Currently residing in North Carolina, Dana Garrow has been a Find a Grave® member since 2011. From 2011 to 2017, she lived in eastern New York. Now retired, Dana was once a computer programmer and later a teacher at a local community college. She learned about the site when she began researching her family tree after the loss of a dear uncle. She explains, “I realized that I didn’t know much about my extended family and was very curious about my roots. In this research, I stumbled across Find a Grave and loved the information that was already on the site about my relatives. It helped put a few pieces of the puzzle together and broke through a few blocks.” 

As her research intensified, Dana found Find a Grave irresistible: “Once I found that I could contribute more to my family memorials and even contribute for others who may be searching, I was all in!” Moreover, the site helped her pursue several hobbies at the same time: “Find a Grave helped merge three of my hobbies into a passion for me: being outdoors, taking photographs, and searching for family, both for myself and for others by fulfilling photo requests and building memorials for those that aren’t represented on the site.”

She and her husband, Ron Garrow, now go out of their way to make valuable contributions to the site. Her husband is “a great supporter and will make time for us to stop along the way as we make road trips. I’ll use the app to locate a cemetery that is along the route and we will stop for a while! We made several trips to hunt down his distant relatives in western New York. It was amazing what you could find with census records as well as hunting in cemeteries to find burial spots without a location. It was so rewarding!” 

When Dana and Ron lived in Westchester County, New York (NY), she “spent time researching his family lines from Canada, Massachusetts, and western NY. We made several trips to find the location of where his family lived and attempted to find their graves. We were amazed to see buildings from the mid-1800s still standing and still in use. We also located his family graves,” Francois “Frank” Garrow and his wife, Marie “Lydia’’Garrow. The photo is a portrait of Lydia and Frank. They immigrated from Quebec, Canada, in 1885. Interestingly, she learned that “once they became Americans, Frank decided that he wanted to ‘Americanize’ the French-Canadian spelling of their name. Thus, the Gareau surname became Garrow.” 

When explaining why she loves being a volunteer, Dana shares, “I love the peacefulness of walking through the rows of stones and monuments. Being outdoors has such a grounding effect on my daily life, a way to escape the stress of simply living in the hectic pace that often surrounds us. I especially love visiting our country’s national cemeteries. The quiet calm, orderly precision, and symmetry of the gravestones are such a reflection of those who are buried there. Our veterans hold a very special place in the development and history of our country. They deserve a peaceful rest that I hope honors their gifts and sacrifice to our country. I don’t walk by a veteran’s grave or a child’s grave without photographing them. These precious people deserve to be remembered, especially as most infant deaths in the late 1800s to early 1900s were not recorded. Without Find a Grave, these children would not be known in a family tree.”

Many members find that spending time contributing to Find a Grave has enriched their lives in countless ways. Dana recalls one particular example of this: “I was walking through a cemetery one day, hunting for requests and photographing. I came across a woman’s more recent grave. I lifted the camera—I still use a handheld camera for most photographs—and looked through the viewfinder. As it focused, I realized she was born almost the same day I was and in the same year. I had to stop and pause for a moment, understanding coming over me about how truly short life is and that each moment should be important. The stone was engraved ‘Precious Mother’ and now she was missing so much of her family’s life. I am fortunate to still be able to experience mine. It was such a profound moment.” 

Dana has even become a bit of an ambassador for Find a Grave, introducing many other people to the site: “Several times I’ve had curious people come up and ask what I was doing [as I photographed graves]. Once I explained the concept, they were excited to go look up the website themselves to add their loved one’s memorial. I spent at least an hour with each individual, listening to them talk about their family member, remembering funny moments, sharing sad times, and even shedding some tears. It was important to allow them to spend this time remembering, and it was important to me to add photos to their memorials. It was so special to share that time and learn more about the stories behind the people who are no longer walking this earth.”

A couple of Dana’s favorite cemeteries are and Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, NY and Wayne Memorial Park in Dudley, NC. In New York, the cemeteries “are beautiful with large monuments scattered over rolling hills and hundreds of acres.”

“Wayne Memorial Park is very close to Goldsboro, NC, where Seymour Johnson Air Force Base is and right in the flight path of the military jets taking off and landing. At times, the jets are so loud it really shatters the peacefulness. One particular day it was so loud and I had just photographed a marker that said ‘Rest In Peace.’ I chuckled to myself, thinking that there was no peace for these dear folks! Then I realized that most of the graves belonged to military veterans and decided it was the perfect place for these veterans. What a fitting tribute to these brave people who served our country!”

When it comes to visiting cemeteries, though, Dana confides that her “favorite visits to cemeteries are definitely the ones with my family, searching together for distant relatives… I loved making ‘Generations Photos’ with the family members [who were] along for the trip.” This photo shows the headstone for Henry Furr, a Revolutionary War soldier and the 4th great-grandfather of Dana’s own grandmother, Shelby Manus (on the far left). Henry Furr lived from 1762 to 1850 and is buried in Phaniels Baptist Church Cemetery in Rowan County, NC. In the photo beside Shelby is Dana’s mother, Shelbia Mullis, then Dana to the right, and finally Dana’s son, Ben, on the far right. Dana found it very special to have so many generations of family in one photo.  

“I’ve met, virtually, so many wonderful friends through Find a Grave. Some connections are very sweet, and I’m close to these friends even though we’ve only talked and not met in person.”

Naturally, Dana’s personal family history research has benefited greatly from her association with the site, and she has even discovered new cousins: “I’ve found cousins across the country. We’ve been able to help each other with our trees, especially when one of us hit some type of block or wall with our tree. It’s been nice to work in tandem with these cousins. With me still living where most of our family ties are, I can go do the legwork and photography for those cousins living out of state. A few of these precious connections have passed away in the last few years. I’m so grateful I got to spend some time knowing them!”

Her work has been rewarding in other ways as well: “I’ve received many notes of thanks from family members who were searching for a particular relative and who were able to find them on Find a Grave. But the one that sticks out the most was from a mother. I had made a memorial for her daughter from a trip to a cemetery in High Point, NC, where the daughter was buried.  [The mother] was thankful to find the memorial and sent me more information to share about her daughter. She thought this website and the concept of creating virtual memorials was simply fantastic—such a precious way to remember the people who walked with us in life. After we chatted by email, I was reading what she had sent, and I realized that I lived close to where her daughter had lived. I lived on the same island at Kure Beach, just a few miles away.”

Dana Garrow is keenly aware of how Find a Grave has improved her life and the lives of so many others. She has obviously worked dutifully to help preserve history and bring relatives closer together. We applaud her contributions to the website. 

We know that Dana is only one of the many wonderful volunteers in our Find a Grave community. Do you know a Find a Grave member who would make a good candidate for Volunteer of the Month? If so, we welcome your suggestions. Please send an email with their contributor ID number and details of their work to feedback@findagrave.com.