2024 – Page 2 – It's All About Family

The End of the Line….

The week 31 topic for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is End of the Line. This story will not go in the direction you automatically think of when hearing “end of the line”.

If my teacher was putting the class in order of height, “Nancy, you go to the end of the line” would not come out of her mouth ever in 8 years at Holy Trinity School. Only if I was being separated from my sister or friends because I couldn’t stop talking!

My ancestors did NOT bring the height to my family. At the time of their ocean voyages, my grandfather Charles Jakiela, at 17 was 4’9”. My grandmother Antonia Liro, at 21 was also 4’9”. I have no ship manifest for my grandmother, Julianna Ingram, but her sister Mary’s record says she was 4’8”. My biological grandfather, Jacob Engram Jr, is listed as 5’9” on his WWII draft registration card. He’s a jolly green giant compared to the others.

The height issue is evident in Charles and Antonia’s 1912 wedding photo which looks like they put their heads into cardboard cut outs of a bride and groom.

*Charles and Antonia Jakiela June 24, 1912*

Their four male children ended up between Steve at 5’5” and Walt who reached 5’9”. If his parents had been alive when he registered for the draft, he would have towered over them by a foot!

My dad, John Jakiela, was 5’6” and my mother was 5’3”. I always say, “if I wasn’t born a twin I bet I would have been taller!” But, in all seriousness, I’ll take my twin over the height.

*2nd and 3rd in line (Dana Smith leading the way)*

Janice, at 18 months older, always had 2-3 inches on us. Just enough to not have to hem every pair of pants she got! Gail and I had a 4” growth spurt in 6th grade and except for a few more inches between then and 18, we were done at 4’11”. In standing in a line by height, we’re forever in the front and the shortest of all the relatives.

It pays to marry up! All five of the next generation are over 5 feet and the two of the next generation look like they will be able to take their place at… the end of the line.

More Cousin Memories

I started my memories of my cousin Mal here and I’m going to continue the story now.

In Mal’s senior year of high school, he and 5 other young men in the state were selected by Senator Thomas Dodd to take the special examinations for an appointment to the Naval Academy. The senator “bypassed” the standard selection of principal and alternate and instead placed all of them chosen on a competitive basis and he was one of the two.

*Mal’s graduation from Notre Dame HS West Haven*

Mal headed off to Annapolis in 1960, the same year my twin and I were born, and our older sister was 2 years old – and he was our first cousin – a whole different generation.

Mal went to Annapolis with plans to play football. My Aunt Judy said he had to stop because of headaches but according to his obituary it was “an epic boxing match” that put an end to his football career.

Parents weekend freshman year

When Mal was in high school he started dating Margaret Donroe – Margie – from Hamden. My aunt would tell us how they would be on the phone and Mal would have the phone resting on his shoulder as Margie just chatted away on the phone and he would grunt occasionally to let her know he was listening. Margie was so vivacious and pretty and I just thought they were the most beautiful couple in the world!

*Margie at Bob’s Holy Trinity school graduation 1960*

Naval Academy graduation June 3, 1964

June was a busy time for the Bellafronto Family! Mal graduated from the Naval Academy on Wednesday, June 3 1964.

He and Marge were married three days later in Hamden Connecticut on Saturday, June 6th. My sisters and I were 6 and 4 and we were at the wedding but I’m not sure about the reception.

After their wedding and honeymoon, Mal and Marge headed off to his duty station in Yokosuka Japan where he would be aboard the guided missile light cruiser the USS Oklahoma City, the flagship of the 7th Fleet.

While they were in Japan, I would look out my bedroom window and watch the sun come up over the hill and I would think that on the other side of the hill was Japan and as the sun set there, it came up here! Their oldest son, Malcolm III, was born in Japan and their second son, Eric, was born in San Francisco after his tour was completed.

*Japan was going to sleep on the other side of this hill…*

Whenever they would come to the east coast, Aunt Judy made sure everyone got together to visit with them.

After Mal left the Navy, he got into the paper industry. I remember them living in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, maybe Illinois, California, and finally Oregon. It was too bad that by the time I moved to California, they had already moved!

As the years went by, we didn’t see them as often because Aunt Judy and Uncle Mal moved to Florida.

When my cousin Bill got married in Illinois in 1987, we were together with Mal and Marge (known as Maggie by then) for the first time in a long time. Aunt Judy and Uncle Mal were there too, and we’ve always had such a fun time being with them, this visit was no exception.

*Marge, Mal, Aunt Judy, Uncle Mal, and my twin Gail*, *his goddaughter*

I saw Marge one last time at their son Eric’s wedding in San Jose in 1993 or 94 when we were living in California. Sadly, she passed away in 2009 after a reoccurrence of breast cancer.

Fast forward….

In 2013, Mal’s brother Bob was hosting a family reunion at our cottage in Lebanon CT for his daughter Cathy and her family visiting from Morocco. Mal, young Mal, and Eric came out from the west coast for the party. Bob and his wife Teri brought Aunt Judy who was now 96 years old. We had a wonderful time visiting with everyone! It felt like one of the Posluszny Fourth of July parties I’ve written about. We shared hours of memories and a lot of laughter.

The following year, 2014, Mal and Mary, his partner of a few years, were heading east. Mal would be attending his 40th Naval Academy reunion. I met with Mal during the week and we took a walk around the home on Clifton Street that his mother and mine grew up in. It was in bad shape after water damage and (probably) foreclosure, but the walkway to the back of the house was still there and the odd little entry into the basement.

I also contacted the owner of the family home on Lincoln Avenue to arrange a visit there. Their parents bought the house from Aunt Judy and Uncle Mal and they bought it from their parents. It really is a great neighborhood! We both enjoyed walking through the house, seeing the changes, and seeing what stayed the same.

Mary came out the following week, we had dinner together, and they stayed at our cottage in Lebanon Ct. The cottage his family had for the majority of his years growing up was in the next town so he and Mary spent time driving around the area and visiting the former family cottage on Pickerel Lake.

That would be the last time I saw him, but I enjoyed an email exchange, infrequent but more frequent than that with other long-distance family (hint, hint).

I talked to Mary, his partner last week and we had a nice conversation about their time together and my memories of him.

Malcolm James Bellafronto Jr 1942-2014

A Cousin’s Passing

I found out earlier this month that one of my cousins passed away in Oregon on July 15th. If you know me, or read my posts, you know that I am the Keep of All Things Family so I wanted to share my memories and thoughts on him.

My cousin, Malcolm James Bellafronto Jr, was born in October of 1942. He was the son of my Aunt Judy, my mother’s next older sibling and her husband, Mal. He was nicknamed Butch (I don’t know how he got that name). They lived on North Orchard Street when he was born.

When he was a year old, my Uncle Mal went into the Navy and my Aunt Judy and Butch moved in with my grandmother, grandfather, Aunt Tootsie, and my mother. He was a big little kid! He shared a few stories with me and although he doesn’t recall much of living on Clifton Street, he did remember this story:

During the war my mother and I lived with Gram when my father was in the Navy. I don’t have any specific memories of that period. I do have some vague recollections of Grandpa P.

There was one incident that my mother told me about later. Apparently, I used to spend time out in back with Grandpa. You remember how big the garden was. There was a gate leading into the garden that you had to lift up to get in and out. Well I wandered into the house one time and everyone wanted to know how I got out of the garden. So I showed them, lifting the gate with a loud grunt. Evidently, Grandpa always grunted when he lifted the gate. Mal was 18 months old at the time of that video!

*Aunt Judy holding Butch and sister in law Millie 1944*

He was the center of attention while living on Clifton Street!

In 1945, while his dad was on leave, the three of them drove cross country to California where his ship was docked. Aunt Judy and Butch were planning on staying with her Tante Lizzie and Uncle Ben while Mal was out to sea but he got back on board ship and was told he fulfilled his service and so was done and they came back home to Connecticut.

His brother Bob was born four years later and they eventually moved around the corner from us on Lincoln Drive in a home that Uncle Mal built with help from the students in the Wilcox Tech carpentry program where he was an automotive teacher.

The majority of males in our family attended Notre Dame High School in West Haven, CT. He played football there and relayed the following story to me:

“For the 3 summers of my high school years I would live with Gram for the two weeks before school started. My dad had August off and the family would stay at the lake in Moodus. I started early for football, 3 a day drills. Walk to the train station in the morning, train to New Haven then 2 buses to West Haven. We were on the field by 8 and finished up around 4. Then buses, train and walk to Gram’s. What I remember was how long her hair was and how she would brush it every night while we watched TV. And she was an absolute fanatic about wrestling, pounding the couch and yelling at the TV. For the 3 summers of my high school years I would live with Gram for the two weeks before school started”

Also – “But the main memory is of Gram’s cooking. The pastries she made on holidays. Her cheesecake was out of this world. Tootsie got the cheese part right but could never get the crust. As far as regular meals, I remember everything being overcooked and pretty well tasteless.”

He also told me that when they were building the stairs for the cottage in Colchester, he was the free labor! He said it was a lot of hard work and it kept him in shape for football.

He also told this story about staying at Gram’s house during the summer and the trains that passed along the side of the house going from the steel mill to the main railroad tracks:

“I also remember picking up coal that the engineer would throw into the yard when they stopped at the street. You remember the train tracks going to the steel mill behind the house.

I slept in the front bdrm by the tracks. I distinctly remember one night when I was staying there for football waking up in the middle of the night to the most god-awful noise and most brilliant white light filling the room. Had no idea where I was and what was happening.

When I finally came around enough to look out the window, I saw that the commotion was a very large steam engine stopping at the street with its carbon arc front light shining in the window. Scared the hell out of me.”

*Cousin Charles Jakiela, my parents, Butch at their wedding (altar boys)*

I hope you don’t mind if I end this here. After graduation from Notre Dame High School, Mal was heading to the Naval Academy in Annapolis Maryland.

To Be Continued….

They Came In Boats

The week 30 topic for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is Boats. I’m a week late, will try to get back on track!

SS Blücher from Hamburg Germany to New York. It carried 2,102 passengers; 333 first class, 169 second class, and 1,600 third class. My material grandfather, Konrad Posluszny, arrived on this ship on December 5, 1902.

SS Vaderland in 1906 from Antwerp Belgium. It was part of the Red Star Line. It carried 342 first class, 194 second class, and 626 third class passengers. My paternal grandfather, Charles Jakiela, arrived on this ship on November 17, 1906.

SS George Washington in 1910 from Bremen Germany. When it launched in 1908 it was the largest German built steam ship and third largest in the world and could carry 2,900 passengers. My paternal grandmother, Antonia Liro arrived on this ship in September of 1910.

*SS. George Washington from Bremen Germany*

These are just a few of the ships my ancestors sailed on during their immigration from the German-Austrian region called Galicia.

Second and third class passengers were divided into “messes” and cooked their own food and cleaned their own berths. These trips took approximately 11-15 days. They would usually bring a trunk of belongings which went in the hold for the duration of the trip and they would bring a bag with the essentials for their travel. I found this information here .

My grandfather Posluszny was traveling with $3 in his possession. Based on a conversation website, that is the equivalent of $109.72. Imagine traveling somewhere today with not $109.72 on you with no other options to pay for anything!

The all passed through Ellis Island on their way to New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts where they settled into their new lives.

Automobiles

The week 29 topic for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is Automobiles. There’s no one better to tell you about than my father in law Paul Reinhart!

Paul was born in Iowa on his family farm in 1929. Living on the farm he learned to repair the machinery they owned. He told us when he ended up in Korea in 1950, he took aptitude tests for a few different jobs in camp and they put him in the Motor Pool and his experience just grew from there. After the war, Paul grudgingly went back to the farm in Iowa, but when one of his friends from the Army suggested he head out to California, he hopped on the opportunity. For the rest of his employment years, he was involved with automobiles.

One of his biggest loves was racing and his cars. His first race car was a 1957 Corvette when he entered the Southern California Corvette Association race world in 1960.

*1957 Corvette raced between 1960 and 1962*

The bright orange and purple were the official colors of Union Oil 76 where he was a partner at one of their services station/garages. If you look close, the “Big Three” refers to the station Big 3 Tire & Brake Inc.

It was while he was a rookie in 1960 that he got his first major win at Cotati (northern California) Raceway and a kiss from Jayne Mansfield! In addition, he ended the season as Rookie of the Year.

His success on the race track continued through 1961 and 1962 ending both years as the B Production SCCA Divisional Champion.

*1962 Pacific Division B Production Champion*

October 1962 began the showdown between the (Chevy) Corvette Z06 and the (Ford) Shelby Cobra. Four Z-06s were on the track again a Shelby Cobra. The Corvette won the race but it was only the start of a heated competition. Chevy and Ford were in it to win it. Paul stuck with Chevy and in October headed to St. Louis to pick up his Z06 and drive it back to California. No fancy sponsor or delivery for him! His first race in the new car was in November of 1962.

He quickly learned the Z06’s brakes and suspension were junk. Chevy sent out a crate a parts but by the beginning of the 1963 season the Z06s were in trouble. The Ford Cobras were just too hard to beat and to make matters worse, two of the stars of the Z06s, Bob Bondurant and Dave McDonald defected to Ford. By March of 1963, he decided he had had enough and sold the Z06.

But he didn’t stop there! He picked up a BMC Genie Mark 8 from Joe Huffaker because “he liked the looks of the car”. It had been built for Pedro Rodriguez but the year prior, Pedro’s brother, Ricardo, was killed in a crash and Pedro temporarily retired from racing.

*BMC Genie Mark 8 raced from 1963 to 1967*

Paul had success in the Mark 8 for a few years, but by 1965 he was racing against Mark 10s and the big names of Ken Miles, Mario Andretti, Jackie Stewart, and Parnelli Jones. Between that and not having any big named sponsors to pay the bills, he sold the Genie and in 1968 drove a Camaro for a friend. In his words, “After a couple of events, I realized how much I missed the thrill of racing with the greatest drivers in the world and conceded that if I couldn’t race at the top, it was time to move on to other things”.

In 1981, while browsing through the local trader paper, he came across someone selling a 1963 Z06 and it just happened to be his original car.

He bought it thinking to use it as a street car, but he missed the racing and with the blessing of my mother in law, Wanda, he began driving it in historic races along the west coast with the most notable being Laguna Seca and Sonoma Raceway. Those two locations are where I had the thrill of watching him race, and they DID race!

He raced the car from 1984 though 2000 and had so much fun, he sold the Z06 in order to go back to his roots and rebuild his first Corvette – the 1957. Although he had some parts to the original car, it became more of a re-creation of the original.

*Paul Reinhart and his “restored” 1957 corvette*

He stayed true to the Union 76 orange and purple and the Big Three theme. He raced this car from 2002 to 2013 when he sold the car, but raced it for them in 2015!

*The Z06 on the auction block 14 years after he sold it*

*A Genie MK 10B model car with Paul listed as one of the drivers!*

*1957 Corvette Paul in the original / Cody in the restored*

Both cars continue to race in vintage races on the west coast and their owners were friends and fans of Paul during and after his years of vintage racing.

In the years after racing and before he died in October of 2021, Paul was in the process of restoring a 1957 Chevrolet truck. The parts had all been painted and were stored around the house and the frame and engine were in the garage. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen and we were fortunate to find someone to purchase it at the beginning of our week of cleaning out his house (with plans to bring it all home)! How lucky we were to find that person!

As I said at the start of this, there is no one better person to talk about when I talk about Automobiles. The amount of information I have could fill a book, and there are already books either about him, mentioning him, or quoting him about other drivers. It’s a thrill to comb through the information and see how much he was revered as a driver, a person, and a Chevy man through and through.

Traveling the United States

The Week 28 topic for 52 Ancestors in 52 Week is Trains.

It’s fortunate that I saved my mother’s albums of photos and postcards she collected in her teens and 20s. They gave me a look at some of the trips she took.

The first extensive trip she took, along with her sister Tootsie, was to San Antonio Texas in 1943 to visit their brother Connie. Connie was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, arriving sometime in May of 1943.

It will be no surprise to anyone in our family that he was in the Quartermaster Corps of the Army, which was in charge of food and clothing, and specifically the Bakery Company. He was working at Hellman’s Bakery in Wallingford when he enlisted and after he returned, as well as owning a bakery for some years.

Betty and Toots started off in August of 1943 most likely taking the trolley to New Haven and a train to New York. I love that postcards were the mode of communication!

*“We’re off!” Postcards to parents and Connie*

They stopped in St. Louis Missouri from Thursday until their next train departed on Sunday. I wonder how much sightseeing they did!

There were in San Antonio by August 28th and visited with Connie, saw the sites of the city and met many people on the way and in San Antonio. The ladies with my mother and aunt in the picture are spouses of Connie’s friends. On the way is always more fun than the trip home, so there are no postcards from their way home, but they made it back safely.

*Connie, back middle, sitting with friends*

Betty took another trip the following year, in September 1944, to Los Angeles California to visit with her Tante Lizzie and Uncle Bernard Weiss. They had been living there since 1935. Bernard worked as a “brush painter” at a movie studio and although no occupation is listed for Elizabeth in the 1940 census, family lore says they were domestic help (maid and chauffeur) for an family. When the family was on vacation for the summer Elizabeth and Ben would either drive east to visit family or travel to Europe to visit family. My mom saved the postcards they sent as they made their way to and from California!

*Postcards from her first stop in Chicago*

It’s touching that one of her cards was specifically to her father and sad to think he would be gone 3 months later. That’s a story for another time.

The postmarks from Chicago are September 4 and it might have taken another 2 to 4 days to travel to Los Angeles. The following two postcards are dated September 13th and 18th.

My mother was so good at labeling pictures but she didn’t always provide last names of her girlfriends! I’m guessing the girl with her is her cousin, Pauline Wirth who was the same age as Betty. I know they were fairly close, although she lived in Queens with her family, and her mother Mary, was Elizabeth and Julianna’s sister so the trip would make sense.

While there, they had a visit from some neighborhood boys, Bernard Orosz and Peter Kliarsky and visited Grauman’s Chinese Theater.

Again, there are no postcards on the trip home! But they appear to have made it home safely.

I would love to take a train across the country, traveling in a sleeper car or roommate to get away from people if I need to but I also know there are usually delays and that might make me crazy.

The Trip of a Lifetime

The Week 27 topic of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is Airplanes.

I told you about my dad’s experience being stationed in England during WWII in the Effects of War post in June. That’s pretty much the extent of any stories about airplanes because most of my other family members were in the Navy! But here’s a fun memory –

St. Patrick’s Day in 1986 was on a Monday. On that morning, while upstairs getting ready for work, I heard a commotion downstairs. My mother was in the kitchen having breakfast, what happened? I suddenly remembered, she was in competition to win a trip to Ireland through WELI 960 radio and OMG her name must have been called!

I raced downstairs to check on her and yes, they said her name! Evidently, she called once and was so hysterical they hung up on her! Finally she got through to them to claim her prize. An all-expense paid trip for two to Ireland!

My parents, both in their early 60s, had never been on a plane before! They applied and received their passports, applied for a credit card, received their foreign country drivers license, and they were ready to go on August 26, 1986.

I remember the day they left, someone from my mother’s office was driving them from Connecticut to JFK airport and he was late picking them up! I’m sure they were silently swearing while waiting for him and on the ride, but they made it!

I have no record of their travel while there, but I know they kissed the Blarney Stone, stayed at some little bed and breakfast sites, and shopped. My mom bought me a kilt in the Dress Stewart pattern and claddagh earrings because I already had a ring. I wore the skirt for years and hung onto it for many more.

They had a wonderful seven days exploring Ireland together before returning home on September 2nd.

It is fortunate they had this time together because only a few months later my mother started exhibiting signs of memory loss. At the end of January 1987, she was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiform, and she passed away on April 4, 1987. I’m grateful they were able to experience this trip of a lifetime!

Family Gatherings

The week 26 topic for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is Family Gathering.

I have written many times about my family celebrating holidays together and celebrating our birthdays with a Sunday party into our late teens. It was always so nice to have everyone together. I’m grateful that my aunts and uncles, whose children already had children of their own, took the time to celebrate our birthdays.

I’m going to turn to my husband’s family tonight. His mother’s Gallaway side gather together every June in Meeker Oklahoma for a celebration. The attendees are all descendants of Seth Gallaway and Mary Elizabeth Flowers.

Seth, born in Texas in 1859 and Mar, born in Illinois in 1867, were married in Texas in 1883 and quickly started their family with their first born in 1884, who sadly died that same year.

Never fear! They went on to have 13 more children with only one not living past infancy. Mark’s grandmother was one of those 13, Vergia Cleo, born in 1909. She was their 11th child.

Vergia married Jack Armstrong and they had five children which included Mark’s mom, Wanda.

*Seth, Mary, James* *(11), John (10), Charles (7), Mattie (4), Sarah (1) photo abt. 1897*

As you can imagine, with 13 children there are many descendants! One of the cousins, Carol Watson, who also enjoys family history research, has organized the reunion for many years. Up until recently, she was also the family representative for the cemetery where family members are buried.

Mark, Cody, and I attended the reunion in 2001 where we met so many relatives it was mind boggling! It took a long time for us to get back but Mark and I attended the 2024 reunion and spent quality time with his mom’s siblings, Uncle Charlie, Uncle Johnny, and Aunt Kathryn.

*Aunt Kathryn and Mark – she looks so much like Mark’s mom!*

There were approximately 75 people of all ages at the reunion and it was pot luck so we were able to taste delicious baked beans, salads, and brisket!

We had such a good time and I know we will be back.

The Story Teller

The topic for Week 25 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, is The Story Teller.

I’ll tell you how and why I started researching and writing about my ancestors.

American history was one of my favorite subjects in school. How the United States was created, and the people involved. The first biography I read was on Abigail Adams in elementary school. I loved the Little House on the Prarie books imagining what life was like in those days.

I noticed in my 20s that I asked many questions about people – where they came from, their families, education – and I loved hearing stories about them and their lives.

Everyone on my maternal side of the family lived nearby so I knew their names, I knew the names of my maternal great-grandparents because their pictures were hanging on the wall at my grandmother’s house (just their faces – it was a little strange!). On the left in the background of the picture below are my grandmother Julianna and grandfather Konrad. On the right is my maternal great-grandmother Gertrude and great-grandfather Ludwig.

Uncle Connie, Aunt Tootsie, and Aunt Judy 1960

My paternal side was similar but different. Out of 5 siblings, 3 lived in the Wallingford. One, Uncle Eddie, lived in Meriden with his wife and two sons. I have no memory of meeting Aunt Ann or his sons although we went to a son’s wedding when I was 9 or 10. Uncle Walt was in the Navy and lived primarily in California and Louisianna with his wife and two sons.

So what prompted my Ancestry search and storytelling?

The ancestry part came about on our move from California to Connecticut. We stopped in Meeker Oklahoma to visit with my husband’s family. We met with his sister Linda and Cody and I met his Aunt Katherine and Great-Aunt Mildred. Aunt Mildred was her family researcher. She had family sheets for her and her husband Jesse and all of Jesse’s siblings, at least 10 that lived to adulthood including my husband’s grandmother Virgia Cleo.

While reading through the family sheets and various notes, it was exciting to think about the place in history this family held. It made me curious about mine.

Between 1995 and 2000, I used Family Tree Maker software for my work. In 2000, Ancestry created its website to help people share their family trees and information. I still had to mail requests for documents but this was a good start. Once documents started coming and people added more information, it was easier to piece information together. The stronger Ancestry has become the more family there is and the DNA connections made it even stronger. My Heritage is another site I joined because it is a better tool for Eastern European records.

From there, I started asking questions of my older family members like my dad and his siblings and my mother’s two sisters. They were all full of information and of course, Aunt Tootsie had all the family pictures. The stories they told were usually stand-alone but sometimes a comment would be a clue to help something else suddenly make sense or confirm what someone else had said. I remember how crazy it was to discover my half-aunt Joanne through DNA when we couldn’t figure out how we were related or to hear about my grandmother taking in her cousin’s infant daughter and then seeing the documents where she had to give her up for adoption because of her own growing family.

I’m always excited when I find new ancestors or learn the dates and locations where they lived. It helps to piece together their lives and the stories are created from there. Some people left us far too soon. By telling their stories, someone will realize they got those woodworking skills from their dad, grandfather, AND great-grandfather. Or that fierceness comes from their great-grandmother. Telling their stories keeps the connections to the past alive.

What Doesn’t Kill You…..

The topic for Week 24 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, is Hard Times.

This is the story about my dad’s family, The Jakiela Family.

Their story, as I know it, begins with my grandfather, Charles, born in August of 1890 to Ignacy and Catharina (Murdzck) Jakiela. He would have a brother born in 1893 and a sister in 1894.

His mother died in 1894, the same year his sister was born, which makes me think her death might have been related. Charles was not yet 3 years old.

His father married Victoria Borek in October of 1894.

*Marriage record for Ignacy and Victoria*

Charles left for the United States in November of 1906 when he was 16 years old. He traveled with a cousin, Pawel Murdzck with Charles heading to Southington Connecticut and Pawel to Braddock Pennsylvania. I don’t know if they ever saw each other again.

Charles made his way to Palmer Massachusetts and the fabric mills. There he met his wife, Antonia Liro who immigrated in 1910 and had headed north to live with her sister Aniela and her husband Joseph Mikula and their children.

They were married in 1912 and made their way back to Southington where she gave birth to Steven in 1913 and Edward in 1915, and Charles worked for a Peck, Stowe, and Wilcox which manufactured tools and was the largest employer in Southington.

Life might have been good for a time, Charles continued to work at PS&W, and Antonia took care of their 2 young sons but then World War I came along.

Charles completed his draft registration card and family lore says he wanted to go to war because he “of his love for the country that took him in”. After hearing about some of the anti-immigrant sentiment, I wonder if he felt like he had no choice. Whatever the reason, he headed to Camp Devens in Ayers Massachusetts in May of 1917. He became a citizen of the United States June 26, 1918 under the May 9, 1918 while at Camp Devens.

*Charles’ naturalization certificate – years later, cousin Steve had a deli in the same location* *at 31 Liberty Street Southington!*

He headed sailed out of Boston on the September 4, 1918 along with the 301 Trench Mortar Battery of the 76th Division. Just in time for the Meuse-Argonne Campaign in France which would lead to the end of the war.

I don’t know how he fared in the trenches, but on the way back to port and the transport ship to take him home, his train ran over an unexploded munitions over a trestle. The bomb went off and he ended up in the river. This is another family story. A friend from home who was also on the train, saved his life. He came home with a scar running from his forehead to the back of his head. But he came home!

He arrived back in Boston Massachusetts on April 26, 1919 aboard the SS Santa Rosa from Pauillac France.

Charles and Antonia wasted no time in restarting their family and Helen was born in March of 1920! Followed by Walter in November 1921 and my dad, John, in June 1924.

The town directory shows Charles went back to Peck, Stowe & Wilcox and they lived in a variety of rentals in the area of the factory.

Everything came to a halt in the early morning of April 1, 1927 when Antonia died from pregnancy complications and Charles was left with five children, the youngest not quite 3 years old. Sound familiar?

I’ve told this part of the story a few times. Charles was devastated. He gave my dad to his godmother, and brought Walt and Helen up to Massachusetts to be taken care of by their Uncle Joe. Steve and Eddie stayed with him in Southington. When they moved to Wallingford in February of the following year, the family was brought back together again. I think that’s where the story I heard comes from, that the kids ran away from him, and he realized it was time to bring them back.

Charles drank, had a hard time holding a job, and wrote many letters to the Veterans Administration asking for more money. When they moved to their last rental on Prince Street, Eddie, now a teenager worked for the baker next door. After a few weeks of not getting paid, he asked the baker for his pay. The baker informed him he had a deal with his father that Eddie was working for their rent.

I was told he was a talented craftsman and that he made a beautiful wooden cross for Antonia’s grave. Uncle Joe would send him fabric from the mills and he would sew pillow cases for the house, and one time he made a wardrobe in the basement. The only problem was it was too big to get upstairs. So he took it apart and remade it. That’s where my dad got his talent.

My Auntie Helen told me they attended Whittlesey Avenue School, but when it got crowded, they were sent to Colony Street School. She liked Colony better because at Whittlesey the children from the fancy homes on Main Street were snobs. The kids in the Colony Street area were on a more economic level with her family.

They were fortunate to have St. Peter and Paul’s church to go to. Walt and John were altar boys and Helen cleaned the church. Did Charles ever attend? I don’t know but Charles got angry when my dad couldn’t say his prayers in Polish.

Charles died in May of 1935 in a hit and run accident while walking home one night. He was identified by the letter in his pocket from Stanley Judd of New Britain offering him a job that he would have started the following week. My father was not yet 11 years old.

Life might have been good before Charles went off to war but I think he came home, obviously injured, but also suffering from PTSD. Poor Antonia, how did she survive financially during the year and a half he was gone? How did Charles survive with five children to take care of, and have to work?

All five siblings grew up to have families and were successful in their lives. They persevered through the hard times and were always there for each other.

Thinking of them, I think of our professions and jobs that my sisters and I have had. Janice is a retired pediatric ICU nurse, Gail worked for years as a paraprofessional in elementary school following the same child from first grade through fifth grade and then would start all over again with a new child, I worked in an elementary school library, in the cafeteria, and then became a big sister to a first grader being raised by his grandmother. We all saw children and parents going through hard times and we all rose to the challenge to make their lives a little better while in our care.