Tammy Mellema is more than just the office administrator at New Cathedral Cemetery in Baltimore. She’s the “detective of the dead.”
Her nickname, coined by a fellow colleague, comes from her longtime passion for genealogy, the study of family history, ancestry and lineages over generations.
A Baltimore native, Mellema has been doing genealogical research for more than 20 years and has been acquainted with cemeteries her whole life.
“I’ve always loved cemeteries,” Mellema said. “I’ve always loved genealogy. If I could find a job where all I did was genealogy all day long, I would be in my glory.”
Every day, New Cathedral Cemetery receives genealogy requests through its website. Once a request is paid for, Mellema hits the ground running. Sometimes, requests date back to the 1800s.
Between New Cathedral’s own archival files, the Baltimore County Genealogy Society and online resources such as MyHeritage.com, Newspapers.com and Ancestry.com, Mellema is usually able to find a starting point to begin the process. She utilizes all kinds of records – from death certificates and census reports to historical newspaper articles and obituaries.
“It’s like I’m always doing puzzles,” Mellema said. “It’s a lot of rabbit holes you go down.”
Though genealogy can sometimes be tedious and time-consuming, Mellema said she is able to complete requests 95 percent of the time. Her goal is not just to find the names and dates of the people she’s looking for, but to understand who they were and how they were connected to one another.
“I love when I find families,” she said. “It’s the best feeling in the world when I can connect families or tell you something you didn’t know about your family”
Rita Doerr, a parishioner of Our Lady of the Fields in Millersville, was among those Mellema helped.
Doerr’s genealogy journey started after an old colleague and close friend began researching his own family ancestry. Feeling inspired, Doerr decided in February 2025 to dig into her own family history and was “amazed” at how much information she could find.
After a couple visits to the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis, Doerr discovered the death certificates of her great-grandfather, Samuel J. McCardell, and her great-great-grandfather, Samuel P. McCardell. Both certificates listed New Cathedral Cemetery as their place of burial.
Doerr visited the cemetery twice. During her first visit, she was able to locate Samuel J.’s gravesite and had New Cathedral cemetery staff adjust his tombstone, which had previously fallen over. On her second visit, Doerr set out to find Samuel P.’s burial site. After spending an hour walking through the cemetery in search of the site, she realized she was close to becoming locked inside.
After calling the front desk and explaining the situation, Mellema and other employees were able to help her locate the unmarked burial site which included her great-great-grandparents Samuel P. McCardell and Mary J. McCardell; her great-great-great-grandfather, John McCardell; and eight other relatives. Doerr was overcome with emotion and broke down in tears.
Doerr and Mellema are now working together to correct Samuel J.’s middle initial from a G to a J on the original tombstone to properly reflect the information on his death certificate. Doerr is also working with New Cathedral to create a new tombstone honoring more of the family members who were buried there. The new tombstone will feature the last name “McArdle,” the original Irish spelling of “McCardell.”
“She (Mellema) actually created a booklet of all the information, all of her notes, who was laid out where, the whole bit,” Doerr said. “There would have been no way I could have done this without her. Absolutely no way.”
Pamela Currey, a Florida resident with family ties to Baltimore, was another successful recipient of New Cathedral genealogy services. Currey became interested in genealogy in 2015 after her identical twin sister took an ancestry test, which sparked Currey’s curiosity about her family roots.
Currey and her sister discussed the results with their father, which later led to Currey’s continued research of her paternal ancestry. Currey explained that it was especially meaningful because it was one of their last conversations before he died.
After Currey’s mother died in October 2024, she decided to research her mother’s genealogy, too. After using FindAGrave.com and discovering that some of her family members were buried at New Cathedral, Currey paid for the cemetery’s additional research services and eventually met Mellema in person.
“I just wanted more and more information. She (Mellema) did quite a bit of research for me on my family,” Currey said. “When I went to Baltimore in November of last year, I met her. And it was just amazing to be at the cemetery.”
Currey was able to visit the burial sites of several family members, including her paternal great-great-great-grandparents, Simon Considine and Ellen Considine; her maternal great-great-great-grandparents, Charles V. Wheltle and Catherine A. Yakel; her paternal great-great-grandparents, Edward Lynch and Mary Considine Lynch; her maternal great-great-grandmother, Catherine Hutton Wheltle; her paternal great-grandparents, William Jasper Clark and Margaret Julia Lynch Clark; and her maternal great-grandparents, George Jacob Rolf and Mary Catherine Wheltle.
Currey explained that during his time, Charles V. Wheltle was heavily involved in his parish, Holy Cross in Federal Hill. Currey was even able to find a Baltimore Sun article that dates back to Sept. 28, 1885, stating that Wheltle was one of the parishioners who carried the cross that would be put on the steeple that day.
With the help of New Cathedral, Currey had one of the gravestones cleaned that marked the plot where many of her family members are buried. Mellema also told her that nearly 90 years earlier in 1937, her great-grandmother, Margaret Julia Lynch Clark, had arranged to have the grave cleaned.
“What an honor to follow in her footsteps and have the grave cleaned again,” Currey said.
For those interested in researching their genealogy, Mellema recommends starting small.
“Start with yourself – who were your parents? Who were their parents? That’s where I always say to start,” Mellema said.
Mellema said she is proud of the work she and her team do at New Cathedral and the opportunity to help people reconnect with those who came before them. Genealogy, she said, are the roots of who you are, where you came from, and where you’re going in life.
“Genealogy is a wonderful way to know who you are. It is all your people, all the people who came before you. Their blood runs through your blood. You’re connected to your past, and you’re connected to your ancestors.”
Visit newcathedralcemetery.org/genealogy-research-family for more information on genealogy services.
Email Jenna Mattern at jmattern@CatholicReview.org
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