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Fimia ('89) finds passion in preserving family history
January 16, 2012
While Margaret Fimia (BA, 1989), a former King County Councilwoman, no longer works in the public sector, she has turned her passion for preserving her family history into another service for her community. What began as a hobby of recording interviews with relatives and recovering old photographs has turned into her new business, “Welcome Home” family history services.
Fimia first began documenting her family’s history when her first daughter was about a year old. A visit to her father’s cousin, who was raised in Cuba, is all it took. A few questions about her relative’s background had Fimia scribing the cousin’s stories for three nights. For the next 25 years, she was heavily involved in her family’s genealogical affairs — organizing family reunions, compiling photo albums, and keeping up-to-date records of her relatives’ contact information.
As she delved deeper into her hobby, she noticed that people often don’t know where to begin in preserving their family’s history, or don’t have the resources to do so. “I realized that there is a tremendous gap between the people who have so much of this info and their ability to connect with others on the Internet,” said Fimia. “I also found myself going to numerous locations trying to find the albums, acid-free pens and sheet covers, scanning services, etc. That’s when I thought it might be a great service and opportunity for Ancestry.com to open a pilot storefront, a Family History Center.”
Fimia sent a five-page proposal to Ancestry.com for the pilot storefront. She never heard back. Not to be denied, Fimia began “Welcome Home” family history services in 2011 to meet the need she perceived. The service has become a quiet success since then. “We had no idea how to search for my father's roots and (Fimia) not only found much more than we ever expected, but wrapped it all up in a great package we could follow and readily understand,” client Toni Little said.
Fimia hopes to show that people are willing to pay for this service and eventually open the Ancestry.com storefront. Right now, Fimia just hopes the demand is recognized sooner rather than later because communities will benefit from the stories waiting to be told. “The history of the world is really the history of our families, only our family history is much more accurate and complete,” she said. “This work is about connections and understanding past, present, and future.”
