I just got my weekly Dick Eastman Newsletter, and was immediately saddened to see that my long-time friend, Mel Wolfgang, has passed away. It was expected, as he has been fighting brain cancer for some time. However, that doesn’t make it any easier. Mel produced the highest quality maps for genealogists that we were able to purchase. Over the years, I personally sold many hundreds of them, always knowing that our customers would be pleased, as the detail was superb. Mel and his wife, Pat, also sold used books of interest to historians and genealogists. Here again, I often came away with unique items from the Jonathan Sheppard Book booth at various conferences. We’re all going to miss Mel.
The following excerpt is from his obituary:
NASSAU – Meldon John Wolfgang III, 68, of Nassau, New York died July 5, 2013 at the Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers, MA after a long illness. He was born on March 14, 1945 in Albany, NY, the only child of Meldon J. Wolfgang, Jr. of Albany, NY, and Madeline Frances Scott of Brooklyn, NY…
An active and avid genealogist and family historian since 1961, Mel was the founder and owner of Jonathan Sheppard Books, specializing in out-of-print books on genealogy and local history, as well as re-publishing historic maps for genealogists and historians. He taught and lectured about genealogy and family history around the US and Canada for nearly 40 years. Mel wrote the genealogy column for the New York State Archives Partnership Trust’s quarterly magazine “Archives” from 2005-2012 and wrote other scholarly and educational articles for the genealogist. He was a member of many state and local, national and professional genealogical societies and archival organizations and a Fellow of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society…
Read Mel’s full obituary at the New Comer-Cannon Funeral Home website.