Our Contributors who make these web pages possible:

Augustin, Michael Peter, Maschinenbauingenieur, geboren 1957 in Passau, aufgewachsen in Stuttgart. Lebt mit seiner Frau und 3 Kindern in Leonberg bei Stuttgart. 1976 Abitur, 1983 Diplom an der Universität Stuttgart, 1988 Joseph-von-Fraunhofer-Preis für die Entwicklung eines rechnergestützten Simulationssystems zur Analyse komplexer Materialflusssysteme. Von 1993 bis 1995 Sprecher der Arbeitsgruppe „Rechnerunterstützte Fabrikplanung“ im VDA (Verband der Automobilindustrie). Arbeitet als Experte für Logistik- und Prozessplanung bei der Porsche AG. Zahlreiche berufliche und private Verbindungen in die Vereinigten Staaten.

Stammt väterlicherseits aus der Bukowina (bis 1940) und beschäftigt sich seit Mitte der 90er Jahre intensiv mit Familienforschung. Hat in seiner Datenbank über 22.500 Personen erfasst, davon weltweit nahezu 4.200 Nachfahren seines ältesten bekannten Vorfahren, Johann Augustin (geboren 1770). Verfasser eines Augustin-Familienbuches sowie von Vorträgen und Veröffentlichungen über Familienforschung. Enge Kontakte zu Bukowinadeutschen Organisationen in Deutschland, den Vereinigten Staaten, Kanada und Brasilien. Mitglied des International Board der Bukovina Society of the Americas.

 Augustin, Michael Peter, mechanical engineer, born 1957 in Passau, grew up in Stuttgart. Lives with his wife and three children in Leonberg near Stuttgart. High school graduation (1976), diploma from the University of Stuttgart (1983), Joseph-von-Fraunhofer Prize for the development of a computer based  simulation system for the analysis of complex material flow systems (1988). Between 1993-95 spokesman of the study group "Computer aided Factory Planning" of the VDA (Association of the German Automobile Industry). Works as expert for logistics and process planning for Porsche AG.  Numerous professional and private contacts in the United States.

His ties to Bukovina through his paternal line have led him from the mid-1990s intensively  to pursue genealogical studies. His database consists of over 22,500 entries of whom worldwide almost 4,200 are descendants of his earliest-known ancestor, Johann Augustin (born 1770 in Bohemia). Author of an Augustin family book and of numerous articles published in Germany and the United States; speaker at national and international conventions dealing with genealogical issues. Close contacts to Bukovina German organizations in Germany, the United States, Canada and Brazil. Member of the Bukovina Society of the Americas and serves on its International Board.
 

Ayrton Gonçalves Celestino. Nascido a 25 de janeiro de 1938, em Rio Negro – Paraná – Brasil. Descendente de alemães-bucovinos por parte de sua mãe Rosina Schelbauer, filha de Ignatz Schelbauer e Maria Schuster. Filho de Miguel Gonçalves Celestino, descendente de portugueses, neto de Pedro Celestino e Eugênia Gonçalves. Em 1965 casou-se com Alyrde Canesin Celestino, tendo os filhos Rosilena e Fernando.  Quando jovem estudou nos Seminários Franciscanos de Rodeio (Santa Catarina ), Rio Negro (Paraaná0) e Agudos (São Paulo) tendo destes estudos adquirido boa formação humanística. Em Curitiba (Paraná) fez o Curso Clássico (2º. Grau) no Colégio Estadual do Paraná. É formado em Letras Neo-Latinas na Universidade Federal do Paraná e em Direito na Universidade Católica do Paraná, ambas em Curitiba – PR. Na Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná fez Curso de Pós-Graduação em Filosofia do Direito.

Entre 1962 e 1987 lecionou a cadeira de Língua e Literatura Portuguesa no Colégio Estadual do Paraná e entre 1963 e 1978 em vários colégios públicos e privados de Curitiba. E de 1985 a 1992 foi Professor das Cadeiras de Linguagem Forense e Estágio de Processo Civil no Curso de Direito da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná. De 1987 a 1990 foi  Diretor Geral do Colégio Estadual do Paraná - Curitiba PR durante 4 anos. Exerce a advocacia no Foro de Curitiba, com especialidade em Direito de Família e Cível.Em 2002, em Curitiba, publicou o livro "Os Bucovinos do Brasil ... e a História de Rio Negro", com 662 páginas. O livro conta a história das imigrações de colonos alemães-bucovinos para o Brasil e a história da cidade de Rio Negro PR. De 1987 até o presente, publicou mais de 200 artigos sobre a História das Imigrações Alemãs-Bucovinas, nos jornais Tribuna da Fronteira, Gazeta de Riomafra, e outros regionais.

A convite do Governo da Romênia visitou o país em 1994, especialmente a Bucovina, onde proferiu palestra (em Suceava) sobre “Os Alemães-Bucovinos em Rio Negro e Mafra – Brasil”. Em julho de 1996 participou da Bucovinafest na Bukovina Society of the Americas – Ellis, Kansas, EUA. Em 1995/1996 publicou uma série de 6 artigos sobre “Os alemães-bucovinos do Brasil” no jornal mensal "Der Südostdeutsche", do Bukowina Institut, Augsburg, Alemanha. Participou do livro "German Emigration from Bukovina to the Americas"  editado por  Willian Keel  e Kurt Rein (Max Kade Center for German-American Studies - University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas EUA 1996) com capítulo: 6.7 THE IMMIGRATION OF THE BOHEMIAN BUKOVINIANS TO BRAZIL   pp. 149 a 165.

Participou com o capítulo: "The Bukovinians of Rio Negro and Mafra  in Brazil" (pp. 333 a 350)   no livro "The Bori Story" - Genealogies of the German-Bohemian families who in 1835 founded Bori in Bukovina - Now in Romania - with history of the village and its people” por Dr. Ph. Sophie A. Welisch, Maria Lang Becker e Larry R. Jensen - Congers, New York 10920 USA – 1996.

Idealizador e fundador da Associação Alemã-Bucovina de Cultura - ABC, em fevereiro de 1992, na cidade de Rio Negro PR, da qual foi Presidente de 1992 a 1998. Em 1998  foi aclamado Presidente de Honra da Associação Alemã-Bucovina de Cultura - ABC. Propôs a implantação da Praça BUCOVINA com a construção do Cruzeiro Bucovino na entrada de  Rio Negro, através de Lei Municipal. Em 2000 tornou-se sócio efetivo do INSTITUTO HISTÓRICO E GEOGRÁFICO DO PARANÁ, do qual é membro da Diretoria, no cargo de Diretor de Publicações.

Em 19 de julho de 2002 fez duas palestras sobre a História da Comunidade Bucovina de Rio Negro e Mafra, no Congresso Internacional da Federação das Sociedades Históricas e Genealógicas dos Países do Leste Europeu, em Regina - Saskatchewan - Canada, como palestrista convidado. A 7 de novembro 2002 empossado na Sessão de fundação da Academia Parano-Catarinense de Letras como Acadêmico Titular da Cadeira no. 13 (Rio Negro -PR e Mafra - SC)

 Ayrton Gonçalves Celestino was born in Rio Negro, State of Paraná (PR), Brazil in 1938. His mother, Rosina Schelbauer (Schödlbauer), was the daughter of Ignatz Schelbauer (Schödlbauer) and Maria Schuster, descendants of Bukovina-Germans who had immigrated to Brazil in the late 1880s. On his paternal side he is of Portuguese ancestry, the son of Miguel Gonçalves Celestino and grandson of Pedro Celestino and Eugênia Gonçalves. In 1965 he married Alyrde Canesin; the couple has two children: Rosilena and Fernando.

 Professor Celestino’s studies took him to the Franciscan seminaries of Rodeio (Santa Catarina), Rio Negro (Paraná) and Agudos (São Paulo), where he received a basic humanistic education. In Curitiba he pursued classical studies in the State School of Paraná (Colegio Estadual do Parana), earning a second baccalaureate degree. He studied neo-Latin languages and literatures at the Federal University of Paraná and law at the Catholic University of Paraná, both in Curitiba. Studies at the Papal Catholic University of  Paraná (Pontficia Universidade Católica do Paraná) led to a master’s degree in the philosophy of law. Between 1962 and 1987 Professor Celestino was a member of the Department of Portuguese Language and Literature at the State School of Paraná; between 1963 and 1978 he also taught at several public and private schools in Curibita. From 1985 to 1992 he lectured in the Department of Legal Linguistics and apprenticed in Civil Process in the Department of Law at the Papal Catholic University of Paraná. Between 1987 and 1990 Professor Celestino served as Director General of the State School of Paraná. Today he practices law at the Forum of Curitiba, specializing in family and civil law.

The year 2002 witnessed the publication of his 662-page book, Os Bucovinos do Brasil . . . e a Historia de Rio Negro (The Bukovinians of Brazil . . . and the History of Rio Negro). In it he describes the experiences of the Bukovina-Germans who in 1887-88 immigrated to Brazil and details the history of the city of Rio Negro. From 1987 to the present he has written more than 200 articles on the history and immigration of the Bukovina-Germans, which have been published in newspapers including Tribuna da Fronteira , Gazeta de Riomafra, and other regional papers.

 As a guest of the Romanian government Professor Celestino traveled to that country in 1994. While in Bukovina he gave a lecture in Suceava entitled, “The German-Bohemians in Rio Negro and Mafra, Brazil.” In July 1996 he participated in the Bukovina Fest sponsored by the Bukovina Society of the Americas in Ellis, KS, USA. There he discussed the Bukovinian community of Rio Negro and Mafra. In the May-October 1996 issues of Der Südostdeutsche, the monthly newspaper of the Bukovina Institute (Augsburg, Germany), we find Professor Celestino’s serialized article, “Bukowiner in Rio Negro und Mafra” (Bukovinians in Rio Negro and Mafra). His essay, “The Immigration of the Bohemian Bukovinians to Brazil,” was printed in German Emigration from Bukovina to the Americas, edited by William Keel and Kurt Rein and published by the Max Kade Center for German-American Studies (Lawrence, KS) in 1996. That same year witnessed the publication of his essay, “The Bukovinians of Rio Negro and Mafra in Brazil” in The Bori Story: Genealogies of the German-Bohemian Families Who in 1835 Founded Bori in Bukovina (Now in Romania) with History of the Village and Its People edited by Sophie A. Welisch, Maria Lang Becker and Larry R. Jensen.

Founder and organizer of the Bukovina-German Cultural Association (Associação Alemã-Bucovina de Cultura – ABC), Professor Celestino served as it president from 1992 until 1998; upon stepping down from this office, he was voted honorary president  Under Professor Celestino’s initiative and through municipal legislation a “Bukovina cross” (Cruzeiro Bucovino) has been erected on Bukovina Square at the entranceway to Rio Negro. In 2000 he became a member of the board of the Historical and Geographical Institute of Paraná and serves as this institution’s Director of Publications.

On July 19, 2002 Professor Celestino traveled to Canada where he delivered two speeches on the Bukovinians of Brazil at the International Congress of FEEFHS (Federation of East European Family History Societies) held in Regina, Saskatchewan. On November 7, 2002 he was sworn in at the founding of the Academia Parano-Catarinense de Letras. This organization, with a current membership of forty-five, consists of individuals who have published works of recognized and significant value to the cultural understanding of Rio Negro, Mafra and other towns in the federal states of Parana and Santa Catarina.

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Irmgard Hein Ellingson, M.A., is a founding member and international director of the Bukovina Society of the Americas. She is also president of the Federation of East European Family History Societies. Her publication credits include two books and shorter works in German, Canadian, and American periodicals. She has taught high school German, government, and world and U.S. history and in September 2002 she will teach German at Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa. She lives in Grafton, Iowa.

Renate Gschwendtner lebt mir ihrer Familie in Niederbayern. In der Freizeit beschäftigt sie sich mit der Erforschung ihrer Ahnen. In Ergänzung dazu bringt sie die Erinnerungen ihrer Großmutter, Gisela Oberländer, zu Papier.
  

Rudolf und Gisela Oberländer mussten 1940 ihre Heimat, die Bukowina und das ZIPSERDORF Eisenau, verlassen. Sie fanden eine neue Heimat in Oberbayern, wo sie im Hause von Tochter und Schwiegersohn lebten.
 

Ihre Enkelin Renate hörte schon als Kind gerne zu, wenn ihre Großmutter Geschichten über die ZIPSER aus Eisenau erzählte.

Gisela Oberländer starb im Jahr 2002 im Alter von 93 Jahren. Das Ziel ihrer Enkelin ist es, die Erinnerungen ihrer Großmutter vor dem Vergessenwerden zu bewahren.

Noch zu Lebzeiten ihrer Großmutter veröffentlichte sie mehrere Artikel im „Newsletter der Bukovina-Society“ und im „Südostdeutschen“. Momentan ist sie mit der Auswertung zahlreicher Tonbandkassetten beschäftigt, die von Gisela Oberländer besprochen wurden. 

Renate's homepage ist http://home.t-online.de/home/rejo.gschwendtner/. Ihre E-mail Addresse ist rejo.gschwendtner@t-online.de
 

Renate Geschwendtner lives with her family in Lower Bavaria. In her spare time she pursues genealogical research in conjunction with which she has recorded the reminiscences of her grandmother, Gisela Oberländer.

In 1940 Rudolf and Gisela Oberländer had to leave their homeland of Bukovina and the Zipser village of Eisenau. They found a new home in Upper Bavaria, where they resided in the house of their daughter and son-in-law.

As a small child granddaughter, Renate, eagerly listened to her grandmother's tales about the Zipsers of Eisenau.  

Gisela Oberländer died in 2002 at the age of ninety-three. It is the goal of the granddaughter to prevent her grandmother's tales from to slipping into oblivion.

  In her grandmother's' lifetime several of Renate's articles had already been published in the Bukovina Society's Newsletter and in the Südostdeutsche (Augsburg), the monthly publication of the Landsmannschaft der Buchenlanddeutschen (Association of Bukovina Germans). She is currently transcribing numerous audiotapes which include the dialogue of Gisela Oberländer.

Doug Reckmann was born in 1951 in Portland, Oregon, the second of 4 children of Henry Reckmann and Adela von Allmen. He graduated with a BA in Liberal Studies from Oregon State University in 1973, with minors in Architecture and German. As a post-baccalaureate student, he studied Germanistic at the Universität Stuttgart.

He works as a free-lance machinery designer and AutoCAD programmer in Portland, Oregon. He is a member of MENSA, who enjoys liberal (socially responsible) activism, reading, gardening, the opera (music in general), and all things teutonic. His passion is his "dead relative collection". Doug's maternal grandmother, Cecilia von Allmen geb. Jung, was born in Schwarzthal, Bukowina in 1909. In 1910, her parents, Wenzel Jung and Klara geb. Seemann immigrated to Portland to join Klara's sister, Anastasia, and her husband, Wenzel Tauscher, who, in 1888, had immigrated to Chehalis, Washington.

While researching his roots in Schwarzthal, Doug discovered the Bukovina Society and Sophie Welisch's book "The Bori Story", which mentioned many of his relatives, via their combined German-Bohemian roots. The result is now a combined data-base of the ancestors and descendants of the founders of Bori and Schwarzthal. Doug hopes to soon be able to publish a book about Schwarzthal including a mono-graph of all of the families who lived in Schwarzthal for it's almost 100 year German-Bohemian existence. In June, 2001, Doug, along with 15 other previous inhabitants and other Schwarzthal descendants, visited their ancestral home. He also participated in the 50th Anniversary meeting of the Buchenland Landsmannschaft in Suceava on 6 June 2001.

His current interests are: (1) expanding his Schwarzthal-Bori database to include ALL of the German-Bohemians who emigrated to Bukowina; (2) learning Latin; (3) learning the Low German dialect (Moin, Moin, Plattdütsch - dat kann jeder lehrn!)

Dr. Claus Stephani, Ethnologe, Schriftsteller und Journalist, lebt in Baldham bei München, veröffentlichte 1975 das erste Buch mit Lebenserinnerungen (Oral History) von Zipsern aus der Bukowina: „Erfragte Wege. Zipser Texte aus der Südbukowina“, Kriterion Verlag: Bukarest. Danach zahlreiche Studien und Aufsätze über deutschen Siedlergruppen in der Bukowina sowie die Sammlungen „Zipser Volkserzählungen aus der Maramuresch, der Südbukowina und dem Nösner Land“, Kriterion Verlag: Bukarest, 1981, und „Eichen am Weg. Volkserzählungen der Deutschen in Rumänien“ Kapitel: „Buchenland“, S. 288-328), Dacia Verlag: Cluj-Napoca, 1982. 

1983 erschien der Band „Volkserzählungen der Zipser in Nordrumänien. Maramuresch, Bukowina und Nösner Land“, N. G. Elwert Verlag: Marburg – die erste Sammlung mit Zipser Märchen und Sagen in Deutschland. Es folgten die Sammlungen „Das Mädchen aus dem Wald. Märchen, Sagen und Ortsgeschichten“ (aus dem Radautzer Ländchen). Ion Creanga Verlag: Bukarest, 1985.
         
Eine Reihe deutscher Märchen und Sagen aus der Bukowina wurden auch die  von Claus Stephani herausgegebenen Bände „Märchen der Rumäniendeutschen“ (Eugen Diederichs Verlag: München, 1991, Reihe: „Die Märchen der Weltliteratur“) und „Sagen der Rumäniendeutschen“ (Eugen Diederichs Verlag: München, 1994) aufgenommen.

Bei den Volkserzählungen (Märchen, Sagen) und Lebensgeschichten handelt es sich um Aufzeichnungen, die Claus Stephani während zahlreicher Feldforschungen selbst gemacht und gesammelt hat. Insgesamt hat Claus Stephani in den Jahren 1968-1990 über 2000 Texte aufgezeichnet, von denen der Großteil in Büchern erschienen ist. 
 

Dr. Claus Stephani, ethnologist, author and journalist, lives in Baldham near Munich. In 1975 he published the first oral history of the Zipsers of Bukovina entitled Erfragte Wege: Zipser Texte aus der Südbukowina,” (Kriterion Verlag: Bukarest). This was followed by numerous studies and articles about German settlement groups in Bukovina as well as Zipser Volkserzählungen aus der Marmuresch, der Südbukowina und dem Nösner Land (Kriterion Verlag: Bukarest, 1981) and Eichen am Weg: Volkserzählungen der Deutschen in Rumänien with a chapter entitled “Buchenland,” pp. 288-328 (Dacia Verlag: Cluj-Napoca, 1982).
           
In 1983 Volkserzählungen der Zipser in Nordrumänien, Marmuresch, Bukowina und Nösner Land, the first collection of Zipser fairy tales and folklore in Germany, was published by N. G. Elwert Verlag: Marburg.  This was followed by Das Mädchen  aus dem Wald: Märchen, Sagen und Ortsgeschichten (from the Radautz area), published by Ion Creanga Verlag: Bukarest, 1985.
           
A series of Bukovina German fairy tales and folklore from Claus Stephani’s volume entitled Märchen der Rumäniendeutschen (Eugen Diederichs Verlag: Munich, 1991) was published as part of a series in Die Märchen der Weltliteratur and in Sagen der Rumäniendeutschen (Eugen Diederichs Verlag, 1994).
           
Claus Stephani’s collections of popular literature (fairy tales and folklore) and biographies, based on numerous personal field studies, has resulted in over 2000 texts, the majority of which have been published in books between 1968-1990.

Sophie A. Welisch, Ph.D. was born in 1929 in New York, NY the daughter of Johann Welisch and Susanna Loy. She currently resides in Congers, New York, a suburb of New York City.

Dr. Welisch attended Congers High School and graduated as valedictorian in the class of 1947. Majoring in history, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey in 1958. Further historical studies resulted in a Master of Arts degree magna cum laude in 1962 from the same institution and the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in modern European history from Fordham University, New York in 1968. Dr. Welisch pursued additional graduate studies at Montclair State College, Paterson State College, and the State University of New Paltz, thereby earning New York State certification in elementary school education, in the supervision of elementary education, and in the teaching of secondary social studies.

After six years of teaching at the elementary and second school levels, Dr. Welisch was appointed assistant professor at Ladycliff College in Highland falls, NY in 1965. Her major teaching assignments included a seminar in historical research and courses in American social and diplomatic history as well as in modern European history. She was also responsible for the preparation of students planning a career in secondary social studies education, which included offering courses in educational methodology and observing practice teachers in the field.

In 1969 she was appointed associate professor at Dominican College of Blauvelt, NY and named chairperson of the Division of Social Sciences, holding the later position until 1974. In 1978 she was promoted to the rank of full professor. At Dominican College Dr. Welisch was involved in preparing teachers for elementary education and secondary social studies education, teaching courses in European, American and Third World history, and carrying out numerous administrative tasks. She was responsible for student advisement in matters involving program, career options and graduate studies.

Dr. Welisch has served as adjunct professor at a number of colleges in New York State including Pace University (Westchester) in Pleasantville, St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, the State University College in Fredonia, and Rockland Community College in Suffern. 
 

She holds membership in the Landsmannschaft der Buchenlanddeutschen (Association of Bukovina Germans) in Augsburg, Germany, and the Bukovina Society of the Americas in Hays, KS. Her research interests have focused primarily on Auslandsdeutschtum with emphasis on the history and culture of Bukovina, the homeland of her parents, and belatedly on genealogy. After retirement from teaching in 1992 she had the opportunity of traveling to Bukovina. There she visited Bori, Paltinossa and Gurahumora, villages in south Bukovina where her forebears had settled in the early nineteenth century.

Dr. Welisch has been a speaker at professional conferences in the United States, Germany and Brazil and is the author of books, articles and book reviews as well as a translator of books and articles pertaining primarily to Bukovina. A number of these works have been posted on www.bukovinasociety.org.

Sophie Anna Welisch wurde 1929 in New York als Tochter von Johann Welisch und Susanna Loy geboren. Sie lebt heute in Congers, einem Vorort von New York.

Frau Dr. Welisch besuchte bis zum Abschluss im Jahre 1947 die Oberschule in Congers. 1958 Bachelor of Arts mit dem Prädikat magna cum Laude an der Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey. 1962 Abschluss weiterer Studien an der selben Institution mit Promotion zum Master of Arts ebenfalls mit dem Prädikat magna cum laude. 1968 Dr. Phil. an der Fordham University, New York; sie promovierte über neue europäische Geschichte.

1965, nach 6 Jahren des Lehrens an Haupt- und Weiterführenden Schulen, zum ausserordentlicher Professor am Ladycliff College in Highland Falls, New York ernannt; 1969 a. o. Professor am Dominican  College in Blauvelt, New York, und bis 1973 Vorstand der Abteilung für Sozialwissenschaften; 1978 ordentlicher Professor.  Am Dominican College bereitete Frau Dr. Welisch Lehrkräfte für sozialwissenschaftliche Fächer und hatte zahlreiche Verwaltungsaufgaben inne. So war sie verantwortlich für die Beratung von Studenten in allen Angelegenheiten der Studien- und Karrierplanung im Allgemeinen sowie der Weiterbildungsmöglichkeiten im Besonderen.

Frau Dr. Welisch war Lehrbeauftragte an mehreren höheren Lehranstalten im Staate New York, so an der Pace University (Westchester) in Pleasantville, am St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, am State University College in Fredonia, und am Rockland Community College in Suffern.

Sie ist Mitglied der Landsmannschaft der Buchenlanddeutschen  in Augsbur und der Bukovina Society of the Americas in Hays, Kansas. Ihr Forschungsschwerpunkt ist das Auslandsdeutschtum unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Geschichte und Kultur der Bukowina, dem Land ihrer Vorfahren. In ihren späteren Jahren hat sie sich auch intensiv mit dem Thema Ahnenforschung beschäftigt. Nach ihrer Pensionierung im Jahre 1992 reiste sie in die südliche Bukowina und besuchte dort Bori, Paltinossa und Gurahumora, jene Orte, in denen im frühen 19. Jahrhundert ihre Vorfahren gelebt hatten.

Frau Dr. Welisch hat zahlreiche Vorträge auf Fachkonferenzen in den Vereinigten Staaten, Deutschland und Brasilien gehalten sowie Bücher, Fachartikel, Übersetzungen und Rezensionen veröffentlicht. Ein Überblick über ihre Arbeiten über die Bukowina finden sich unter www.bukovinasociety.org.

Oren Windholz ist in Hays, Kansas geboren und dort aufgewachsen. Er hat die St. Joseph Militärakademie und die Ft. Hays State Universität absolviert. Er ist Musiker, war Offizier in der Armee der Vereinigten Staaten und ist nach 25 Jahren als Präsident und Verwaltungsdirektor des St. Anthony Hospitals in den Ruhestand gegangen. Während dieser Zeit war er unter anderem Präsident der Kansas Catholic Hospital Association (Vereinigung der katholischen Krankenhäuser im Staate Kansas), wurde von drei Gouverneuren von Kansas in staatliche Aufsichtsgremien berufen und war in verschiedenen Gremien lokaler Firmen sowie gemeinnütziger Organisationen tätig. 

Oren Windholz ist seit der Gründung der Bukovina Society of the Americas ihr Präsident und ebenfalls seit der Gründung Herausgeber des Bukovina Newsletter. Seine Verbindungen zur Bukowina bestehen auf der mütterlichen Seite durch die Familien Fuchs und Erbert. Er hat viele seiner Forschungsergebnisse veröffentlicht und hält des öfteren Vorträge vor der Gemeinschaft der bukowinadeutschen Siedler im westlichen Kansas. 1996 besuchte er zusammen mit einer Gruppe von Amerikanern und Kanadiern bei einer vom Bukowina Institut in Augsburg organisierten Reise das Gebiet der ehemaligen Bukowina. 

Oren und seine Frau Pat haben 2 Söhne und 2 Enkeltöchter. Ihre anderen Interessen sind Aktivitäten in der Natur und die Erforschung der Geschichte der Militärzeit von Pats Vater während des Zweiten Weltkriegs. Zu Ehren der Kriegsgefangenen von Stalag IX B unterhalten sie eine Seite im Internet unter http://www.usd407.org/rms/chris/StalagWebPage/index.html  

Werner Zoglauer is a retired Vice President of a large Illinois bank, where he managed the development of computer software for banking applications.    Both of Werner’s parents were born in Bukovina at the end of World War I.  At the start of World War II, his parents were re-settled from Bukovina to Dresden, Germany, where they first met. 
         

Werner's family lived in East Germany until 1950, when they escaped across the guarded East/West German border to a Bukovina settlement in Stuttgart-Büsnau, West Germany.  In 1955, the family immigrated to Naperville, Illinois, a city which also was home to many immigrants from Bukovina in the early 1900's and where he still lives today.  Werner and his wife Wally, have four married children and three grandchildren.
         

In 1992, Werner began researching his German Bukovina ancestry, discovering several generations of ancestors in the Radautz and Fürstenthal church records.  In 1994, Werner attended his first Bukovina Society of the Americas “Bukovinafest” meeting in Ellis Kansas. There he met many distant cousins and fellow Bukovina genealogy researchers, whose work helped Werner fill in the gaps in his own ancestral research.  Through his own research and through the published Genealogies of other Bukovina Society members, Werner has built a database of over 8,800 Bukovina descendants.  He has shared this database with many other Bukovina Society members and maintains a copy of this database  on the society's PC in Ellis, Kansas
 

In the spring of 2002, as a member of the Bukovina Society website committee, Werner undertook the responsibility for the technical design and construction of this site and has been responsible for formatting and publishing the content prepared by the authors and/or translators of the many articles viewable at this site.

Werner Zoglauer war bis zu seinem Eintritt in den Ruhestand  als Vorstand bei einer großen Bank in Illinois für die Entwicklung der hausinternen Software zuständig. Beide Eltern Werners wurden Ende des Ersten Weltkriegs in der Bukowina geboren. Zu beginn der Zweiten Weltkriegs wurden sie aus der Bukowina nach Dresden umgesiedelt wo sich die beiden auch kennenlernten. 

Werners Familie lebte bis 1950 in Ostdeutschland von wo sie über die militärisch gesicherte Grenze zwischen Ost- und Westdeutschland in die bukowinadeutsche Siedlung in Stuttgart-Büsnau floh. 1955 wanderte die Familie nach Naperville in Illinois aus, einer Stadt, die zu Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts ebenfalls vielen Auswanderern aus der Bukowina zur zweiten Heimat geworden war und in der Werner auch heute noch lebt. Er und seine Frau Wally haben 4 verheiratete Kinder und 3 Enkelkinder. 

1992 begann Werner seine bukowinadeutschen Ahnen zu erforschen und fand zahlreiche seiner Vorfahren in den Kirchenbüchern von Radautz und Fürstenthal. 1994 wohnte Werner zum ersten mal dem „Bukowinafest“, dem Treffen der Bukovina Society of the Americas in Ellis im Staate Kansas, bei. Dort traf er viele entfernte Verwandte und an der Bukowina interessierte Ahnenforscher, deren Arbeit ihm halfen, die Lücken in der Erforschung seiner eigenen Ahnenreihe zu schließen. Durch seine eigene Arbeit sowie die veröffentlichten Ergebnisse von anderen Mitgliedern der Bukovina Society ist es Werner gelungen eine Datenbank mit über 8.800 Bukowinanachkommen aufzubauen. Er hat diese an viele andere Mitglieder der Bukovina Society weitergegeben und betreut eine Kopie seiner Datenbank auf dem PC der Gesellschaft in Ellis, Kansas. 

Als Mitglied des für den Internetauftritt der Bukovina Society verantwortlichen Gremiums übernahm Werner Anfang 2002 die Verantwortung für die technische Gestaltung und Einrichtung dieser Seite und ist seither verantwortlich für die Formatierung und Veröffentlichung der Inhalte, die von Autoren und/oder Übersetzern der vielen auf dieser Seite zu findenden Artikel bereitgestellt werden.