both war history buffs and have visited Normandy, Vimy, Ypres, Passchendaele, Auschwitz-Birkenau and many historic war locations in the Netherlands.
Though I continue to pick away at the unknowns in my family tree - as your tree is never truly complete - I have offered my skills to others to help them find their roots. I would love to help you with yours!