In 2004, Edgie (Ed) Donakey took a job with FamilySearch International, a nonprofit organization sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Church of Jesus Christ). Ed fell in love with the work. The job was taken with an agreement of two years, but then those two years passed, and then another and another. Now, eighteen years later, he still looks forward each day to the job he loves and has no plans to quit anytime soon.
Ed came to FamilySearch International while it was evolving to use more technology for storing and sharing records. During his tenure at FamilySearch, Ed has identified technical and cooperative solutions to acquire critical technology and genealogical data.
He now serves as Vice President of Strategic Relations and Deputy Chief Genealogical Officer reporting to David Rencher, Chief Genealogical Officer at FamilySearch. The two have worked together for many years and have formed a strong, professional partnership and personal friendship. Along the way, Ed has shared his knowledge to mentor many people in FamilySearch.
“Ed has had an amazing career in the business and technology arenas and has now taken those skills into the family history profession. We are fortunate to have him work with our many societies and key influencers in the genealogical community where he opens numerous opportunities for FamilySearch to help move this important work forward. He is an incredibly dedicated man,” said David Rencher.
Early Life
As a young man, Ed had no inkling that his life would lead him to where he is today.
He was born in California, United States and spent his early teen years in Malta—an archipelago in the central Mediterranean between Sicily and the North African Coast. His father was a troubleshooter for international oilfields, which required him to travel. After each trip, father and son would catch up on Ed’s daily activities. The two became very close, and Ed cherished memories with his father.
“When Dad had to leave, I was somewhat lonely, but when he was there, it was wonderful. His time at home was dedicated to the two of us. I loved not sharing him with anybody as father and son. We did everything together. When Dad was on the island, we went to basketball games and all kinds of other activities. We had dinner together. It was wonderful sharing those activities. I had experiences traveling around the country during those years that I wouldn’t have had in the United States,” Ed said.
Unfortunately, Ed's father died when Ed was 15. Ed then returned to California to live with his 24-year-old sister and brother-in-law, who had joined the Church of Jesus Christ. Ed began to learn about the Church and converted three months later.
His sister was very interested in genealogical research, which is something members of their Church often participate in, as connection to families is part of their religious beliefs. After spending a year typing up family group sheets and information, she then gathered it all and gave it to Ed. He was fascinated. He went through the documents several times during the next year and began his own research to learn more about the members of his family he never knew.
“My father and grandparents died when I was young. I wanted to learn more about my family, and I didn’t know very much. I had never been to where they were raised. I had heard stories and experiences that they’d had, but there was just so much missing that I wanted to grasp and to understand," Ed said.
The quest to find family has taken Ed to places where his ancestors lived, including Oklahoma, where his father was raised, and Arkansas, where his mother was born.
"I’ve been able to meet relatives I’d never have met otherwise. The motivation was the influence of my Church on one side and natural curiosity on the other. I wanted to understand my family to a greater degree. In terms of the old west, my family was a family of movers. From the early 1700s until the 2000s there was not one Donakey son that was born in the same state as his father until my son and his son were both born in Utah,” Ed explained.
At age 19, he was called to serve for two years for the Church as a missionary in Alabama. Following his marriage at age 24, he discovered that his third great-uncle on his father’s side was born in northern Alabama, in the first area where Ed served. He subsequently learned that other ancestors on his mother’s side helped found the city of Jasper, Walker County—another area in which he served. He has since returned to Jasper and Walker County and done significant genealogical research.
Path to FamilySearch
Ed’s life took several turns on the way to FamilySearch. His undergraduate and graduate work were in philosophy and political philosophy at Brigham Young University (BYU). He taught religion classes both as an undergraduate and as a graduate student. He scheduled an eight-month break to work at WordPerfect, a software company, before pursuing a PhD and accepting a professorial position at BYU.
He later worked at 3Com, another company in the tech industry, and quickly rose to a management level. He thoroughly enjoyed the work and made connections with a broad group of people throughout Silicon Valley and around the world in this industry.
However, each of these jobs required him to travel 100,000 to 150,000 miles per year, which meant he had to be away from home more than he wanted. So, after 10 years, a change was in order. He first took a position with software company Caldera over international marketing, and then corporate operations.
The company executed a successful public offering, and he enjoyed the work, but this job also required a lot of travel. When the time came for a management change, Ed took this opportunity for a much-needed break to spend more time at home with his wife and children. During this break, he was recruited to work part-time as the founding CEO of Golder Melick Insurance Reserve, where he and the rest of the management team executed the business plan.
Jay Verkler, then-CEO of FamilySearch, had contacted Ed during the same month as Golder, and they discussed Ed coming on board with FamilySearch. When Jay understood that Ed was taking time off, Jay encouraged him to do so, but asked for the right of first refusal when Ed was ready to start back to work.
Eighteen months later, a position was offered. After spending six months considering the possibility and praying about the direction he should take, Ed accepted the job.
Career with FamilySearch
When he began at FamilySearch, Ed did all the negotiations for technology. Ed’s leadership experience and connections in the technological world were valuable assets. Over the next eight years, he negotiated to acquire sophisticated hardware and software solutions for FamilySearch and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He also helped develop RootsTech within FamilySearch, which first launched in 2011. The fledgling conference has expanded from Salt Lake City by using computer technology to reach the entire world annually and draws millions of participants.
“FamilySearch is the most important professional endeavor of my life. It’s a privilege to be involved in FamilySearch, and I’ll do whatever I’m asked, whenever. I don’t care if it’s running the [Chief Genealogical Office], strategic relations, or taking out the garbage. I want to be involved in FamilySearch,” Ed said. “I don’t know that any work I’ve done professionally is as rewarding or valuable as what we are doing here.”
Ed's initial FamilySearch assignment was to first, identify technical and cooperative solutions to support engineering, and second, to negotiate with leading organizations and other genealogical companies to acquire critical genealogical data. As Deputy Chief Genealogy Officer, he is now also involved in negotiations for genealogical records and data, as well as focusing on the genealogical community and key influencers.
Among other duties, the Chief Genealogical Office collaborates with other genealogical, historical, library, and museum communities. CGO officers’ duties are to encourage sound research and coordinate with other departments of FamilySearch.
The CGO also works with engineering teams to ensure that the products and services created by FamilySearch function to meet the Standards for Genealogical Soundness. They build relationships, represent FamilySearch, make connections with genealogical influencers, and collaborate with other record-holding entities on such key initiatives as the War of 1812 Pension Files, the Index for the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors, Reclaiming Our African Roots (R.O.A.R.), and the 1950 Census Indexing Project.
Through his FamilySearch position, Ed has met remarkable genealogists around the world and formed life-long friendships. He has served in leadership capacities in the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS), and the new National Genealogical Society (NGS) formed by the FGS and NGS merger. He is currently a director-at-large with NGS and sits on the Finance Committee of the Association of Genealogy Schools and Educators. He has discovered common ground in family history with many leaders in the technology industry.
Besides his work for FamilySearch, Ed provides business and technology support to genealogical societies and the community. He sits on advisory boards for several tech companies and is a guest lecturer at BYU and Utah Valley University and has served on various charitable boards. He most recently served as past chairman of the board for the Kids on the Move organization.
His dedication and love of the job have resulted in contributions that have furthered the work of FamilySearch in myriad ways.
