Autobiography: Troy B. Goss
I was born at Warwick Hospital in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California in 1964. I grew up in Santa Rosa, attending Village Elementary School (K), Madrone Elementary School (1st-3rd), Binkley Elementary School (4th-6th), and Rincon Valley Junior High School (7th). Mid-way through 7th grade my brother and I moved with our mother to Vancouver, Washington where I attended Cascade Middle School (remainder of 7th grade), the new Wy'east Middle School (8th), and Evergreen High School (freshman year). My brother and I returned to Santa Rosa in the summer of 1979 and attended Santa Rosa High School where I graduated, Class of '82.
After high school I worked a year at Scott Architectural Graphics, where I had worked throughout most of high school as a fabricator, painter, and installer of high-end industrial signage.
Without any real plans beyond where I already was I figured I needed a change and joined the United States Air Force, as had three of my great uncles before me. Before departing in July 1983 I sat down with my grandmother and began sketching out the framework of our genealogy -- most of it from the top of Grandma's head! First we attempted to scrawl out a tree on a long scroll of butcher paper but that soon gave way to a binder of organized family history sheets.
Later, while stationed in the Washington, D.C. area, I ordered my first computer specifically for the purpose of databasing our genealogy. I started with Personal Ancestry File and an IBM-compatible 386MHz system. I immediately set about transferring all the names, dates, and locations into the database, working around the clock on several weekend nights. Until dial-up modem became prevalent I wrote lots of letters to relatives to gather information. In the early 90s, while stationed a second time in Monterey, California, access to the Internet became much more available and I began posting surname lists and genealogical outlines on the web. This opened up much greater access to sharing research with others on line and my database, which started with about 2,000 names, began to multiply -- as of January, 2009 I have over 13,500 individuals logged!
After 20 years service in the Air Force I retired and now work for the federal government. I am married to YI Chong-ok from Suweon, Korea and have one daughter, Karen, age 17.
My genealogy consists of 49'ers of English, Scottish, German, and perhaps a little Native American descent, as well as Italian-Swiss and Polish immigrants who all converged on Northern California.
So what kind of a mutt does all this make me? As Grandma says, we're "Heinz 57," but to break it down a little...
| Ethnicity | Breakdown |
| Polish (50%) |
WARGIN/GRACZ (25%) and SIKORSKI/SKROCKA (25%) |
| English (21%) |
POOLE ( 6%), GOODWIN/NEWELL/CLARK ( 3%), CONVERSE ( 3%), ANDREWS/COTTRELL/AMES ( 3%), PRITCHARD/DAVIS ( 1.6%), CHAPMAN/DAVIS/WHITEHEAD/PEARCE ( 1.2%), WEEKS ( 0.8%), LAYSON/SCOTT ( 0.8%), REEVE ( 0.8%), BONHAM/BEBOUT/HUNT ( 0.4%), and LAYLOCK ( 0.2%), |
| Swiss-Italian (12%) |
MALUGANI ( 6%) and CERINI ( 6%) |
| Swedish (6%) |
GOSS/GUSTAFSON ( 6%), |
| German (5%) |
MILLER/ ULRICH/GREIB/ MAUGANS ( 3%), FISHER ( 0.8%), KESTER ( 0.4%), and SEYBOLT ( 0.4%) |
| Scottish (3%) |
MCNEIL ( 3%) |
| Dutch (3%) |
VAN WERMER ( 3%) |
| American (100%) |
