Rest in peace David R. Bachinsky, who passed away yesterday after a long and bravely fought battle with glioblastoma. David joined his cousin Jeane Robinson over the rainbow. It’s hard for me to think about one and not the other. Not only were they cousins, they were both important contributors to Irish Bowe(s) research whose giving lives ended much too soon.
First Jeane, who passed away in 2013, became one of those new breeds of friends one knows only through facebook, email and the occasional phone call. With great dedication and a fabulous sense of humor, she manually compiled and left me with a massive, 4300+ row spreadsheet of Irish Bowe(s) birth, marriage and death record information. Despite the growth of Irish records online, her spreadsheet is still invaluable to me when researching families.
Along the way Jeane introduced me to her cousin David. David had a PhD and career history in genetics and enthusiastically joined the DNA project as a co-admin. He generously shared his vast knowledge from the genetics world and helped dispel some myths that a pseudoscientist was spreading around the internet about Irish Bowe(s) history. I’ll miss my occasional phone calls with David and his gentle, giving spirit, one that seems to run right through the Bowes/Bachinsky families.
It’s hard to believe that since I started the project in 2004 both David and Jeane have now come and gone. They each left their special mark, and their contributions will continue to inform and inspire ongoing research in the Bowes One-Name Study. RIP
