About the Presenters

Brad Wilcox is a beloved teacher and speaker known for his warmth, humor, and gospel insights. A past bishop and mission president, he was recently released as first counselor in the Young Men General Presidency. He is the author of the book The Continuous Atonement and the BYU devotional address “His Grace Is Sufficient.” He and his wife Deborah have four children.

Amy Archibald became interested in family history as a young teen and has spent over 40 years searching for clues, sources, stories, photos, and cousins. She has been teaching others about the ins and outs of family history for over 30 years. She organizes reunions and loves finding cousins around every corner. She lives in Utah and enjoys adventures with her family. 

Ron Asay is a father of eight, retired cardiologist, avid skier, cyclist, and backpacker. He and his wife, Vicky, served as mission leaders in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and as area medical advisers in the South America Northwest Area. He thoroughly enjoys his callings as ward temple and family history leader and as a sealer in the Orem temple.

Breanne Ballard is a wife, mother of five, Registered Nurse, and an avid family historian. Breanne's love for the work sprouted from her parents' example and has grown significantly over the past decade. She is pursuing an Advanced Family History Research certificate. She believes in the power of family connections and that everyone can participate and find joy in family history.

Angela Beecher comes from a long line of genealogists and her family history journey started as a young child, where she often went to the Family History Library with her mother. She has a BS degree in Physics & Criminology from USU and later received an associate's degree in Family History.  Angela is a stake and ward temple and family history consultant and volunteers at the Spanish Fork FamilySearch Center. She specializes and teaches classes in Genetic Genealogy, Early LDS Records, and research in England, Italy, and Denmark.

Jennifer Chantry has loved photographs since she was a young girl and started keeping her first scrapbook at the age of 11. This blossomed into a love of personal and family history keeping. She was blessed to serve as an ordinance worker in the Provo Temple for nearly five years, and is grateful for the ways that temple ordinances unite and bind families.

Kathryn Grant is a stake temple and family history consultant. She is a family history missionary at the BYU Library Family History Center where she teaches weekly online family history classes and monthly webinars. She's a regular contributor to the FamilySearch blog. She believes that with the right guidance, everyone can learn to love and do family history. 

Rob Hymas is a father of five who enjoys playing golf and pickleball.  While living in Kentucky, he served as an Area Seventy in the Southeast Area. He and his wife, Kathy, served as mission leaders in Argentina and in the Mexico MTC. He currently serves as the ward temple and family history leader and as a sealer in the Orem Temple. 

Kathy Jensen has been involved with family history for over 50 years, working with her mother, who was called to establish the first Family History Genealog-ical Library outside of Salt Lake City in the 1960s. Building on this foundation, Kathy has continuously expanded her knowledge and skills, integrating her expertise in genealogy with the evolving field of computer technology.

Kent and Mary Jex are passionate tree climbers—backyard garden and family history varieties! The are enthusiastic full-time missionaries, stake temple and family history consultants, and FamilySearch Center directors. They love the gospel of Jesus Christ, music, gardening, and sports. They cherish missionary work and building eternal families on both sides of the veil!

Clive Jones is a native Nevadan. Having served 40 years on the Federal bench in Nevada, he is now a member of the Edgemont North Stake Foothill Ward. He is a service missionary in the BYU Library Family History Center and a consultant in the stake FamilySearch Center.

Lee Monson pursued a career in aviation. After retiring, he and his wife moved to Utah and focused on family history. They have served as service missionaries at the BYU Library Family History Center since 2018.

Elaine Riddle loves puzzles of all types--jigsaw, crossword, and especially family history puzzles. She has been putting the pieces of her family together (and helping others do the same) for the past twenty years. Elaine also enjoys reading, knitting and playing the piano. She is currently serving as a Ward Temple and Family History Consultant and Assistant Coordinator at the Orem 800 South FamilySearch Center.

Ginny Smith  is a retired teacher who loves to combine her great passions for young people and family history to engage the rising generation and the young at heart in the gathering of Israel. Be aware: temple & family history work is powerful, fun, contagious, healing--and guaranteed to bring the Spirit!

Greg Slater was baptized at 19 and soon began doing work for his ancestors. It took him and his son two years to find information on one of his great great grandfathers, whose name was changed from Schleiter to Slater upon arrival from Germany because a NY immigration official could not pronounce it.  Greg has used family history to bring his own parents and a number of others closer to the Church.

Ann Tanner has been involved with family history for many years. In 2018, she and her husband served a mission at the Maryland State Archives, digitizing probate records for FamilySearch. She has been a missionary at the Mesa FamilySearch Library for 8 years and at BYU Library Family History Center for 10 years. She also serves on the Board of Directors of The Family History Guide. Helping people learn how to do family history and preserve family memories brings her great joy.

James Tanner B.A; Spanish, M.A.; Linguistics, U of U. J.D. Degree; Law, ASU. 2 years, Intelligence Analyst, U.S. Army. 39 years Arizona trial attorney. 43+ years’ genealogical research. Blogger of Genealogy’s Star blog. Presently serving at the BYU Library Family History Center. Member of FamilySearch GEDCOM Steering Committee. Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Family History Guide Association. Member of the Coalition for Responsible AI in Genealogy.

Michele Templeman has been a BYU service missionary for 15 years. She hopes to work there forever! She was born in Algeria, raised in France, moved to Canada, resided in the Caribbean for ten years (Trinidad, Barbados, Haiti), moved back to Canada, then the US where she has enjoyed life for the past 20 years. She and her husband (a retired physician) have ten children and 43 grandchildren. She loves dealing with deceased people. They never complain! She will help anyone with French, Spanish, Canadian  or Italian ancestry. 

Suzanne Willey describes herself as a late comer to family history, but she caught the vision and has been at it for a little over a decade. With parents who had been researching family for longer than she had been alive, she figured  there was nothing left for her to do until she discovered descendancy research. Newspapers have been a goldmine of information for Suzanne and she's excited to share how they can help you in your family history research.