It seems that I have become the bearer of bad news on a regular basis, I am sorry for that. Many of you knew Pat Craven when she worked at the courthouse annex in the old records room in Bardstown until she retired a few years ago.. She may have helped you locate records when you visited to do research or she may have made copies and mailed them to you when you were unable to come here. Pat may have even done your family genealogy for you. She was a wealth of information on virtually every family in Nelson County, able to tell you something about your family, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. It was Pat who organized the old records and kept them safe so they are still available for us now. Oh yes, I know that she was sometimes a little TOO protective and ruffled more than a few feathers by keeping things locked and not letting you copy certain things, her intentions were good though. She was intent on not letting things "walk out" of that basement and be lost forever. She may have been a little possessive about her beloved old records but we have her to thank for those records being orderly and easy to find. Pat may not have been the easiest person to get along with, when you walked into the annex you just never knew whether she would like you or hate you at first sight. I was one of those people that she hated at first sight and she made it very difficult for me to do my research. I never knew why. It seemed such a shame to me as I thought we had interests in common and I was going to be moving to Bardstown soon and I had hoped that we could be friends. It was not to be. I am reminded of the story I heard few years ago, Pat's daughter, who had not seen her in years, inquired as to whether her mother was still alive. She said that she did not wish to have any contact with her mother, she just wanted to know if she was alive and well. I felt sorry for both of them, they were missing out on the closest bond of all, a mother-daughter bond. I spend much of my time these days at the courthouse transcribing records for our books and quarterly magazines, filling requests from our members for copies of marriage bonds, wills, deeds etc. and I think how lucky we are to have had a woman like Pat who helped make it all possible. No matter what my experiences were, I have always had the utmost respect and admiration for her dedication to preserving our history. Now Pat Craven is lying in a hospital in Louisville, with days or weeks to live. If you have remembrances or kind wishes to share, we would like to let Pat know that there are people out there who care and appreciate what she has done for them. Please e-mail whatever you would like to share and I will see that she gets them. I am sure that it would mean a lot to her in her final days. Thanks DeAnna Nichols Fisher, President Nelson County Genealogical Roundtable P.O. Box 409, Bardstown, KY 40004 e-mail: [email protected] web page: www.rootsweb.com/~kyncgr