By Kelly Hansen
Kelly Hansen is currently a member of Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Tombstone Chapter, centered in Sierra Vista. She is a part of the Vail Organizing Chapter team. Kelly moved to the Rita Ranch/ Vail area 28 years ago and has resided here since.
Kelly is looking forward to the Vail Organizing DAR Chapter partnering with the Vail Schools and recognizing students for their academic & community achievements.
Her favorite part about DAR is the sisterhood between members. In her three short years as a Tombstone member, she has served as DAR Magazine Chair, resulting in the Tombstone chapter winning a national award. As Chapter Historian she enjoys taking pictures of the chapter activities, then scrapbooking those events and archiving the chapter history. She has also served as the Arizona State Debutante chair.
Kelly started her genealogy research when she was in her 7th grade history class, as a class assignment. After gathering the beginning information, she held onto it until 18 years ago, when she started researching on Ancestry.com. (As a busy mother raising her daughter and working in the Vail School District and as a realtor over the years, she researched a little at a time.) Approximately ten years ago she found her first Revolutionary War patriot. Finally, five years ago, once her daughter was off to college, she was able to dig into the research and apply to DAR. Her genealogy and history interests include the American Revolution, the Southern United States, English Tudor, Ireland, and Scotland history.
Outside of DAR, Kelly volunteers as an assistant swim coach at Cienega High School. She has worked and volunteered in multiple areas of the Vail School District, as well as volunteering at Tucson’s Hands of Hope pregnancy and sexual health resource center.
The DAR is a non-profit, non-political, worldwide service organization devoted to Historic Preservation, Education & Patriotism and family history. Any woman, 18 years or older, who can prove lineal bloodline descent from an ancestor who aided the American Revolution, is eligible to join. DAR and the Vail organizing team will help you with your genealogy research, if needed, and they have a database of research to assist in the application process. If you are interested in joining, contact Sierra Hansen at sierrahDAR@gmail.com.
