Wendi was born and raised in Houston, TX in a close-nit family that extended many generations to great aunts and uncles and many second and third cousins. This is where her love of family history began. She moved to South Florida with her first husband, James Reid, in 1987, with whom she had a son. She met her current husband, Jim Lichwiarz, there and married in 1989. They had two daughters together and remained there for 16 more years where Wendi was blessed to have a successful career while being the proverbial soccer mom. In 2004, the family moved to Richmond, VA where she now resides.