Treffen Tuesday
May 28 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Lee Macklin
Enhancing, Colorizing, Repairing old photos
Lee Macklin is a second generation German from Russia born in 1947 in Kansas. His mother, Freda Rentz-Macklin was born in 1910 in Kerrick, Minnesota. Her parents, Heinrich Rentz and Ernestine Bertha Widiger, immigrated in 1905 from Alexandria, Zhitomir, Volhynia, Russia (today Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine), about 85 miles west of Kiev, and about 100 miles south of Belarus. His great-grandfather Ernest Wilhelm Widiger was born in 1849 in Bilystok, Poland, and later migrated to Volhynia.
Lee and his older sister Joan, have spent many hours researching their German from Russia history. Their extensive family tree is published on Ancestry along with many documents, photos, stories and other content. Lee has also researched his Irish-Scottish paternal family history back to 1735.
Lee grew up in Paola, Kansas, and later earned a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree in Information Technology from the University of Dallas in Texas. He served 10 years in the US Navy as an Anti-Submarine Warfare Specialist during the Vietnam War. This was followed by over 30 years as a software engineer, sales consulting engineer, and technical project manager retiring in 2012. He is married to Cindy Keller Macklin who also has German from Russia ancestors. They have three children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Since retiring, Lee has devoted much of his time as the family genealogist and resident DNA expert. He has given many educational and analytical presentations both from genealogy and DNA perspectives. He has been a presenter at numerous AHSGR and GRHS national conventions as well as various local chapters and other organizations. Lee currently maintains an extensive website for the Sacramento Valley Chapter and serves as president of the chapter and a member of the AHSGR Board of Directors.
This Special Citation Award is given in recognition of Lee’s leadership of the 13-month effort to build a new AHSGR website which went live December 2021.
