World Heart Day 2026

September 29 is World Heart Day.  The main emphasis on World Heart Day is the steps that you as an individual can take regarding your health to try to have a heart that keeps on working for you.  But whenever I think of heart health, I think of my half-sister's mother's side of her family.

See, I'm an obsessed genealogist.  So I research just about everyone associated with my family.  And of course I researched my sister's mother's family.  Why wouldn't I?  I even knew her!  (And quite a fascinating character she was, too.)

I had done a fair amount of research on her family.  I was going to be visiting my brother, and my sister was coming too.  So I printed out an updated family tree to give to her.

But when I looked at it, I suddenly noticed an unnerving fact:  In four generations, every man but one had died before reaching the age of 60.  And every single one of them had died from a heart attack.  (I wrote about this aspect of Laurie's family a few years ago in detail.)

The only male member of the family to live to see 60, and quite a few years beyond that, may have noticed this trend himself.  I know that he retired early and enjoyed many years after that.  Coincidence?  You be the judge.

Amazing as it may be to some of us, family history isn't all that interesting to a lot of people.  Health histories, however, especially ones that indicate hereditary conditions, are one aspect of genealogy that attract more attention.  Tell someone his life may be affected by this, and his ears will perk up.

So as you research your family, take note of the causes of death on those death certificates.  If you see any trends, let other family members know.  Maybe they'll be able to stay around a little longer because you told them.

Discovering a Family Health History

Mary Lou was the mother of my half-sister Laurie.  I try to write about her on her birthday, October 16.  In previous years I've shared some fun stories and memories about her (2019, 2018, 2017, 2016), but this year I have a more serious topic.

Because I love genealogy so much, of course I did research on Laurie's mother's side of the family.  It also helped that I knew Mary Lou.  I had the opportunity to ask her some questions about her family, but I didn't make significant progress until after she passed away.

I had collected a reasonable amount of information and had entered everything into my family tree database.  I only had four generations at the time, but I had everyone's birth and death dates.  So I printed out a basic family tree to share with my sister.

I was looking over the tree and suddenly noticed something.  In four generations of men, only one had lived to see the age of 60.

I thought I must have made a mistake.  I went back to all of my documents and certificates and checked everything.  But I wasn't wrong.

In Mary Lou's generation, her brother Robert died at 54.  Her cousin William died at 50.

Her father Francis died at 49.  Her paternal uncle Paul was dead at 59.

Her grandfather William died at the age of 58.  And his father, John, died at 57.

Okay, I was getting a little creeped out.

When I looked at the death certificates, the cause of death was the same for every man:  heart attack.

The only man in the family I have found so far who lived to see 60 was Mary Lou's cousin Jimmy, William's brother.

I've often wondered if Jimmy looked around and noticed that his brother, father, cousin, uncle, and grandfather weren't around any more, and whether he knew that they all died of heart attacks.  I actually met him once but didn't feel I could ask him that question.  I do know that he retired young and that he survived to celebrate his 60th birthday.

I hadn't looked for this health history in Mary Lou's family, but it was so striking that I couldn't help but see it once I put the information together.

But putting together a health history of your family is something you can do when you research your family history.  Read all those death certificates to learn what the causes of death were.  Do you see any trends?  Let other family members know about them.

I know not everyone gets into genealogy (!), but this is one aspect of it that you can share with your family members that they might appreciate a little more.  Maybe you can save someone's life by letting them know which health problems are part of their history.

Mary Lou would have been 82 years old today.