Sibling Saturday: My Siblings, Probably August 1966

My siblings Karen (about 8), Mary (almost 2), Mark (age 6), and Brian (age 4), probably on Mark's birthday in August 1966 (the slide film was processed in December 1966).  That's my hands and legs and blue sleeve and hair on the far right.


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

(Not-So-) Wordless Wednesday: GEDmatch Eye Color Prediction - Mom

Did you know that if you upload DNA test results to GEDmatch, you can use an eye color prediction tool on their site?

According to the site, the eye color predictor works best with DNA results from 23andMe.  In addition, the utility "used samples from the GEDmatch database which consists mostly of European descendants. As such, it will be less accurate for other ancestries."

So, knowing this in advance, I ran the predictor on my mom's DNA test results.  I did her autosomal test with Ancestry.com, then uploaded the raw data to FamilyTree DNA, and then ran a separate mitochondrial test on a new sample there. I'm not sure if this predictor uses autosomal or mitochondrial DNA or both.

Mom is of mostly European extraction.  Here is the result:

The results page also provides the following information:

"Read rules from top to bottom. In some cases, a rule cancels out results from rules above it.

CT at: rs17762363 - Increased melanin production. Adds yellow, amber, or brown. Some darkening. Contributes to brown.
CC at: rs3794604 - Blocks some melanin. Often gives light colored eyes.
GG at: rs7174027 - Blocks some melanin. Often gives light colored eyes.
CC at: rs4778241 - Low Melanin. Basis for Gray, Blue, Green, or Yellow Eyes if no other pigmentation is present.
CT at: rs3947367 - Contrasting sphincter around pupil.
TT at: rs1129038 - Penetrance modifier. Blue.
GT at: rs1470608 - Medium melanin on Anterior Epithelium. Gives dark eyes.
AG at: rs11634406 - Flecks (Nevi).

8 rules were used to make this prediction. There are 61 active rules in our evaluation model, utilizing 41 SNPs.

Please note that your FTDNA Illumina results do not contain many of the SNPs used by this utility, and therefore a considerable amount of accuracy is lost."

And here is my mom's eye in a photograph from February 2017:

Another picture of her eye, this time from Thanksgiving Day, 2016.  I don't have any color photos that clearly show her eyes from her younger days.

The website asks you to rate the accuracy of the prediction.  Here are the choices:

• It's exactly right.
• Color is correct. It missed one or two tiny details, but it's very close.
• Came close on the color(s), and got a lot of the details.
• Got some of the colors in my eye, but missed a lot of details.
• The color is not exactly close, but it's not a complete miss either.
• The prediction missed the color completely, but it picked up a few other details.
• Completely wrong. The color's not even close.

So what do you think?  Let me know in the comments!  I'm thinking this one is pretty close.


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sibling Saturday: Mary and Mark, 1966

My youngest sister Mary and my brother Mark, sometime during or before December 1966, based on the processing date on the slide mount.  I think this was Mark's birthday in August 1966, based on the gifts behind him.  My parents gave me the piece of furniture they are standing in front of (a mahogany china cabinet), and I had it until late December 2005, just before I moved back home to Texas from Washington state.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

(Not-So-) Wordless Wednesday: GEDmatch Eye Color Prediction - Dad

Did you know that if you upload DNA test results to GEDmatch, you can use an eye color prediction tool on their site?

According to the site, the eye color predictor works best with DNA results from 23andMe.  In addition, the utility "used samples from the GEDmatch database which consists mostly of European descendants. As such, it will be less accurate for other ancestries."

So, knowing this in advance, I ran the predictor on my dad's DNA test results.  I did his autosomal test with Ancestry.com, then uploaded the raw data to FamilyTree DNA, and then ran a separate yDNA test on a new sample there. I'm not sure if this predictor uses autosomal or yDNA or both.

Dad is of mostly European extraction.  Here is the result:

The results page also provides the following information:

"Read rules from top to bottom. In some cases, a rule cancels out results from rules above it.

CC at: rs3794604 - Blocks some melanin. Often gives light colored eyes.
GG at: rs7174027 - Blocks some melanin. Often gives light colored eyes.
CC at: rs4778241 - Low Melanin. Basis for Gray, Blue, Green, or Yellow Eyes if no other pigmentation is present.
CT at: rs3947367 - Contrasting sphincter around pupil.
AA at: rs1105879 - Weak Amber Gradient
TT at: rs1129038 - Penetrance modifier. Blue.
AG at: rs10467971 - Penetrance Modifier - Blue
GG at: rs12906280 - Gray ring around outer edge.

8 rules were used to make this prediction. There are 61 active rules in our evaluation model, utilizing 41 SNPs.

Please note that your FTDNA Illumina results do not contain many of the SNPs used by this utility, and therefore a considerable amount of accuracy is lost."

And here is my dad's eye in a photograph from April 1957:

And just to show that it's not an issue with the color being off from a 60-year-old photo, here's a picture of my dad's eye from December 2008 (I didn't want to use just this one photo because of the glasses and the red eye reflection):

The website asks you to rate the accuracy of the prediction.  Here are the choices:

• It's exactly right.
• Color is correct. It missed one or two tiny details, but it's very close.
• Came close on the color(s), and got a lot of the details.
• Got some of the colors in my eye, but missed a lot of details.
• The color is not exactly close, but it's not a complete miss either.
• The prediction missed the color completely, but it picked up a few other details.
• Completely wrong. The color's not even close.

So what do you think?  Let me know in the comments!  I'm thinking this one is completely wrong.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sibling Saturday: Papes, In or Before July 1966

Mom, Mary, Karen, Mark, and Brian, in the backyard at 8015 Sharpview, Houston, Texas, sometime in or before July 1966 (the processing date on the slide mount for this image).  You can see the reflection of my step-grandfather, Wallace Franklin "Archie" Archibald (1896-1970), in the sliding glass door - he is taking the photograph.  Not sure what Brian is sitting on and looking at.  The boxes appear to say something about bricks.  They might have been used to edge the flower beds, or to make the patio bigger.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

(Not-So-) Wordless Wednesday: GEDmatch Eye Color Prediction

Did you know that if you upload DNA test results to GEDmatch, you can use an eye color prediction tool on their site?

According to the site, the eye color predictor works best with DNA results from 23andMe.  In addition, the utility "used samples from the GEDmatch database which consists mostly of European descendants. As such, it will be less accurate for other ancestries."

So, knowing this in advance, I ran the predictor on my husband's AncestryDNA test results.  He is of mostly European extraction.  Here is the result:

The results page also provides the following information:

"Read rules from top to bottom. In some cases, a rule cancels out results from rules above it.

GG at: rs7174027 - Blocks some melanin. Often gives light colored eyes.

CC at: rs4778241 - Low Melanin. Basis for Gray, Blue, Green, or Yellow Eyes if no other pigmentation is present.

CC at: rs9782955 - Blocks some melanin. Often gives light colored eyes.

TT at: rs1129038 - Penetrance modifier. Blue.

GG at: rs12906280 - Gray ring around outer edge

CC at: rs7403602 - High density on Anterior Stroma. Blocks melanin. Blocks blue. Gives lighter colors.

TT at: rs1667394 - Starburst (Collarette)

CC at: rs12203592 - No pigmented Collarette.

8 rules were used to make this prediction. There are 61 active rules in our evaluation model, utilizing 41 SNPs."

And here is my husband's eye in a photograph that I took in May 2016:

The website asks you to rate the accuracy of the prediction.  Here are the choices:

• It's exactly right.
• Color is correct. It missed one or two tiny details, but it's very close.
• Came close on the color(s), and got a lot of the details.
• Got some of the colors in my eye, but missed a lot of details.
• The color is not exactly close, but it's not a complete miss either.
• The prediction missed the color completely, but it picked up a few other details.
• Completely wrong. The color's not even close.

So what do you think?  Let me know in the comments!

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday's Faces From the Past: Happy 88th Birthday, Dad! (tomorrow)

My dad, Frederick Henry Pape, about 1934, when he was about five years old.  That might be his older sister, Elizabeth "Betty" Marie Pape Streff, behind him.  And to the far left might be his Uncle Al (Alfred John Massmann, 1901-1964) and his first cousin Jean Ann Massmann McKay (1929-2001) - they can be seen better in another photograph taken the same day.

ETA 4 Feb 2022 - I believe the man in the background is actually Charles (Carl) Joseph Julius Bleidt Jr. (1870-1959), husband of Dad's aunt Martha Elisabeth Pape Bleidt (1890-1981).  The other child in the picture is probably Dad's first cousin (and son of Charles and Martha) John Charles "Jack" Bleidt (1929-1973).


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Wordless Wednesday: It's #GenealogySelfie Day!

OK, I took this almost a year ago (on February 3, 2016), but it's going to have to work for today's ‪#‎GenealogySelfie‬ Day, as I don't usually do selfies. That's me in the middle, with my first generation of ancestors - my mom, Geraldine Margaret Guokas Pape, on the left, and my dad, Frederick Henry Pape, on the right.


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.