Our own Bette Bunker Richards has been selected for a distinguished service award by the Federation of Genealogical Societies. The award will be presented September 5 at the FGS annual banquet in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Here’s an excerpt from the award message by FGS Awards Committee Chair Sue Kaufman:

“The Federation of Genealogical Societies is proud to award Bette Bunker Richards a Distinguished Service Award for her service to the Bunker Family Association and researchers far and wide.

Her distinguished service in evidenced by her long history in genealogy – ‘long before’ 1976. Her love for helping researchers, ‘pulling rabbits out of hats’, adding to the Family archives….the ‘wealth of new data is staggering.’ It is for these activities and more, such as carrying on of the Dover branch genealogy research by releasing a CD on that branch the award is given. As a librarian I know how valuable those compiled family histories are, especially the one of this magnitude and scope. And bringing the family into the 21st century by marshalling the Bunker DNA project brings distinguished service to the community of genealogy by archiving the family history through science – and understanding what the report means! In addition to her service to the genealogical community her giving spirit helps the community at large through additional activities. The Federation is proud to award Bette Bunker Richards a Distinguished Service award for her ‘spectacular and inexhaustible’ service to the genealogical community.”