Who we are

Fallen Leaf Genealogy was created and is owned by Brent Reiffer, a 28-year Marine Corps veteran and active veteran advocate. Brent spent 15 years as an amateur genealogist, researching his family history and helping others do the same.

Brent’s knowledge of family research and the military became very useful while serving as the Marine Corps Attache at the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, Australia. Given the large number of U.S. service members who visited Australia during World War II (WWII), Brent responded to multiple requests to help return U.S. dog tags, given to Australians during the war, back to living family members in the U.S. Brent is proud to have returned 100% of the dog tags to a living relative.

Brent’s desire to become a professional genealogist grew during retirement and was fueled by two events. The first was his desire to learn more about his granduncle’s service and death in Italy during WWII. The second was being asked to help find living relatives of the 12 Virginia women who died while serving in the military. Brent not only learned previously unknown facts about his granduncle, but he also realized that the stories of the fallen women veterans from Virginia remain relatively unknown. Realizing just how little is known about these fallen servicemen and women, he was inspired to provide a service to anyone who wants to learn more about their family and/or family members who served in the U.S. armed forces.

Professionally, Brent is familiar with all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, having served in multiple joint commands. Additionally, Brent’s service and designations as both a Northeast Asia Regional Affairs Officer and a Southeast Asia Regional Affairs Officer provided him with opportunities to literally walk the ground of U.S. battlefields throughout the Asia-Pacific Region. Finally, Brent taught U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy-related history for nearly five years as a Marine Junior ROTC instructor.

Brent is dedicated to supplying his clients with products that adhere to the Board for Certification of Genealogists' Genealogical Proof Standard and the Genealogist’s Code of Ethics. He also consistently seeks to enhance his knowledge through various continuing professional education opportunities.

As time allows, Brent volunteers with Story Behind The Stars, a group that aims to tell the 420,000+ stories of U.S. service members who died during WWII.

Brent is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, the National Genealogical Society, and the Virginia Genealogical Society.