My bio for GCY

My interest in genealogy began many, many years ago. It was that interest that led me to Find A Grave. I found it to be an extremely valuable part of my genealogy research. I learned I could be a volunteer photographer all over the Napa County, and knew it would be of great help to others, especially family members of those with Find A Grave memorials.

In the beginning, I wasn't loading the photographs in the correct manner, therefore I was not given credit for the many photographs I took. Once in a while, I would receive a request for the George C. Yount Cemetery. Having taken photographs all over the county, I was surprised to find no record of who was buried there. There was no office, no signage, and no public records to be found. In 2010, I began working with a couple of volunteers, to map and record those buried at the cemetery. When my two volunteers went off to college, I continued to work slowly through the cemetery with a total of 11 different volunteers.

In late 2011, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. At about this time, a young man, volunteered 25 hours to me and then became a paid helper of mine. We worked together until I was able to publish my first book about the cemetery. By 2014, I was no longer able to physically get through the cemetery, however, our "fieldwork," was finished, and we worked mostly on the computer until I published the book later in 2014.

In 2015, I was asked to publish a book on the veterans buried at the cemetery. I was fortunate enough to have a tech – savvy friend who was able to extract the veterans from my mapping book, thus the task was made easier. I presented the veterans' book to the cemetery board for Memorial Day 2015.

Shortly after, the Napa County Library released its newspaper archives, allowing me to begin my next project, which was to obtain an obituary for all the memorials I had made at this cemetery. In doing so, I learned of so many more veterans buried there, I decided to make a second edition of the veterans' book, and presented it to the cemetery board on Memorial Day 2016.

In February 2018, I completed my project of finding, and posting any obituaries I could find to the George C. Yount Cemetery memorials.

Below are links to my three books. These books are also available in the Napa County Library. It is hard, but necessary, for me to walk away at this time and focus on my health, and a well-deserved retirement. It has been my pleasure to serve the Find A Grave community. The majority of the time, I found other members to be kind and helpful. There were also some very unfortunate encounters. It is my belief that there is no place for such encounters. I leave here now with the assumption that people on this site are trying to do good for others, just as I was.

Thank you to so many of you for your help.

Denise Ratterman Jackson

• Mapping of the George C. Yount Cemetery (GCY) - https://www.scribd.com/document/354893171
• GCY Addendum link - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cYX7ye5mmt0epEz41FjVFsv-njdStcQRfYaivpQdVDI/edit?usp=sharing
• Veterans of the GCY Cemetery - https://www.scribd.com/document/312952811
• Veterans of the GCY Cemetery Second Edition - https://www.scribd.com/document/346121140
• Veterans of the GCY Cemetery Addendum link -
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AEVaZ8KPVDCL1PoHC_5REMWA-kiJ3XVoT1dlUMjZW2o/edit?usp=sharing

My bio for GCY

My interest in genealogy began many, many years ago. It was that interest that led me to Find A Grave. I found it to be an extremely valuable part of my genealogy research. I learned I could be a volunteer photographer all over the Napa County, and knew it would be of great help to others, especially family members of those with Find A Grave memorials.

In the beginning, I wasn't loading the photographs in the correct manner, therefore I was not given credit for the many photographs I took. Once in a while, I would receive a request for the George C. Yount Cemetery. Having taken photographs all over the county, I was surprised to find no record of who was buried there. There was no office, no signage, and no public records to be found. In 2010, I began working with a couple of volunteers, to map and record those buried at the cemetery. When my two volunteers went off to college, I continued to work slowly through the cemetery with a total of 11 different volunteers.

In late 2011, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. At about this time, a young man, volunteered 25 hours to me and then became a paid helper of mine. We worked together until I was able to publish my first book about the cemetery. By 2014, I was no longer able to physically get through the cemetery, however, our "fieldwork," was finished, and we worked mostly on the computer until I published the book later in 2014.

In 2015, I was asked to publish a book on the veterans buried at the cemetery. I was fortunate enough to have a tech – savvy friend who was able to extract the veterans from my mapping book, thus the task was made easier. I presented the veterans' book to the cemetery board for Memorial Day 2015.

Shortly after, the Napa County Library released its newspaper archives, allowing me to begin my next project, which was to obtain an obituary for all the memorials I had made at this cemetery. In doing so, I learned of so many more veterans buried there, I decided to make a second edition of the veterans' book, and presented it to the cemetery board on Memorial Day 2016.

In February 2018, I completed my project of finding, and posting any obituaries I could find to the George C. Yount Cemetery memorials.

Below are links to my three books. These books are also available in the Napa County Library. It is hard, but necessary, for me to walk away at this time and focus on my health, and a well-deserved retirement. It has been my pleasure to serve the Find A Grave community. The majority of the time, I found other members to be kind and helpful. There were also some very unfortunate encounters. It is my belief that there is no place for such encounters. I leave here now with the assumption that people on this site are trying to do good for others, just as I was.

Thank you to so many of you for your help.

Denise Ratterman Jackson

• Mapping of the George C. Yount Cemetery (GCY) - https://www.scribd.com/document/354893171
• GCY Addendum link - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cYX7ye5mmt0epEz41FjVFsv-njdStcQRfYaivpQdVDI/edit?usp=sharing
• Veterans of the GCY Cemetery - https://www.scribd.com/document/312952811
• Veterans of the GCY Cemetery Second Edition - https://www.scribd.com/document/346121140
• Veterans of the GCY Cemetery Addendum link -
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AEVaZ8KPVDCL1PoHC_5REMWA-kiJ3XVoT1dlUMjZW2o/edit?usp=sharing