Researcher Mimi Bommarito in her “Happy Place,” a courthouse vault in Rock County, Nebraska, combing through land records and legal documents for clues to an ancestors’ past. While massive amounts of information have been digitized and are available online, there remains a staggering amount housed in old filing cabinets or in books on a library shelf. “The fun is in the search itself,” said Bommarito.
As a genealogist, Mimi Bommarito is a sleuth, archivist, storyteller and business owner of Roots for Research, helping people discover who they are and where they came from.
With her soft Southern accent that divulges a Louisiana childhood, Bommarito’s dive into genealogy began when her first cousin encouraged her to get an Ancestry.com DNA test. The results were mind-blowing – they actually weren’t cousins, as he had a different biological father than he had thought.
“It was an introduction by fire,” said Bommarito. “But this is when I learned that you could discover a lot about yourself and your parents through DNA matches.”
Although much of her research doesn’t require a DNA test, it is necessary for finding someone’s relatives. From there, she can build a client’s family tree.
“It takes patience and can feel like a difficult jigsaw puzzle, but the process is riveting,” said Bommarito, who takes a two-fold approach in helping clients: as a coach who helps navigate the process or as an independent who does the work.
An Orinda resident since 2007, Bommarito spent years volunteering in her daughters’ schools and currently writes a column for The Orinda News, a job she’s held since 2019. These connections have helped her business grow as people seek her help and then recommend her to other locals.
Miramonte College Advisor Ariele Taylor hired Bommarito when she hit a roadblock in her search for her great-grandfather. Since her grandfather’s adoption records were burned in a fire, she had little to work with beside his mother’s name.
“I spent many hours on Ancestry narrowing down who I thought my great-grandfather might be, but once I had it down to a handful of men, I hit an impasse,” said Taylor.
She contacted Bommarito, went on vacation and figured she wouldn’t hear anything for a couple of weeks. Two days later, Bommarito texted her that not only had she found her great-grandfather, but she’d unearthed many personal records, including his obituary, and an article with photos that his sister had written for their hometown historical society.
“It was a total home run,” said Taylor, but Bommarito didn’t stop there. “She spent a couple of hours making her way up my dad’s family tree and discovered I’m a direct descendant of Ralph Waldo Emerson. My dad’s family was so tickled.”
Inspired by her late mother and the work of CeCe Moore, the subject of ABC’s documentary series, “The Genetic Detective,” Bommarito uses online records as well as brick and mortar archives. She travels with her like-minded cousin on what they call “Ancestor Treks” and has been to Nebraska, Iowa and New Jersey. She plans to visit Salt Lake City’s genealogy library and explore family lineage in Montana.
In addition to finding missing relatives as she did for Taylor, Bommarito will do “a mass overhaul of organizing files, memorabilia and photographs.” She will sort through dusty boxes of papers and organize them into online formats or essays that can be shared.
Bommarito encourages people to build their family trees while elderly parents are still living and has this advice for budding genealogists: “Verify every bit of your research with documentation. Don’t just take other people’s work and assume it’s correct.”
“I think Mimi’s business is unique and provides an incredible service to those of us who are interested in learning more about our families,” said Taylor. “She’s extremely talented and her passion for it is obvious. Her fantastic imagination and sleuthing skills make her perfect for what she does.”
To begin your genealogical journey, contact Bommarito at mimibom@comcast.net.