On June 6, Americans think of the greatest beaches in the world: Omaha, Utah, Juno, Gold, and Sword. On that day so many years ago, Americans and their allies hit the beaches to liberate a continent from the evil of National Socialism. We did more than liberate the continent. America represented what was good and […]
Russell Amos Hitt 1935-2020
It is with a heavy heart that the Board of Trustees of the Germanna Foundation announces the passing of our great friend, benefactor, and Honorary Trustee Russell A. Hitt. Russell, and his wife Joan, supported Germanna in a variety of ways: providing funding and technical assistance to the Foundation when Salubria was damaged in the […]
Remembering the 75th Anniversary of D-Day
Today, Americans think of the greatest beaches in the world: Omaha, Utah, Juno, Gold, and Sword. Seventy-five years ago today, Americans and their allies hit the beaches to liberate a continent from the evil of National Socialism. Thanks to the outpouring of Germanna Foundation supporters who, during the seventieth anniversary in 2014, asked that the […]
Frank Turnage
I am saddened to report the death of our friend, Dr. Frank Turnage, former Executive Director of the Germanna Foundation and serving as Trustee Emeritus at the time of his death. Frank, whose roots go back to colonial North Carolina and Virginia, had a long and distinguished career in the Virginia Community College System and […]
John O. Marsh, Jr. (1926-2019), Germanna Descendant
The Germanna family recently lost a proud descendant of Germanna’s Second Colony Wieland / Wayland family, John O. “Jack” Marsh, Jr., one of the most powerful but least known men in Washington in the 1970s and 1980s. He was an Army officer, lawyer, Virginia congressman, adviser to Presidents and the longest-serving Secretary of the Army. […]
Germanna in Memoriam
The Germanna Foundation extends condolences to family members of people in our Germanna community who passed away recently: Horst Schneider The board received with regret news of the death of Trustee Emeritus Horst Schneider of Siegen Kaan-Marienbborn on 3 October 2018. Horst succeeded his good friend Heinz Prinz on the Germanna board when Heinz died […]
In Memorium: William “Bill” Fishback Sr.
Bill Fishback descends from the Germanna colonists Johannes and Agnes (Haeger) Fischbach [Fishback]; the Rev. Henrich & Anna Catharina (Friesenhagen) Haeger; Johan Jost & Maria Cathrina (Otterbach) Mertin [Martin]. He is a descendant of the “Fleetwood” Fishbacks (a colonial home in Fauquier County visited by attendees of the annual Germanna Foundation conference and reunion). No one in […]
Willie Martin, 1928-2016
Willie Martin, past president of the Germanna Foundation, passed away on August 23rd. A direct descendant of John Joseph Martin through his maternal Clarke family of Stevensburg in Culpeper County, Willie was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Germanna Foundation on November 5, 1957 (Willie’s father, T.I. Martin, mayor of Culpeper, was elected to […]
Trustee Jörg Becker, 1955-2016
The Germanna Foundation announces with regret the death of trustee Jörg Becker of Siegen-Eisern, Germany on 25 July following a courageous battle with cancer. Hundreds of Germanna members knew Jörg from having enjoyed the walking tour he led each year of his ancestral village of Eisern on one of the Germany trips, or from his […]
Memorial Day
Over this Memorial Day 2016 weekend, please take time to remember those who have fallen while serving our nation in uniform. Say a silent prayer for their families. Participate in a community remembrance service. Share their stories so that others will understand what freedom, patriotism and service really mean.