By Angela Marshall
Warren Brenner began his detective work more than five years ago when he stumbled across his grandparents' marriage certificate. The retired superintendent of public works for the Village of Rockville Centre began to wonder about his ancestors and the places they came from.
He never dreamed the search would take him to a small German town where he would meet a long lost relative. He hopes the story of his success will encourage others to seek out their family history.
Warren began his search on the Internet using sites such as the Latter-Day Saints' Family Search.
I just sought out as much as I could about them, he said.
Warren tracked his ancestors to some small German towns and even found a painting of the ship his grandfather, Wilhelm, used to immigrate to America when he was 18 years old.
While surfing the Net last year, Warren found a Web site for heritage trips in Germany. Have you always wanted to visit your ancestor's place of origin? Do you want to do local research and search for possible cousins?' the site asked.
Warren's answer was a definite Yes.
He contacted the site's creator, Peggy McKenzie. She is an American who lived in Germany for 24 years. Just like other genealogy buffs, McKenzie gained experience through trial and error. Soon it became her full-time occupation and she started helping others find their German roots.
Warren, his wife, Cynthia, and son, Robert, booked a trip. They were scheduled to leave Sept. 11. Instead, America was attacked.
The Brenner's rescheduled for this spring and believe the new date allowed them to stumble across people they never would have found if they had taken the September trip.
Warren's grandmother was from the village of Odenhausen, current population around 500 people. It consists of only houses and a church
