SGSI

The Slovenian Genealogy Society International, Inc.

Founded by , Al Peterlin, Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, in 1986

SGSI Executive Board
52 Old Farm Road
Camp Hill, PA  17011-2604

Al Peterlin

My grandparents Jozef Peterlin and Rose Jerin came to Forest City, Pennsylvania in the early 1900s. He worked in the coal mines and died young. She lived a long and full life filled with the laughter of children and grandchildren. My interest in all things Slovenian grew from her stories, and I founded the Slovenian Genealogy Society in 1986. I've visited Slovenia several times, and I truly feel "at home" there although I do not speak even one word of Slovenian.

I joined the US Air Force as a young man, and received my education from them, a B.S. in Meteorology from the University of Oklahoma. I obtained an MS in Climatology from Purdue University while working for the National Weather Service. I ended my government career by retiring as Chief Meteorologist for the United States Department of Agriculture in 1999. I retired from the USAF Reserves on January 3, 1995.

I now consult thru my own weather firm, ERREX, Inc and I am a partner in a climatology forecasting firm, Dynamic Predictables. You can hear me "on the air" each Tuesday morning on the Illinois Farm Bureau Radio Network. It may also be available on the internet. I also work full time as a "fundraising consultant" for non-profit organizations. While it might not seem possible, I enjoy genealogy, write poetry, and with my wife baby sit for our three wonderful grandchildren.

Membership Director/Treasurer

Mail all applications for membership in the Society to the Director of Membership Services, John Leskovec. The Director of Membership Services maintains the member's directory information, maintains the Society email address directory , notifies members when the quarterly newsletter is published on the web site, sends out special notices to the membership and maintains the Members Network on our web site. All changes of address, whether Postal or E-Mail, are to be sent to John Leskovec.

10829 Tibbetts Road Kirtland,OH  44094-5194

John Leskovec

Upon graduating from John Carroll University in 1956, John worked as an Ohio State Tax Agent for ten years. He joined Stouffer Foods as a State Tax Manager in 1967, and retired as Director of Taxes in 1992. After family history, he enjoys home improvement projects, computers, photography, and traveling with his wife, the former Carolann Kearnes. They reside in Kirtland, OH, have five grown children, and five grandchildren. He often comments that his experience in tracking down and locating deadbeat taxpayers for the State has been invaluable in tracking down dead ancestors! "But ancestors are easier," he says, "they WANT to be found!" John has been a member of the Society since 1995, and Membership Director 1996-2001. and Treasurer since 2000.
 

Chapter Development and Newsletter Editor

The Director works with individuals and groups to initiate chapters and enhance existing chapter development. Chapter presidents can review the guide on the Society's Member's Boardroom web page for guidance and responsibilities.

The Newsletter Editor develops and publishes the Linden Tree Newsletter quarterly. All members interested in submitting their personal stories please contact Sedaj Tesch at her email link above.
4621 E. Buist Avenue
Phoenix, AZ  85044

Sedaj L. Tesch

Sedaj Tesch joined the Slovenian Genealogy Society International, Inc. three years ago, with the hopes of being able to connect with other like-minded genealogists. Sedaj volunteered as the Society's web assistant before accepting the Membership position in 2002. Sedaj believes that SGSI, Inc. has a growing vitality to assist all members in the personal search of their Slovene heritage.

Sedaj was born in Red Lodge, Montana in 1958. The oldest of six brothers and sisters, Sedaj was captivated by her Slovene heritage at an early age. Her family left the area of Ribinca; Gorenja vas and other villages unknown from 1903 through 1909 to come to America to work in the Montana coalmines. Her family names of research include Mavric (Mourich), Sedaj, Petek, and Zobek.

Sedaj has been developing the story of her Slovene roots in hopes to not only preserve family history, but to “bring it to life”. Her current interests include creating a three generational family tree using a multi media format. Sedaj lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and children where she finds her richest fulfillment.

SGSI Web Master

The Webmaster is responsible for the management and development of the Slovenian Genealogy Society, International, Inc. World Wide Web site.  The Webmaster ensures that the technical aspects of the SGSI Web are stable, well designed, effective to use, up-to-date and properly secured.

Ronald Pozin
Kansas City, MO
 Ron lives in Kansas City, MO and worked for the Federal Aviation  Administration for 32 years before retiring in 2005. During his years  with the FAA he worked as an air traffic controller in Kansas City,
 MO, Omaha, NE, Des Moines, IA, St. Louis, MO and Las Vegas,  NV. He now enjoys traveling with his wife Christine visiting friends
 and family in Europe and the US. He began his genealogical  research in 2001 and soon discovered his grandfather's Slovenian  heritage. He joined the Slovenian Genealogical Society in 2001 and  has worked since his retirement as a volunteer. He has written  articles for the Linden Tree newsletter, worked on surname indexes,  answered genealogical inquiries to the society and updated the  FEEFHS website as well as hosting the SIRL Coffee Shop on  YAHOO! Groups.

The Director of External Affairs

Coordinates the the Society's affairs with other genealogical and cultural entities. As an example, the conference in Ljubljana, Bridging Our Worlds, which was held September 8 through 14, 2001. The Director's prime responsibility will be to direct the Society's financing of preservation projects and coordinate preservation efforts with Archivists in Ljubljana and the United States. Ed will plan fundraising ventures to gain capital to fund the preservation programs which he will direct.
493 Cranston Drive
Beream OH 44017

After graduation from Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland with a BS in Mathematics, Ed worked for UNIVAC, Arthur Andersen & Co. and a couple of small companies in the data processing field until starting and operating two companies of his own for several years. After selling them, he joined a regional brokerage firm in Cleveland as their Manager of Information Systems. Since 1983, Ed has been a licensed stockbroker and Registered Investment Advisor, operating his own financial advisory practice in the Ohio area. Besides his interest in genealogy, Ed enjoys reading, stamp collecting, his accordion and button boxes and works out regularly.

Director of Special Projects

The Director coordinates typing, editing, and indexing projects. He is available to help establish local working groups. Past projects include indexing all the names found in Church Jubilee (History) books and compilation of newspaper marriage and obituary indexes. The publications of the many Slovene fraternal organizations could support many additional working groups. The Director works with the Executive Committee in coordinating the projects undertaken, to ensure that information can be displayed electronically or archived properly.

FEEFHS Representative and Web Assistant for SIRL

Coordinator for the Slovenian Research List (SIRL) on the Federation of East European Family Histories web site. (The SI in SIRL is the international abbreviation for Slovenia.)

The SIRL offers an opportunity for all Slovenian record searchers to post queries listing their surnames, place names, dates, and other details of the pedigree ancestor and pose their questions. It was initially comprised of queries posted in the issues of the SGS Newsletter. This web version of SIRL will list these queries and the E-Mail address or Postal address for contacting the submitter. Postal submissions will be combined with submissions received through the Internet. Please submit your queries, using SIRL as the title of your E-mail, to ensure that they are directed to the correct venue..

The FEEFHS Representative also handles all email or data errors and modifications to our web presence on feefhs.org.Please ensure you inform him where the error is to be found by listing the URL of the web page in error.

Ronald G. Hren

Ron was born February 18, 1940 in Pueblo, CO and graduated from Central High School in 1958. He received a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Colorado in 1962 then moved to Los Angeles, CA where he started working as an engineer for what was then called North American Aviation in Downey, CA (now part of Boeing Company). After three and one-half years there he left this job and began working for another aerospace company called TRW located in Redondo Beach, CA. While at TRW he worked in as a Structures Engineer for about 7 years before transferring into a software development position working on various projects. After nearly 34 years at TRW, he retired in December 1999 and moved to Flagstaff, AZ.

After moving to Arizona, he became interested in doing genealogical research on his parents’ ancestors. It was during this research he discovered SGSI, Inc., on the Internet and shortly after that he became a member. Being retired and having some time to spend, he volunteered to assist SGSI, Inc., in some capacity and was invited to become the SGSI, Inc.'s representative to the Federation of Eastern European Family History Societies and .coordinator for Slovenian genealogical research requests.

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