Searching for My Roots
Besides digging in the garden, I also dig a little into my ancestry. It's sort of like digging into history. It became important to me when two of my granddaughters were born with genetic handicaps.
The names I'm researching are:
my parents - FLECK, BUTENKO and my husband's parents CZERNIAWSKI, and
ZEBROWSKI.
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| Joseph William Fleck 1903-1961 |
Tekla Celia Butenko 1903-1956 |
GenevieveZebrowski 1910-1999 Walter Czerniawski 1909-1995 |
In June 1999 I posted a message on FamilyTreeMaker.com
searching for info on the name Fleck. My dad had five sisters and one
brother. They were not a close family group due to arguments and jealousy
through the years. Joseph's parents were Valentine Fleck and Matilda
Bergman. His sisters were Anna, Matilda (Tillie), Louise (Toots),
Katherine (Kate) and Mary (Etta). Joseph's brother was Valentine, named
after his father.
In November I received an email from Dan Walsh informing me that his
grandmother Matilda, was my Aunt Tillie. We exchanged quite a few emails
and Dan filled me in on quite a few missing pieces of family history. He
was going to send me pictures that his mother had, of all the sisters and his
grandparents, when he visited them for Christmas.
I lost touch with Dan during January of this year. All email that I sent
to hem has been returned. He is in the Navy, stationed on a ship docked in
California. I fear that he was injured or killed in some kind of accident
either the end of December or early January. All my efforts to locate him
have been futile.
I keep posting messages on FamilyTreeMaker looking for information.
In March of this
year I received an email from Roy Himmelstein. He told me that my father
was married to his grandmother Grace in 1920. Roy's mother, also grace,
was born in 1923. Joseph left his wife and baby after an argument and
joined the U. S. Marine Corp. He returned home a few years later and
wanted to pick up his life again, but wife Grace said no, and the marriage was
annulled in 1930. Reason for annulment was given that Joseph was underage at the time of marriage.
In 1934 Joseph married my mother Celia Butenko. I was born January
1935. I was an only child, or so I thought.
In March of this year Grace and I spoke on the phone and told our stories of how
we both had wanted a sister when we were younger. She was also an only
child. We made arrangements for her son Roy to bring her over from New
Port Richey, Florida to my home for a face to face visit. It's amazing
that we are so similar in our features. We both have the same high forehead,
weight problem and quite a few other similarities.
I have become an Aunt to Grace's three sons and she has become an Aunt to my
three sons and two daughters. Our families have really grown thanks to the
internet.
Do you see any resemblance? Our story will continue....
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