Marissa Warkentin, B.A. (Family History & Genealogy)

Originally from Inyokern, California, Marissa Warkentin is a professional genealogist living in Salt Lake City, Utah. Marissa began genealogy research at age 15, working along side her mother at the local family history center. She loved research and finding out who her ancestors were and why they did the things they did. She began college shortly thereafter, and earned her Associate of Arts degree in Humanities with a music emphasis. After transferring to Brigham Young University, at age 17, she considered changing her major to mathematics, but soon realized that family history was her real passion.

Rather than specializing in research for any particular country, Marissa took classes on every country and region her ancestors were said to have originated. In doing this, she became proficient at researching in several European countries, and various regions of the United States & Canada. Additionally, she also gained a reputation for doing immigration research.

During her time as an undergraduate, Marissa taught the beginning family history workshops as a teaching assistant in the BYU family history department. She also worked briefly as a research assistant to a professor studying Utah polygamist prosecution cases from the late 1880s.

Marissa began her genealogical writing career by publishing a “How To” article on using the Hamburg Passenger Lists from the 1800s. Her second published work was an immigrant case study for a German family who came to Wisconsin in the late 1800s. Since her graduation, Marissa has also had an article published by Crossroads about a Mormon pioneer problem that she solved using DNA. In addition to writing, Marissa is also a proficient editor. Her internship was under Thomas K. Edlund, as the assistant editor of the 2004 FEEFHS Journal (Federation of Eastern European Family History Societies).

After graduating from BYU, Marissa worked briefly on the electronic production team at MyFamily.com (now The Generations Network) and for over a year at Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation. Since that time she has been working as a professional genealogy researcher. Marissa Warkentin is preparing to take the exam to become an Accredited Genealogist. We’re happy to now have her on our team at ProGenealogists!

Marissa is looking forward to assisting you with research in many countries. Her research specialties include:

Feel free to contact her to request a free estimate!