Kathy Kober and her husband Jeff came all the way from Florida to visit Cottingham in the summer, after Kathy had traced her family history back to the 1600s in the village.
Kathy is related to the Coles, Vickers, Claypole and Loveday families, but is particularly interested in William Coles who raised her grandmother Viola May Coles, after Viola’s parents died in the flu epidemic of 1918. By age 23, William had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and emigrated to the USA.
You can see a family tree, more information and some lovely images of Kathy’s visit to Cottingham in the PDF below. If anyone has any pictures or geneaology information about these families, Kathy would love to hear from you. You can contact her on email kkober6@gmail.com
A few days before they left for Europe, Chris Blenkarn of Cottinghamsoldiers.org.uk, who has been helping Kathy with her research, sent a photo of her mother and grandmother standing on Church
Street, and Kathy had Jeff grab a picture of her in the same location (see image above).
“There is something very sweet about walking in the footsteps of your ancestors,” says Kathy. “Dates
and places on paper are meaningful but seeing these places first-hand has made me even more grateful for the lives they lived.