My name is Rebecca Kichta Miller and I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, mostly on the South Side, and am the eldest of seven children.  I have been "doing genealogy" since 1971 when my mother gave me copies of two family trees: one that my mother’s brother created after a trip to Ireland and the other done by a distant cousin of my father's who was trying to document their maternal great grandmother’s family for the DAR. (Both of which were wrong!)

 In 1975, I moved away from Pittsburgh.  In the days before the internet, while my children were at school, I spent many hours scouring libraries and repositories for information to fill in the gaps on those family trees and many vacation days back in Pittsburgh collecting photos, stories, and memorabilia.  Once living in Northern Virginia and working in Washington, D.C., I discovered the National Archives, the Library of Congress, and the DAR Headquarters.  With the advent of the Internet, a trip to Ireland, many, many interviews with close family members, and numerous educational seminars, webinars, and conferences under my belt, I now consider herself a “Not-Certified Genealogist." 

Upon moving back to Pittsburgh in 2006, I became active in several local genealogical organizations.  Currently, I am serving as the President-Elect of the Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society (2020-2021), then President (2021-2022) and as Editor of the Society’s newsletter, Jots from the Point.  Each September, I get to organize the Genealogy Pavilion at both the Pittsburgh Irish Festival and the Ligonier Highland Games, providing outreach and resources to anyone who has an interest in family history, whether they have Irish or Scottish ancestors.  I am also an active member in the North Hills Genealogists, the National Genealogical Society, the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, the Irish Family History Foundation, St. Andrews Society of Pittsburgh, Gaelic Arts Society of Pittsburgh, the Ulster Historical Foundation, and the North of Ireland Family History Society.

I have ten descendants:  three sons, four granddaughters, two grandsons, and one great grandson.  They are all aware of their diverse heritage and who their ancestors were.