Connecting you with your roots…
Welcome to KJ Family Trees
Your journey into your family ancestry begins here with experienced guidance.
Hello, I’m Karen Joy, a passionate and detail-oriented genealogical researcher. I help you connect with your past and preserve your family’s unique heritage for future generations.
Connect with your ancestry and explore your family story.
It’s Not Just a Chart. It’s a Puzzle
I love the mysteries and I love finding the answers!
So much can be learned from knowing our family histories. I have been researching family stories for decades and would love to help you explore your roots. Before the neat trees can be devised, there are puzzles to solve. Along the way, beautiful stories emerge, stories rooted in the times and places our ancestors lived.
During our FREE consultation I can learn what you are most wanting, how I can best help you, and we can make a plan going forward.
Expert Services in Genealogy Research and Family History
Family Trees
We take the scattered leaves of your family knowledge—names, rumors, notes scribbled on old photos—and build a sturdy, documented tree. We verify facts and fill in the missing branches.
Ancestor Stories
We choose one ancestor or one specific line and dive deep. We research the local history and the cultural traditions of their time to write a rich narrative of their life, spelled out through documented records.
Mysteries Solved
Have you hit a dead end? Do you have DNA results that don’t make sense? We combine genetic genealogy with traditional research to solve parentage mysteries and break through brick walls.
Areas of Expertise
While I love solving puzzles for families of all backgrounds, I hold a special passion for:
- Jewish Genealogy:
Navigating the complexities of records from the diaspora, name changes, and migration patterns. - Adoption & Unknown Parentage:
Using genetic networks to identify biological families when paper records are missing or sealed. - Historical Context:
Connecting your family’s movements to the tangible history of the era—such as a wave of immigration, a war, or a changing border.
Ready to explore?
I am ready to help you! Tell me know what you need, what you have found so far, what challenges you have faced. Together we will create a plan the meets your needs and your budget.
Prefer to talk live? Schedule a Free Consult
Curious to do it yourself?
Through KJ Learners, I also offer “History Through Genealogy” — teaching you how to research your own tree as a way to learn history and Culture.
From the Archives
This site is growing. The Archives will soon host a collection of articles.
World Traditions
Learn the traditions — clothing, foods, games, rituals — that make our diverse heritages unique, and those that unite us. See what has carried through, what has been set aside, and learn — or speculate — why.
Mapping History
Learn how changing borders shaped our ancestors’ identities. Use maps as visual charts to put into perspective size and distance when understanding conflicts, changing demographics, and similarities — in seemingly dissimilar cultures — based on their shared geography .
Unsolved Mysteries
Glimpse inside the case studies of the brick walls we are still chipping away at. Learn the many angles to approach a mystery, the roadblocks one can face, and be there to celebrate alongside when discoveries are made, as we move ever closer to a completed goal.
Client Stories
Read incredible, true tales uncovered in our research. Witness for yourself how the complex intricacies of people are intertwined, individual stories revealing the many facets of a gem, of a moment, beyond the simplified descriptions told in history.
“Knowing your generational story firms the ground upon which you stand. It makes your life, your struggles, and triumphs, bigger than your lone existence. It connects you to a grand plotline.”
~ Cicely Tyson. Just as I Am