FOREWORD

Within this website you will meet writers, farmers, bakers, internet designers, a general, privates and ranks in between, a priest, a rabbi and ministers, a Governor and members of Congress, lawyers, some millionaires and some who struggle to make ends meet, scientists, businessmen, salesmen, engineers and shop keepers, athletes, doctors and nurses, musicians, decorated heroes, artists and more -- in short, the cross section of humanity that one would expect to find in the history or extended genealogy of any family.

The Pollenz Family Extended Genealogy is dedicated to each and every member of this family. While many genealogies are primarily statistical in nature, that is, mostly names, dates and places, I have attempted to make this work come alive by including a significant array of personal "stories" of  family members - who they were, what they did, what they loved, what they created.

I must apologize for the lack of either statistical or personal information pertaining to some of the families documented herein. Collecting genealogical information is difficult, even among close family members. For an extended effort such as this, it is understandable that many distantly related people are reluctant to share much, if any, information. Reactions to my queries ranged from wonderfully cooperative to completely uninterested to overtly hostile. Perhaps the benign and inherently interesting nature of the information within this website and the ease by which new information can be added, will encourage more participation in the future. Be that as it may, this has been a labor of love - an educational and generally satisfying endeavor.

While most of sources used in compiling this genealogy are acknowledged in Appendix 3 and the Updates section, I want to especially thank the following people who enthusiastically embraced this project and willingly responded to my numerous (and I'm sure at times "pesty") requests for information: Wolfgang Stadler and Grebe Jirschik in Austria; Otto Patterson in Australia; Lori Lotz and Elizabeth Graham Lotz in Bolivia; Doris and Danny Budowski in Israel; Felix Winkler in England; Philippa Gerstenblitt and Mitchell Pollenz in New York; Eva and Fred Greenwood in Connecticut; Alan Pollenz in North Carolina; Jan Schwilk in California; Dana McCloud, Lou McCloud, David Carlson and Shelley Carlson in Illinois; Dorothy Pollenz, Roger Wohl, Rick Pollenz, Anne Costello and Kathy Shannon in Florida; Kris Taylor in New Hampshire; Margo Meehan in Nebraska; Dottie Vaughan, Joan Levinson, Janine Parque and Lynne Weber in California; Dick Jaehne in Illinois; Bill Carlson and young Bill Carlson in Texas; Jiri Ricica in Cejc, Czech Republic.

I also want to thank my sister Shelley and my wife Ginnie for their help in proofreading the original draft document. And again Alan Pollenz for his Internet prowess and efforts in constructing this website and for urging me to press on with it.  If I have omitted anyone, I humbly apologize for the oversight.

I had considered this genealogy to be the "first draft" of a living document that someday would be updated and expanded. With the advent of this website  it has indeed "come to life." My hope now is that this family history site will provide the inspiration for some individual or indivduals in a future generation to become interested and to continue the compilation, verification, documentation and updating required to nurture and sustain that life.

Richard Stanley Pollenz
Huntsville, Alabama - September 2001
(Updated February 2009)