Here’s 50 great questions to ask!
A great way to uncover clues to your family history or to get great quotes for journaling in a heritage scrapbook is a family interview. By asking the right, open-ended questions, you’re sure to collect a wealth of family tales. Use this list of family history interview questions to help you get started, but be sure to personalize the interview with your own questions as well.

#1 What is your full name? Why did your parents select this name for you? Did you have a nickname?
#2 When and where were you born?
#3 How did your family come to live there?
#4 Were there other family members in the area? Who?
#5 What was the house (apartment, farm, etc.) like? How many rooms? Bathrooms? Did it have electricity? Indoor plumbing? Telephones?
#6 Were there any special items in the house that you remember?
#7 What is your earliest childhood memory?
#8 Describe the personalities of your family members.
#9 What kind of games did you play growing up?
#10 What was your favorite toy and why?
#11 What was your favorite thing to do for fun (movies, beach, etc.)?
#12 Did you have family chores? What were they? Which was your least favorite?
#13 Did you receive an allowance? How much? Did you save your money or spend it?
#14 What was school like for you as a child? What were your best and worst subjects? Where did you attend grade school? High school? College?
#15 What school activities and sports did you participate in?
#16 Do you remember any fads from your youth? Popular hairstyles? Clothes?
#17 Who were your childhood heroes?
#18 What were your favorite songs and music?
#19 Did you have any pets? If so, what kind and what were their names?
#20 What was your religion growing up? What church, if any, did you attend?
#21 Were you ever mentioned in a newspaper?
#22 Who were your friends when you were growing up?
#23 What world events had the most impact on you while you were growing up? Did any of them personally affect your family?
#24 Describe a typical family dinner. Did you all eat together as a family? Who did the cooking? What were your favorite foods?
#25 How were holidays (birthdays, Christmas, etc.) celebrated in your family? Did your family have special traditions?
#26 How is the world today different from what it was like when you were a child?
#27 Who was the oldest relative you remember as a child? What do you remember about them?
#28 What do you know about your family surname?
#29 Is there a naming tradition in your family, such as always giving the firstborn son the name of his paternal grandfather?
#30 What stories have come down to you about your parents? Grandparents? More distant ancestors?
#31 Are there any stories about famous or infamous relatives in your family?
#32 Have any recipes been passed down to you from family members?
#33 Are there any physical characteristics that run in your family?
#34 Are there any special heirlooms, photos, bibles or other memorabilia that have been passed down in your family?
#35 What was the full name of your spouse? Siblings? Parents?
#36 When and how did you meet your spouse? What did you do on dates?
#37 What was it like when you proposed (or were proposed to)? Where and when did it happen? How did you feel?
#38 Where and when did you get married?
#39 What memory stands out the most from your wedding day?
#40 How would you describe your spouse? What do (did) you admire most about them?
#41 What do you believe is the key to a successful marriage?
#42 How did you find out your were going to be a parent for the first time?
#43 Why did you choose your children’s names?
#44 What was your proudest moment as a parent?
#45 What did your family enjoy doing together?
#46 What was your profession and how did you choose it?
#47 If you could have had any other profession what would it have been? Why wasn’t it your first choice?
#48 Of all the things you learned from your parents, which do you feel was the most valuable?
#49 What accomplishments were you the most proud of?
#50 What is the one thing you most want people to remember about you?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Better yet, don’t wait to be asked; spend sometime by yourself and write all this down. Give them something to remember you by: An autobiography is the most precious gift you could give your loved ones.