Rachel Adams lives in Northern California. Members of the Find a Grave Team first met her at the 2026 RootsTech Conference when she visited our desk within the Ancestry booth.

When asked why she attends RootsTech, she explained, “I love the joy and excitement that is shared by all who attend. I attend with one of my best friends from high school. I love visiting as many booths as possible. There are so many resources to help me with my genealogy research!” 

Rachel first joined Find a Grave® 14 years ago in 2012 when researching her family heritage: “I started using Find a Grave for my genealogy research. I appreciated volunteers for taking photos of the headstones of my ancestors and wanted to do the same for others.”

When reflecting about how she cultivated an interest in family history, she said that she remembered hearing stories about her family while growing up, especially from her father. Although she didn’t always pay attention to important dates in her youth, this planted the seeds for her love of genealogy.

Family Memorials

Rachel works as a substitute teacher and loves making time to contribute to Find a Grave: “As a substitute teacher, I make my own schedule and have the summers off. I love to use my free time to volunteer to take photos and add my own family to the site.”

Two memorable family memorials are for Stephen Preston Lee and Saundra Michele Lee. Stephen and Saundra are her father’s first cousins who were sadly lost at sea:

They were lost at sea as teenagers on a boat trip with their mother in 1968. My dad’s cousins died before I was born, so I only know what my dad told me about them. Their dad was an aeronautical engineer and built boats. I assume they spent a lot of time on the water! When they were teenagers, their mom and her new husband (their stepfather) took them on a catamaran out of Los Angeles somewhere, but they did not return. It is assumed that the 4 of them were lost at sea. My dad was always so emotional talking about his cousins whom he loved so much. I feel like it is important to remember them. My hope is that other relatives will see these memorials and have a greater desire to learn about their family and help in the research. 

Losing a loved one in their youth can be especially difficult for the survivors, as shown by Rachel’s father. We are glad Find a Grave serves as a home for the memory of these young family members.

Photo Volunteer

In addition to adding her family to Find a Grave, Rachel enjoys fulfilling photo requests and adding grave photos to memorials. She has gone to many local cemeteries in her area since she joined. Rachel shared some of her experiences at these various cemeteries. 

Hopland Cemetery

During COVID in 2020, a local church organization opted to photograph Hopland Cemetery in Hopland, Mendocino County, California. While there, she was able to add photos and GPS to many graves. She shared that while she was helping to add this information, she enjoyed seeing many of the unique graves.

One of the graves she admired was for Franz Michael Niderost. According to the headstone, Franz was born in 1858. He passed away on 19 June 1930 at the age of 72 years. Franz and his first wife, Katarina, had 10 children, all born in Switzerland. Katarina passed in the year 1900, which is the same year he came to California. There is a good start with the information found in the article on his memorial and links to four of his ten children, but more information to fill in about his life.

Rachel is also fond of the gravestone for Helene Anna Angela Peters. Helene must have been loved by her family, who added a little lamb to her gravestone. Lambs carved on children’s gravestones primarily represent the purity, gentleness, and innocence of childhood. This deeply moving symbolism dates back centuries, peaking during the Victorian era. Helene was born on 19 August 1895. Regrettably, she passed away at the young age of 15 months, two days before Thanksgiving, on 24 November 1896. We appreciate that these people are remembered many years later. 

Upper Lake Cemetery

One of the special graves she was able to photograph in Upper Lake Cemetery in Upper Lake, Lake County, California was for Joanne Vivian Norman, who was born in Michigan. However, she died at just 40 years of age in Redwood City, California. Joanne’s heart-shaped grave also bears this inscription: “In Loving Memory.”

Many of Joanne’s family are buried in other states, except for her mother Vivian Darling Newman Norman, whom Rachel has also been able to photograph. Vivan lived almost 7 more years after her daughter’s death, dying in 1984 in Lakeport, California, only 4 days before the 7th anniversary of her daughter’s death date. She was laid to rest close to where her daughter was laid to rest. We are grateful for the history these gravestones preserve because although both show signs of wear, they are now preserved in photographs through their memorials.

Rachel remarked, “Although this is a large cemetery, they provide good maps and a database on their website indicating the location of most of the plots. This makes finding headstones easier. My goal is to eventually photograph and provide GPS to all of the headstones in the cemetery.”

Olive Hill Cemetery

Another cemetery she served in was Olive Hill Cemetery in Geyserville, California. Rachel “noticed that there were a lot of requests at this cemetery, which is about 15 minutes from my house. Instead of walking around to find the requests, I decided to photograph and add all of the headstones that were not already in the Find a Grave database. I also added GPS coordinates so they can be located easily.” One of her favorites from this cemetery was a family tomb for the Pastori Family. The tomb currently hold a couple named Edith Pauline “Edie” Buchignani Pastori and Frank Pastori who were married for almost 70 years. Edith lived until she was almost 88 years old, and Frank lived until he was nearly 100! Stella Pastori is also buried in this tomb. Stella died when she was 26 on 11 August 1918, about two years before Frank. Memorials like those for the Pastori Family show us that every grave matters; they are important to remember as our community continues to gather resources to find out more about those who went before us. 

“I love to tell people about Find a Grave.” Rachel illustrates the amazing work we can do together as we help each other using our various strengths in different seasons of life. Whether it is taking a valued photo of the grave, adding GPS, sharing an obituary, or maybe finding records that add to their story, every effort is appreciated. We see that, piece by piece, we can all add to the memorials created to remember the lives of those who went before us. 

Thank you, Rachel, for all the time and talents you have dedicated to our Find a Grave community and for inspiring others to join. 

We know Rachel is 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.