Kendra was born in London, Ohio and has lived most of her life here in Ohio. Her youth was spent in Caledonia, Ohio, a small farming community in Marion County. It was there she developed her love for nostalgia, a curiosity about the past. Much of her time was spent in the one-room library or on a neighbor’s porch listening to her elders share stories. During her high school years, she moved to Galion, Ohio. Her parents were both born and raised in Crawford County, and many of her family members still reside there. Kendra, while researching her genealogy, is finding that much of her more recent family history lies in Crawford County.
After graduating from Galion High School, Kendra lived and worked in Columbus for a few years and then moved to Chicago, Illinois. It was there she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in English at Loyola University and her Masters in Library and Information Science from Rosary College (now known as Dominican University). Upon graduation, Kendra worked downtown in the library of the Chicago Community Trust, a foundation that allocates funds to communities and social service groups in the city. This experience provided her an even broader scope of knowledge about the “Windy City’s” neighborhoods and history.
After several years, she and her family moved back to Columbus, Ohio. Kendra is a self-proclaimed “Ohioan at heart” and wanted her daughter to be closer to her extended families. Kendra wishes to instill in her daughter the sense of family and community her parents both shared here in Ohio.
After working for National City Corp in their systems department, Kendra is happy to have the opportunity to work for Preservation Ohio and to become more fully acquainted with Ohio’s communities and history.