Fond Farewells and a New Atlas on our Website

In this season of rebirth and awakening, it is with a heavy heart that we share sorrowful news. During the past few weeks our society and the St. Louis genealogy community have lost three of our longtime members and volunteers. Please join us in remembering Judy Doyle, Carol Kohnen, and Bob Moody, all of whom shared their knowledge, friendship, and dedication to many of us. Then, as a special treat, we hope you will enjoy another new atlas recently uploaded to our website.

In Memoriam: Judy Doyle

Judy Doyle passed away on 10 April 2025. She had been a third grade teacher in the Ritenour school district for more than thirty years. She took her love for family history research to our society and, in 1998, she began volunteering in the Special Collections Department of St. Louis County Library when it was located in the old Headquarters building. She especially enjoyed helping people who were just beginning to do their genealogy. She worked as a liaison and volunteer for StLGS to the former Special Collections Department regularly for many years.

As an active volunteer with StLGS, Judy was the recipient of a Certificate of Appreciation in 2012 and a Certificate of Achievement in 2015.

Judy enjoyed traveling and her friendly, outgoing personality meant she was never without companionship. She was a lively presence on our annual research trip to Salt Lake City for more than a decade, and she was a regular attendee at society meetings and events. When she wasn't working on her genealogy, she was an active member of New Horizons Presbyterian Church, where she sang in the choir. She served on her homeowners board and was active in many local community events. She loved music, reading, yoga, and walking. We will miss her bright smile and her ever-present cheerfulness!

We send our deepest sympathy to her brother David and her cousins Janet and Bob Argentine and Richard and Barbara Doyle.

In Memoriam: Carol Kohnen 

Carol was a driving force on our technology team. Her input and programming skills were vital to the successful launch of our online store. She devised the templates for our St. Louis City/County Biographies project and maintained the index of all of the names in the biographies so they were searchable on our website. She patiently taught those of us who were not familiar with website design how to create pages; she fixed our errors and solved our coding problems. A fine writer, she contributed several articles to our St. Louis Genealogical Society Quarterly.

Carol retired from working in our office after her first grandchild was born so she had more time to travel and be an active grandmother. She passed away on 11 April 2025, after what her family described as "a courageous battle with cancer."

Carol was a computer programmer before going back to school to get her Master's degree in library science. She worked as a school librarian at St. Joseph's Academy and then at Parkway North High School. When she retired, she was the head of Library and Technical Services for the Parkway school district.

She believed strongly in civil liberties and women's rights and was an active supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union. She also edited the Lake Tishomingo newsletter. As a volunteer for StLGS, she received a Certificate of Appreciation in 2015, a Certificate of Achievement in 2018,  and she shared in the Special Recognition award given to the Tech Team in 2015.

Our deepest sympathy go to Carol's husband, Richard "Dick" Kohnen, her children Jill and Matt Gallardo and Doug and Steph Kohnen, her grandchildren, and her brother Joe.

In Memoriam: Robert "Bob" Moody

Robert Morgan "Bob" Moody died 28 March 2025 after a long struggle with a form of cancer that is usually fatal within months of diagnosis. Defying all odds, Bob endured multiple surgeries and treatments and came out victorious time after time until he finally lost his battle. He remained active and hopeful, taking full advantage of the years his doctors delivered to him. Educator, grant writer, avid theatre buff, and a beloved member of the First Congregational Church of Webster Groves, Bob made his presence known wherever he went. He served on Webster Groves Public Library committees and on the district's school board. He was a prolific story teller, writer, and collector of family history. The Moody family lived for many generations in Webster Groves, and Bob had them traced into colonial New England and beyond. He especially delighted in sharing stories of his Salem, Massachusetts, ancestors who were involved in witchcraft trials!

Bob became part of the StLGS Quarterly team, where he helped as both a writer and editor for many years. He and his wife Helen were regulars on our annual research trips to Salt Lake City, and he often recruited other family members to join our group. His generosity in sharing his knowledge (and his adult beverages and company at our evening meals) always added to our enjoyment of the trip.

Bob was a beacon of hope for those facing chronic debilitating illness and a constant source of optimism in the face of adversity. We will miss his stories and his steadfast determination to keep going!  Our sincere condolences to Bob's wife Helen and his son Barron, as well as his numerous relatives and friends.

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New on Our Website: The Atlas of the City of St. Louis, 1905

Once again, our map guru, Jim Bellenger, has taken an obscure publication and made it accessible and useful for St. Louis City researchers. The Atlas of the City of St. Louis was published by the St. Louis Plat and Record Company in 1905 as an eight-volume set with an index. The atlas pages include names of streets, landowners, lot sizes, and other features of the city in 1905.

The Missouri Historical Society digitized all the volumes and gave Jim permission to work with their images. Jim's Google Maps interface displays a blue dot for the center point of each plat page and links to the actual page on the Missouri Historical Society website. There you will find the names of the landowners in each area. Links are provided on the new page to each of the eight volumes and the index as well. 

Start your exploration of this fantastic new resource on the St. Louis City Atlas, 1905 page of our website.

Here you can see the original atlas page as well as a small version of what the new map page looks like.