Our Board

Jonathan Shea

Jonathan Shea

President

Jonathan Shea, a native of New Britain, Connecticut, is the founding president of PGSCTNE and is a professor of foreign languages in the Connecticut State University System. He is the author of Going Home: A Guide to Polish-American Family History Research and has co-authored a series of language guides with William F. Hoffman on translating documents of genealogical value from Polish, Russian, Latin and German. His family roots lie in the parishes of Przytuły, Poryte and Stawiski north of Łomża and Dąbrowa Białostocka as well as Counties Mayo (Meigh Eo) and Offaly (Uibh Fhaili) in Ireland.

Matthew Bielawa

Matthew Bielawa

Vice President

Matthew Bielawa is the Assistant Registrar at Central Connecticut State University and creator of the halgal.com website dedicated to research in Galicia.

His maternal roots are from Usznia and Czeremosznia in the County of Złoczew, now in Ukraine. His paternal roots are from various locations in Prussian Poland.

Diane Bojniewicz Szepanski

Diane Bojniewicz Szepanski

Treasurer

Diane Bojniewicz Szepanski retired from Central Connecticut State University, Department of Communication, after many years of service. She has been a member of PGSCTNE since 1990, Treasurer and Conference/Events Coordinator since 2001.

Diane has been researching her Polish ancestors from the areas of Wąsosz (Łomźa), Poland; Czarnohubowo and Pukielewszczyzna in the former province of Minsk, now in Belarus and Radłow, Galicia.

Susan Grzyb

Susan Grzyb

Secretary

Susan Grzyb has been a member of PGSCTNE since 2010 and is an active volunteer working on proofreading and obituary indexing. With ancestral roots in Galicia, she has conducted genealogy research close to home as well as in Polish archives in Przemyśl and Sanok.

Joanne Balon Kennedy

Joanne Balon Kennedy

Board Member

Joanne Bałon Kennedy has been a member since 1988 and has served as Membership Director since 1989. She was recently elected to the Board of Directors.

She has been involved in family
research since the mid-1970s, enjoys helping others and sharing information. Joanne’s paternal ancestors are from the Masovian and Galicia regions of Poland.

Carol Kaczmarczyk Carter

Carol Kaczmarczyk Carter

Board Member

Carol Kaczmarczyk Carter is one of the founding members of PGSCTNE. She graduated from Central Connecticut State University with a major in Business. Carol was elected to the Board of Directors and is Conference/Events Co-Coordinator.

She is researching in the Russian partition particularly in the villages of Wolkowe, Wydmusy, Ozarki-olszanka and Tołwin.

Constance Malodziejko Ochnio

Constance Malodziejko Ochnio

Board Member

Constance Malodziejko Ochnio is a retired office administrator for the Connecticut State Council of Machinists and a founding member of PGSCTNE where she served as Treasurer and Membership Chairperson for many years until relocating to Sebring, Florida. The origin of her family is in the parishes of Przytuły, Poryte and Stawiski north of Łomża and Dąbrowa Białostocka. She also researches her husband’s family whose origins lie in Siedlanów.

Henry Frohn

Henry Frohn

Board Member

Henry is a longtime member of our society and has done extensive indexing and data entry for many of our archival collections, most notably for our obituary collection. He has been researching his own roots and those of his wife Joan (the Wasilewskis from Skierniewicze) for several decades.

Our Committees

Membership Director

Joanne Balon Kennedy

Conference Chair

Diane Szepanski

Co-Chair

Carol Kaczmarczyk Carter

Archivist

Jonathan Shea

Webmaster

Ray Michno

Facebook Representative

Bernie Olender

Monthly Bulletin Editor

Joanne Balon Kennedy

Assistant Editor

Donna Krise

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