The genealogy world has lost a great one.
Lorine McGinnis Schulze, one of North America’s greatest and most generous genealogists, passed away yesterday in Ontario. It was unexpected.
Her husband, Brian L. Massey, shared the sad and shocking news on social media.
She had gone to the hospital on the weekend, but had been released after several tests and X-rays.
Countless genealogists have benefitted from Lorine’s website, Olive Tree Genealogy, that she created in 1996 to share free resources, along with her guidance, advice, and friendship. She mentored many of us. As recently as yesterday, Lorine published articles on her blog, Olive Tree Genealogy.
Lorine was also the author of many family history books, and a couple of years ago she started writing a fictional genealogy mystery series. Her second book in the series is expected to be published soon.
In her biography on her website, Lorine explained how she became involved in family history. “I was born and raised in a small town in Ontario, the youngest of four children of an Army Lieutenant and his wife. My father encouraged me in the the pursuit of our family lines at a very young age, and when he died shortly after my 14th birthday, I decided to research our family in his memory. It became a life-long passion.”
In her younger years, Lorine had been a teacher, specializing in working with troubled teenagers. But in 1994 was injured by a student. After an unsuccessful operation, and months of only partially successful physiotherapy, it became obvious she would not be able to resume a full-time job. A year later she started creating pages for what would be the Olive Tree Genealogy website.
While most of us knew Lorine as a genealogist, her greatest passion was her family. Often on Facebook, before the COVID pandemic, she would share photos of the great meals she was preparing for a family get-together.
Lorine will be greatly missed.
