Holy Cross Cemetery

Burials in my family at Holy Cross Cemetery in Grand Rapids, Michigan span over 100 years. The last family member buried there was Thomas Peterson (my brother-in-law) in 2019. The first ones were Klementyna (Golabiowskia) Raczkiewicz (my grandfather’s first wife) and Bronislawa, their child in 1918. My Mother (and others) still tend to family gravesites in the cemetery. It was founded as the Polish Catholic Cemetery. The cemetery is pretty large, at 55 acres. It is located next to West Catholic High School, one of two Catholic high schools within the city of Grand Rapids. I grew up within walking distance of this cemetery. It is one of five Catholic Cemeteries run by the Diocese of Grand Rapids. One of the most notable people buried at Holy Cross was a Hall of Fame professional boxer known as the “Michigan Assassin.” He was born 1886 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to a Polish immigrant family and raised in West Michigan. He had his first professional fight in 1903. By 1910, his final total was 54 wins, 49 by knockout, with 4 losses and 4 draws. He was worn out from a fighting style that was fierce. He was murdered the same year, possibly by a jealous boyfriend of a woman he was involved with. His body was returned to Grand Rapids for the largest funeral ever in the city until that of ex-President Gerald R. Ford. Jan Raczkiewicz (my great uncle) was living in the Polish westside for a few months at the time period of this funeral. There are still mysteries to solve related to people buried in this cemetery. For instance, I recently had the pleasure of meeting sisters Joan Kessler and Susan VandenBerg. They are related to Andrzej Dubiel on his Dubiel side. I am related to Andrzej on his Raczkiewicz side. Anna and her husband Walter Roczniak, settled in northern Michigan after immigrating from Poland. They eventually ended up in Grand Haven, Michigan. There are six Dubiels buried in Grand Rapids -- are they related or is it from a different family? Also, there are a few Raczkiewicz that I do not know who they are and I can’t find my grandpa’s oldest brother here or anywhere else. They have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Holy-Cross-Cemetery-Mausoleum/115825171771369 Here is a link to search records within the cemetery: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/738/holy-cross-cemetery

A DIFFERENT Joseph Raszkiewicz Died March 22, 1967

It was logical to check for my relatives at Holy Cross Cemetery, the Polish Catholic Cemetery in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is near where I grew up and I have been there often when family members were buried there. I did find some people with similar names that do NOT seem to be related. For instance, on this day (March 22) in 1967, a 59 year old Joseph Raszkiewicz died. This is NOT my great uncle Joseph who died May 17, 1971 at age 80. Additionally, Infant Raczkiewicz was born and died November 4, 1920. I thought this child was my grandparents but I found out the parents were Maguesz & Agnes Raczkiewicz. It is likely the name is Matuesz but someone had trouble reading it. I do not know who these people are. A Wincenty Raczkiewicz died March 26, 1920. He was the son of Thomas Ratkiewicz and Petronella Dryziecz and married to Sophia. Another set of people I do not know. There was a John Roszkiewicz who died July 10 1923. I thought he might be my grandfather’s oldest brother but his parents were Joseph and Julia nee Velach from Czechoslovakia.

Joseph Raczkiewicz (my great Uncle) celebrated his name day on March 19

Wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji imienin. (HAPPY NAME DAY) My great uncle Joe didn’t really know when his birthday was so he celebrated his name day on March 19. (It turns out his birthday was February 18.) My Mom remembers that it was celebrated on this day. The Michigan Death Index listed the March date since that is what the people reporting the death would think it was. I never knew this but apparently if you celebrated St. Joseph’s Day as your name day, there was a special dispensation for this. The normal Lent prohibitions were suspended for the celebration. Image credit: By Guido Reni - http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/r/reni/2/joseph_i.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1813919

US Time Change is March 14; Poland is 28 March

March 14 is the day of the time change in the United States. Poland’s date is March 28. We lose an hour of sleep because we set the clocks ahead one hour. While that sounds like no big deal, some of us struggle for almost a week to adjust to the change in sleep schedule. Apparently the first Monday after the time change there are more car accidents than is typical. There are proposals to leave us on Daylight Savings Time. Image: By United Cigar Stores Company (sponsor); artist unknown - Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, WWI Posters, LC-USZC4-10663 (color film copy transparency),uncompressed archival TIFF version (60 MB), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1783933

Anthony Raczkiewicz born March 13, 1896

When Anthony John RACZKIEWICZ (my grandfather) was born on March 13, 1896, in the village of Sabudia, his father, Jan, was 28 and his mother, Katarzna (nee Kaszucka) , was 24 years old. Jan was a peasant farmer and his wife had come from a family of furriers from the city. Their family already consisted of 5 year old Jan and 4 year old Jozef. Mikołaj Roczniak, 30 years old, and Andrzej Lisikiewicz, 23 years old accompanied Jan to report the birth of his son in the city of Tomaszów Lubelski. His Godfather was Mikolaj and the Godmother’s name hasn’t been deciphered in the record, which is written in Russian. The document was read out loud, and signed by the priest , because they could not read or write.

First Communion

My First Communion class picture was taken in front of St. Adalbertś Church. I was nine years old. My confirmation sponsor was my older cousin Yvonne Raczkiewicz. The saint I picked was Maria Goretti, an Italian martyr. I am suprised my card only says Maria because the teacher insisted I keep looking since Maria had already been selected by so many girls. I must have found a loophole by finding a different Maria. I remember being in the school library at big tables as we looked up saints in the books they had there. My only other memory of that library was the kids looking up swear words in the dictionary--not me of course or did I?

Jan Raczkiewicz Was Shot in 1915

Jan had a big year in 1915 for some reason. I thought it was the year he married France but that was actually at the beginning of 1916. I found out he worked as a shoemaker and that information might have been good or bad -- was he fired as a cabinet maker or was he trying out something he hoped would be an improvement? The bad news that year is that he was shot -- two times actually, on the same night. The past year (2020) in Grand Rapids has seen a sharp spike in shootings and in fact there were 35 homicides in 2020 versus 18 in 2019. The pandemic and racial inequities are the probable reasons. It makes me wonder what was going on in 1915 in Grand Rapids and how safe was the city to which Jan and his brothers had recently immigrated. ***** Reading in the Grand Rapids Herald article (thanks for finding the article, Lori Longwell Peterson!) that the argument started at a wedding nearby made me think that alcohol was probably involved in this crime. I have personally been to enough Polish weddings to know about the heavy drinking that occurs. It is hard to say who was at fault -- either Jan or the two alleged shooters. I am not sure if the convoluted story reported to the police and inability to answer questions was related to alcohol or the fact that Jan’s English was probably not yet that good even though he had been in the country for about five years at the time of the shooting. It also could have been some other factor such as an unwillingness to provide the details to the police. ***** So what was going on in Jan’s life at the time? The same year of the shooting was the only year that Jan worked as a shoemaker rather than a cabinet maker. Jan had been working as a cabinet maker for Phoenix Furniture Company the year before. The year of the shooting, he had a brief career as a shoemaker with Adolph Montrim. Then by the following year, he returned to making cabinets again for a different company -- Johnson Furniture. He remained at that company for the next several years until I can’t find any more traces of him. I don’t know if he was fired or let go or if he was involved in some sort of business venture. He married Frances 11 months after this so I don’t know if they knew each other. . My grandfather Anthony might have also attended the wedding because they probably knew many of the same people. He was likely nearby during the shooting since the two brothers lived in the same house at the time. ***** Like other immigrants, Jan moved around quite a bit during the first five years he was in the U.S.. The first address I have for him is 409 Stocking Ave in 1913. Then in 1914, before the shooting, I can verify that both Jan and Anthony were living at 122 Winter. Later in 1915, apparently after the shooting, Jan moved to 255 Olive SW but Anthony remained in the house where the shooting occured. Then Jan and his wife Frances (along with his brother Joseph for a while) moved to 327 Gunnison where the couple stayed for at least four years. All of these houses are in the same general neighborhood. ***** The article says the wedding was near First Street and Stocking Avenue. It was more likely the arguing began at the reception rather than the wedding. There were two halls in that area which are possibilities: the Taxpayers Hall and Swantek Hall. Taxpayers was on First St. just east of Stocking. It had German roots and eventually burned down. Swantek Hall was on Stocking at Second Street and was a privately owned facility. My mother remembers as a young girl walking to one of these halls from her house to buy potato chips. ***** Feb. 16, 1915 https://grpl.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16055coll9/id/96099/rec/1 For Raczkiewicz. Below is the transcription on that page as it is hard to read. JOHN RACZKIEWICE ATTACKED IN FRONT OF HOME BY TWO MEN. John Raczklewlcz, 26 years old, 122 Winter avenue, N.W., is in Butterworth hospital suffering from bullet wounds in his left chest and left hand, the result of being shot while in front of his home last night shortly after 10 o'clock. The wounds are not believed tb be fatal. The police could learn little about the shooting. Their first report was that Raczkiewicz had shot himself, but when taken to the hospital the wounded man said he was fired upon by two men with whom he had quarreled while attending a wedding on First street near Stocking Avenue last night. When questioned by the detectives, Raczklewlcz was unable to tell who the men were with whom he had quarreled, or what the quarrel was about. He said he believed the men had followed him home and laid in wait for him. The wounds were Inflicted wth a 22 caliber revolver. One of the bullets Iodged In the hand, while the other entered the left chest, taking a downward course and came out about the middle of the side. Detectives Youngs and Bllnston are investigating.

Fat Tuesday and Paczki

A difference between Polish tradition and Polish American tradition is that today is our "Fat Tuesday" or "Paczki Day" instead of last Thursday. Honestly, the bakeries are trying to sell them for a few weeks around here. I commend people who bake and try to recreate favorite recipes. Check out the picture of Connie Liszewski's first attempt! They look pretty good. Connie's husband Mike is my 3rd cousin 1x removed. Even though we were both born in Grand Rapids, we never crossed paths to my knowledge. It is fun to make connections doing family history.

Today is Fat Thursday.

Today is Fat Thursday. Have you had a paczki today? What is your favorite flavor?******************* CZmarlin — Christopher Ziemnowicz, releases all rights but a photo credit would be appreciated if this image is used anywhere other than Wikipedia. Please leave a note at Wikipedia here. Thank you!, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A Polish & American Hero Born on February 4

Thaddeus Kosciuszko is a Polish hero that many Americans have heard of at least those of us who grew up in cities with a large amount of Polish immigrants. Grand Rapids has a Kosciuszko Hall -- near Sacred Heart Church where my grandfather married his first wife. It is one of the many halls started in Grand Rapids to support the immigrants in different ways. Detroit has a statue of him and also of Casmir Pulaski. Right now in the United States many questions are coming up about statues and if the people commemorated are really heros. I suspect there will be no question about the Polish ones in Detroit. Koscisuzko was born in 1746. He came to America in 1776 and used his engineering skills to help the colonies in their desire for independence. He went back to Poland and was a national hero of the 1794 insurrection.

Restored Baby Picture of Shirley Raczkiewicz

This baby picture of Shirley Raczkiewicz (my mother) hung over the stove of HER mother so it was not in very good condition. My sister Linda asked someone to help improve it and here is the result. It really gives a better sense for what she looked like at the time.

Anthony Raczkiewicz Jr. Died Jan. 29, 2006

In 1943, Anthony Raczkiewicz (my uncle) participated in Humane Club, R.O.T.C., Bar and Chevrons Club, and was a cheer leader. Yearbook picture: "U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012"; School Name: Union High School; Year: 1943

Later the same year, Anthony (age 18)registered for the draft while he worked at a gas station. Anthony (Tony) R. Raczkiewicz, aged 80, loving father and grandfather, passed away on January 29, 2006. Tony was preceded in death by his loving wife, Cecilia; sister, Lorraine Dykstra; and brother, Ronald. He is survived by his daughters, Yvonne (Mike) Basham and Eileen (Mark) Erichsen; and grandchildren, Mindy, Heather, Jennifer, and Keith. Also surviving are his sister, Shirley (Roy) Longwell; brothers-in-law, John Dykstra and Joseph (Mary) Zalewski; and sisters-in-law, Pam Raczkiewicz, Martha Nezwek, Bernice Zalewski, and Fran (Dick) Horvath. Friends and relatives may meet his family on Tuesday from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m., with a Scripture Service at 7:30 p.m. at Heritage Life Story Funeral Homes-Alt & Shawmut Hills Chapel, 2120 Lake Michigan Dr. N.W. The Memorial Mass will be at 11 a.m. on Wednesday at St. James Catholic Church. Inurnment in Holy Cross Cemetery. From: https://obits.mlive.com/obituaries/grandrapids/obituary.aspx?n=anthony-r-raczkiewicz-tony&pid=16552020 For his Life Story: : https://heritagelifestory.com/obituaries/anthony-r-raczkiewicz.9878

Jan Raczkiewicz Married Frances Kudlicka in Grand Rapids MI January 25, 1863

On 25th January 1863, at 4:00 p.m. in Tomaszów Lubelski, Józef (or Stefan Jozef as he was baptized) Kaszucki wed Apolonia Kurkiewicz when he was 30 years old and she was 24. (They were my 2x great grandparents.) He was a widow for two months and she was a maiden. The banns were announced 11th, 18th, 25th January -- so they started a month and a half after he was widowed. Normally, there is a rush to remarry if there are young children involved but four year old Joanna had died in October and her mother died a month later. Their other child Jan had died at six months old a few years earlier. Józef and his family Andrzej Kaszucki and Salomea nee Wiciejowska were furriers. He had been born in Tomaszów Lubelski and was residing there with his parents of Greek Uniate faith. Paulina was the daughter of Józef Kurkiewicz and Ewa nee Wiśniewska, shoemakers from Tomaszów Lubelski who were Roman Catholic. The witnesses were Szymon Żółkiewski, a shoemaker, 53, and Marcin Halkiewicz, a farmer, 42, both of whom were residing in Tomaszów He was a Greek Catholic and she was a Roman Catholic. The banns were announced in the Tomaszów Latin Church even though Józef was Greek Catholic. Apolonia was Roman Catholic. They had five, possibly six children together and the boys were baptized and confirmed according to the Eastern rite and the girls were baptized according to the Roman rite. Jozef was born on August 10, 1832, in Tomaszów Lubelski, Lubelskie, Poland, the son of Salomea and Andrzej. He had six brothers and two sisters. He married Katarzyna Szokalewicz in Tomaszów, Lubelskie, Poland, on February 9, 1851, when he was 18 years old. They were both Greek Catholics. They had two children together and they were baptized and confirmed according to the Eastern rite. His wife Katarzyna passed away on November 22, 1862, in Tomaszów, Lubelskie, Poland, at the age of 31. They had been married 11 years. When Paulina Kurkiewicz was born on June 27, 1838, in Tomaszów, Lubelskie, Poland, her father, Jozef, was 22, and her mother, Ewa, was 29. Her mother had previously been widowed. Paulina had five brothers and one sister. Photo credit: https://www.facebook.com/sacredheartjesusgr/photos/a.647375232009526/1143745529039158

Today is Dzień Babci in Poland -- Grandmother’s Day. Babcia is the Polish word for Grandma. In the US there are variants such as “busia.” Here is my Grandma Apolonia (Skrobot) Raczkiewicz in the late 1970’s.

John Spruit Celebrates His Birthday January 19

Happy birthday to John Spruit. (My 1rst cousin 1x removed.) He is pictured here in his "happy places" --skiing and boating.

Shirley Attends Catholic High School & I Chose the Public High School

In the Fall of 1950, Shirley began high school. Instead of being able to attend Catholic Central, her first two years were at the Catholic Central West Annex. It opened in 1944 for freshmen and sophomores on the west side of the river. The school was housed on the third floor of St. Adalbert School and was staffed by 7 School Sisters of Notre Dame There was room there because of a drop in St. Adalbert School attendance after World War II ended and Catholic Central was full. Renovations would eventually increase its size and the building of West Catholic was still in the future. Father Maksymowski, the pastor of St. Adlabert had to respond to Bishop Francis J. Haas’ directive years earlier in 1951 to develop a “West Catholic Central.” Apparently many of the early students resented this because of limited athletics and the desire to have more freedom to leave the neighborhood and meet students from other areas. By the time Shirley attended, the school and its reputation had grown and students from all over the city would attend dances there. Surprisingly since this was before the freeway, many who came had never seen the beautiful church and large buildings surrounding it. While it probably did not occur to her family to send Shirley to the public high school, my parents gave us a choice for high school between West Catholic and Union High School. I chose the public high school, Linda briefly chose West Catholic then transferred to Union and Lori chose Union. In 1952, Shirley began her junior year at Catholic Central. The renovated building was completed that year. Lay teachers made up 21% of the faculty (the year before) as fewer teaching sisters were available. The culture shock for Shirley was that the Catholics from the east side of the city were much wealthier and she didn’t feel like the kids from the westside were well accepted but instead looked down upon. For me,culture shock came in 9th grade with my first experience with integrated schools which was accomplished with court mandated bussing since the residential areas were still pretty segregated. Catholic Central High school was organized into nine departments: religion, math, science, English, history/social studies, foreign languages, business, physical education, and fine arts. When I was in high school there were separate college prep or vocational track classes. Amazingly, we still took aptitude tests which told us which “male” or “female” careers would best suit us. We had the option of different electives than she had such as Psychology. Shirley rode the city bus from the west side of the city over the river to the east side in downtown Grand Rapids. In ninth grade, I had a school bus to West Middle and then in high school, we had to make our own way to the high school. As I get to know new relatives, I try to place them and their family into the picture. Curt Wolf’s father Laverne Wolf was a senior at the main Catholic Central campus during Shirley’s first year of high school. They probably did not cross paths because she would have been at the West Annex that year. Pictures of Laverne Wolf (on FB page) History of Catholic education in GR--GR info starts p. 61 (p. 72 of PDF) https://commons.emich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1092&context=theses History of Polish immigrants/churches in GR https://www.therapidian.org/history-polish-immigrants-churches-and-aid-societies-westside The Rise and Fall of the Grand Rapids Polonia (https://dutchamericans.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/1993_07_skendzel.pdf The First Hundred Years: The Basilica of St. Adalbert http://www.mipolonia.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/St.-Adalbert_1881-1981_Grand-Rapids_MI.pdf

Shirley Raczkiewicz was born

When Shirley Ann Raczkiewicz was born on January 15, 1936, in Grand Rapids, Michigan Her father, Anthony, was 40, and her mother, Apolonia, was 31. Her family lived at 501 Milwaukee NW. She was baptized at St. Adalberts on February 9 by Father Makaymowski The sponsors were Walter Swiegoski and Victoria Palczewski. “Vicki” was her aunt, her mother’s sister. Shirley grew up with two siblings, Lorraine and Anthony, who were much older than her --14 and 10 years older and her brother Ronald was born in 1940 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, when Shirley Ann was four years old. She had a half sister Bronislawa from her father’s first marriage who died young and a sibling that was born and died unnamed at the beginning of her parents’ marriage. Shirley’s siblings are now deceased.

Contrasting Catholic Education When Shirley Longwell Attended Vs. When I Attended (Elementary & Middle School)

Shirley attended Catholic schools for first through twelfth grade and there probably was no question about her attending the Catholic school instead of the public school. My parents sent us to Covell Elementary in our neighborhood for kindergarten since St. Adalbert School started at first grade and did not have kindergarten. They then sent all three daughters to St. Adalbert School for first through eighth grade. Shirley went to St. Adalberts through eighth grade. When she started school In September, 1945, it was nearly the end of the time period (1910 to 1945) which was the “Golden Age” of the Grand Rapids Polonia. The Polonia refers to the Polish diaspora -- Poles who live outside of Poland.) St. Adalbert’sl had nearly 2,000 families so it was the largest parish in the Grand Rapids Diocese. For elementary school through 8th grade, I also attended St. Adalbert’s School beginning in 1964. Enrollment in Catholic schools would peak in 1965. The church subsidized the school so there was no tuition when my Mom attended. Tuition started in 1957 for the high school and in 1965 for the elementary school. I started at St. Adalbert School in 1964 so my parents had to budget for that cost. I know my parents paid tuition for me and my sisters to attend and also needed to put more money n the weekly envelope to the church. Costs had increased because there were fewer sisters teaching and more lay staff. A third of the staff were lay teachers and the rest Notre Dame sisters. Catholic schools still exist in Grand Rapids today but many have been closed or merged. Shirley remembers walking a few blocks every day to get to school. The family lived near First St. and the school was on Fourth St. They had to cross one busy street -- Stocking Avenue -- to get there. When I was in kindergarten at the public school, the school was in the neighborhood, a few blocks away. I don't remember walking there but likely my Mom walked me with my sisters coming along. When I started first grade at St. Adalbert's, my parents taught me how to ride the city bus. I didn’t know that my father followed it the first few times to make sure I got off at the right place. I did that pretty much reliably except I do remember one time that I was eavesdropping on some teenagers and I missed my stop by a few blocks on the way home. I was very nervous walking back even though I knew what to do. Later our Dad brought me and my sisters to school on his way to work. On the census when Shirley was little, half or more of the adults in her inner westside neighborhood had immigrated from Poland. Ten years earlier when her older siblings were young, almost all their neighbors were immigrants -- mostly from Poland but other places like Germany also. Growing up, my family lived outside the neighborhood surrounding St. Adalbert. We were still within the city limits but on the farthest reaches of the westside. Our family was the only Catholic family among the families in the neighborhood that we knew. Shirley was taught by Notre Dame nuns who wore full habits. When I attended, a third of the staff were lay teachers and the rest Notre Dame sisters--some wearing full habits and veils and some wearing a shorter habit and veil. One thing that was the same is that students wore uniforms in both time periods. When Shirley attended, Mass was celebrated every morning and there were prayers throughout the day. I started out with daily Mass but it was celebrated once per week by the time I left. Mass transitioned from Latin to English The school was important to this group of parents who were of a mostly peasant background in order to pass on their faith and traditions to their children. Since new immigrants stopped coming by 1924, by the time Shirley attended school , an important goal was Americanizing children and helping them succeed in the culture while holding on to their faith. While the parents may have wanted them to hold on more to the old ways, Shirley’s generation was more involved outside the Polish enclave. When she started in September of 1943, the first half of Shirley’s first grade year was taught in Polish, then the instruction transitioned to English. Education at Catholic schools during this time period focused on religious education, citizenship, discipline and rote instruction. While the schools were moving toward a more American form, there was still a focus on religious instruction. Students learned grammar and reading, math, history and geography. Science was not emphasized until later. When I attended, the focus was not as much on maintaining a Catholic culture but more on a religious and moral development and a high quality education. Because of Vatican II, which was not accepted by everyone, there was more of an emphasis on personal responsibility regarding faith. A fond memory is in 7th or 8th grade, our teacher who was a sister brought in albums of the rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Weber, “ Jesus Christ Superstar” which would have just come out. The new mission statement of the Diocese of Grand Rapids Catholic Schools: “ We prepare students to seek and fulfill God’s plan for learning and life.”

Shirley's Birthday is Coming Up!

My Mom's birthday is about a week away so I wanted to send out a reminder: Shhhhh!!!! It’s a secret! Don’t tell her! We plan to surprise my mother for her 85th birthday with a birthday celebration. Her birthday is on Friday, January 15. There are two ways to participate: one is to get my address so you can send me a birthday card for her. The second is to attend the driveby event. This will be on January 15 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Drop off a card and pick up a gourmet cupcake and extend your greetings from the car. Masks and social distancing required. We know it is January and will have made provisions to keep her warm. Don’t let her age fool you! I just took a walk with her and it was very cold. I wanted to give an early heads up so we can make this special for her. If you know my Mom, she does NOT look for the limelight but we want to make sure she is celebrated. To get her address for the “event” or my address to send a card, comment on this post and I will PM you or else PM me directly.

Family Party 2011

The 2011 party was hosted by me--Paulette Longwell.