My apologies for being a day late with this, but it's kinda nice to have these two share the same greeting:
February 2 is the 188th anniversary of the birth of Romualda Gorczynska Wilkoszewska, Boompa's grandmother, who was born in Konin, Poland, the daughter of Major Anthony Gorczynski, a Polish officer in Napoleon's army. She and her husband, Edward Zygmunt Wilkoszewski, had many children, some records say 22! Romualda died in Chicago on July 8, 1898.
February 3 is the 154th anniversary of the birth of Romualda's son, Alfred Wlodzimierz Wilkoszewski, Boompa's father. Alfred was called Snaz and lived his whole life in Chicago.
Jim actually knew him and offers these sweet memories:
"It was my job to wake him up with a little bell and walk with him to the dinner table. He would hold my hand and talk a sort of fake language to me, and his white hair stuck straight up in a point like the roof of a cottage.
His wife, Wanda Zinn was the daughter of Josef Zinn and Antonina Grabska. She died in the flu epidemic of 1918. Boompa kissed her goodbye that morning, went to school and when he came home, she was dead and quickly buried in the epidemic graves in the Polish Catholic cemetery on the North Side. He never saw her again, but just before he left us, he sat straight up, opened his arms and said, "Mama, Mama." Then lay down, sighed and slipped peacefully into his mother's arms and the arms of God.
When Wanda died in 1918, Al was left to raise 7 kids. He was multi-talented, played the piano like a maniac, was a bank clerk and a prodigious drinker, and loved to brawl. His 6 sons and 1 daughter all turned out wonderfully, though. He invented a fart machine that he would sit on and embarrass Mary Claire and Helen when their boyfriends came calling. I saw one--it was ingenious, but he never got it patented. Worked excellently. True story."
Please watch over us, beloved ancestors. God bless us and save us and keep us from harm.
Love, Patty & Jim
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