Lili Shank has spent 25 years as a broadcast journalist, interviewing people from all walks of life. She is a member of the Association of Personal Historians. She was a news anchor and reporter for KCTV5 in Kansas City and a fill-in host for local radio talk shows.

Her passion for oral history was sparked in high school. Her history teacher assigned the class to interview a family member about a period in U.S. history. She interviewed her paternal grandmother, Agnes Tiernan Bliss, about life in Kansas City during Prohibition. She was fascinated by the colorful family stories she heard. Unfortunately, Lili faintly remembers only a few of those stories since the paper was lost and the history with it. From that frustration was born a determination to not let other priceless family stories slip away.

She and her husband, Chris, live in Fairway, Kansas and have three children. She still believes that paper may show up…

Courtney Holmes has been an events and communications facilitator for 15 years. The majority of her career has been focused in the not-for-profit arena, coordinating fundraising efforts and special events. Through her volunteer work, she has been privileged to witness and celebrate endless examples of generosity and compassion in others.

She is fortunate to have known two of her great-grandmothers and all four grandparents. She remembers being entertained by the animated and sometimes exaggerated stories around the holiday dinner tables. Years of unfulfilled promises to bring a microphone to Thanksgiving dinner led to a general feeling of urgency to record the family history. Since interviewing her family, Courtney has found that there can be a lot of “assumed knowledge” between loved ones. Taking the time to ask the questions and listen closely we learn so much more about each other, and find so much more to love.