November 1

All Saints Day (November 1) is a public holiday in Poland but it lands on Sunday this year. A few days before, people will clean up the gravesite. Flowers and candles are laid on the graves of family and strangers. Often family members will have a meal together after going to the cemetery. This year because of the pandemic, the cemeteries are closed this weekend and people are encouraged to visit at other times.

Anthony Runs a Pool Hall

The family legend is that my Grandpa Anthony Raczkiewicz at some point had a “game room” and made $100 a day and was often raided. My mother remembers hearing these stories but it was “before her time.” She always assumed gambling or betting was involved. After Anthony came from Poland in 1912 with two brothers, his first job I found In the Polk Directory of 1914 listed him as a laborer. He got a job at Keifer Tanning Company on 260 Front St. SW and worked there a few years. In 1921, Anthony left the tannery and was a clerk at Charles (Powlski) Powlowski’s Billiards at 612 Bridge St. NW. This location had opened in 1916 as the Buddy Theater, opened by the Buddy Brothers. It seated 500 and was “handsomely decorated in old rose and white” when it was a movie theater. (The Moving Picture World, Vol. 27, p. 457.) Interestingly a few years earlier, Grand Rapids had gone dry, at midnight, April 30, 1918 and the state soon followed with Prohibition voted in until it was repealed in 1933. It is unclear if gambling or alcohol contributed to the money made or the demise of his business Pool halls must have been a popular entertainment with 13 listed in the city that year. Charles Powlowski was from the same part of Poland, immigrated to Grand Rapids and married his wife the same year my grandpa Anthony married Pauline. Powlowski also had a soft drink store at 511 Bridge St. NW. By 1922, the city had 30 billiard halls and Anthony (Radzkiewicz) was listed in the city directory as the owner of the one at 612 Bridge St. NW. He had five competitors on Bridge Street alone. In 1923, he was co-owners with Mr. Czarnopis and there were 33 pool halls in Grand Rapids. This may have been Stanislaw Czarnopis who came to the US with Anthony’s brother Jan. By 1924 the number grew to 34 but sadly, Anthony was no longer running one of them and there was no longer a listing in the city directory. Apparently there was a pool hall again in this location. A person posting on the Facebook Page Grand Rapids History 1960 and before named Matthew Farage, posted that his grandfather Aman Farage owned it beginning in 1927.

Anthony Raczkiewicz & His Siblings are from Tomaszow Lubelskie, Poland

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Sabaudia/22-600+Tomasz%C3%B3w+Lubelski/@50.4513291,23.4332671,13z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x4724af60ea937279:0xa350c5b9c962ba7d!2m2!1d23.4341877!2d50.4714181!1m5!1m1!1s0x4724af11c7aacc15:0x268d7ac08cef58c!2m2!1d23.4163099!2d50.447024!3e0 The first exciting information I learned when beginning to research my grandfather Anthony Raczkiewicz was the name of his parents. Anthony’s parents, born in Tomaszow Lubelski, Poland, were Katie (Katarzyna) Kaszucka (1869-1944) and John (or Jan) Raczkiewicz (abt. 1867- 1920?) When my genealogy search began in November, 2019, I knew that Anthony may have had other siblings, that remained in Poland or also emigrated, that had not yet been discovered by me. I have found that five siblings came to the U.S. The two I knew about were my grandfather, Anthony who was born March 13, 1896 and his brother Joseph who was born in 1891 or 1894. I first discovered their oldest brother Jan/John (born June 1889) also came to Grand Rapids, before Anthony and Joseph. Then I found his sister Marion who was born December 16, 1902 and ended up in Muskegon, Michigan, about 30 miles from Grand Rapids. My mother Shirley Longwell remembers visiting her house one time. Lastly, I discovered Paulina born in either 1901 or 1905 who came to Grand Rapids but I think ended up in the Detroit area. I discovered he also had siblings that remained in Poland: Franciszek (b. 1898), Boleslaw (b. 1906), and Piotr (b.?) These siblings that came to the U.S. all claim Poland as their birthplace on various documents. For example, when the three brothers in Grand Rapids registered for the WW I draft in June of 1917, they all listed where they were born as Lublin (state), Poland (country) and Russian (citizenship.) Anthony listed his city as Tomaszow. Tomaszow is a village in the district of Gmina Pulawy, within Pulawy County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It lies approximately 7 kilometres south-west of Puławy and 51 km west of the regional capital. John listed his as Zabaldy which is how you pronounce Sabaudia. “Sabaudia is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Tomaszów Lubelski, within Tomaszów Lubelski County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland.”

Anthony Raczkiewicz Died 40 Years Ago Today

Anthony J Raczkiewicz died at his residence on October 31, 1980, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, when he was 85 years old and is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Pauline, son Anthony Jr. and wife Cecilia, son Ronald and wife Pamela, daughter Shirley and her husband Roy Longwell, John Dykstra, surviving spouse of his daughter Lorraine, as well as nine grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and his sister, Mrs. Frank (Mary) Kufta of Muskegon Heights. Anthony reposed at the Arsulowicz Brothers Mortuary, West, Stocking Avenue and a Funeral Mass was celebrated in the Basilica of St. Adalbert, committal at Holy Cross Cemetery. (Obituary)

Shirley's Work Life

Shirley worked her first job at a parking garage in downtown Grand Rapids. Her boss was good to her and sometimes gave her a ride home so she didn’t have to take the bus in the dark. The 'new' Wurzburg's of 1951 was a collection of several older buildings,as well as a "Parking Pavilion" across Ottawa Avenue NW. She found out from her sister-in-law Ceil, a surgical nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan that an x-ray course was being offered. She was one of three students accepted. When the three students took their final exam, (probably downtown at Ferguson Hospital), all three of them flunked. Shirley was the only one who retook the exam and she passed and continued at St. Mary’s. Shirley was nervous and said she “shivered” around Dr. Benson, who would stop to grill them on how many bones in a part of the body or the name of a bone.She also remembers his kindness in letting her go for a week to Pennsylvania when her cousin Eileen Schlosser married Ted Marchibroda, a quarterback in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Cardinals who was later a coach for the Baltimore Colts and Indianapolis Colts. At one point he told her to come in at 9am instead of 8am because she was tired since she still worked at the parking garage. Dr Benson also gave the students meal punch cards when he discovered fellow student MaryJane from Mount Pleasant who lived in an apartment downtown, was bringing mayonnaise sandwiches to work. Unlike Shirley who continued to work at the parking garage, Mary Jane wasn’t working. Receiving a meal card was fair though since they were already working as part of their internship. During the time she was at St. Mary’s, Shirley was dating Paul Plasman. Paul and Roy Longwell had a sailboat and met around Lake Michigan since Shirley visited her sister Lorraine and her husband John often at their boat slip on Lake Michigan. Paul was in a serious car accident and Shirley remembers Roy taking her up to see him at the hospital. Sometime after that (and we don’t hear any of the details!), Shirley and Roy were dating, with Paul’s blessing. Paul recovered and went on to marry someone else and started “Bill and Paul’s Sporthaus” with a friend in 1961. Shirley continued to work at St. Mary’s until after she was married and once she discovered she was pregnant. Because there was little in the way of protection from radiation, she often wondered if daughter Paulette’s left undeveloped optic nerve was a result. While gloves and gowns and meters were introduced when Dr. Shay joined the staff, she still remembers carrying a bucket of radium up to surgery when she was pregnant. While the eye nerves develop early in utero, possibly before Shirley knew she was pregnant and quit, first pregnancies and low maternal weight gain are other possibilities among many. A pregnancy related practice at that time according to Shirley was for the expectant mother to limit their weight gain. She would go with a friend for a malted milkshake AFTER her weigh in and complained she was starving during her pregnancy. Her return to work in the early 1970’s was a surprise to everyone. She had not been looking for a job or interviewing. A former co-worker who had remained a friend, recommended her for the x-ray technician job at Alpine Medical Center when he was moving on to another position. Her job necessitated a second car for the family. Daughter Paulette was in high school so the three girls were old enough to stay alone. She worked until eventually the medical practice contracted out their radiology. She remains friends with many of the co-workers from this job and attends their regular luncheon get-togethers. Shirley worked for a few years after that at Michigan Bulb until she retired.

Staying Busy as a Housewife in the Late 50's & 60's

Shirley was a full time mother until daughter Paulette was in high school. Shirley made many clothes for herself and all three of us girls--everything from prom dresses, coats and other things. She would buy or borrow a Simplicity or McCall Pattern and lay out the material on the dining room table. Her sister Lorriane and her often worked on projects together. For instance, they each made a felt Christmas tablecloth that had ornate ornaments festooned with rickrack, beads and other decorations. I think Lorriane helped with the smocking in the three red dresses pictured above. As the oldest, I wore these the least amount of time. Once outgrown by one of the sisters, the dress was passed down from Paulette to Linda to Lori. Lori must have worn this dress for many years. A gift of a better sewing machine from Roy was treasured.

Making meals was a time consuming process. Everything was pretty much homemade. Breakfast would include milk which was delivered to the back porch into a silver milk box for many years. School and work lunches were packed while everyone ate and got ready for school or work. There were very few conveniences for cooking meals. Burning feathers off raw chicken, using a gas burner on the stove was part of the process of making dinner. A full dinner was served every night after Roy got home from work with all of the family at a small table in the kitchen. A special meal would be served on Sunday in the dining room and often family visitors came over for dinner or visited on Sunday afternoon after church. The football game would usually be on in the living room and the women would sit at the dining room table. Our Uncle Tony and Aunt Ceil were frequent visitors. City chicken from Levandowski’s Meat Market, on Stocking Avenue, would be a special treat. Meat from the meat market and Polish rye bread from American Bakery, on Bridge St., were always a part of every holiday meal. Other special treats were the homemade hot fudge ice cream topping she often made for Sunday night. She still makes this sauce, using a candy thermometer to ensure it isn’t soupy or rock hard. On Sundays, because we had a big dinner after church, our supper in the evening would be something smaller. A favorite was hotdogs wrapped in crescent rolls with a melted slice of cheddar. We would watch our favorite Sunday night programs together like The Wonderful World of Disney. While all her baked goods were (and still are) good, she is really known for her pies and her pie crusts. She knows every trick to rolling out a perfect crust. She can tell you why egg whites didn’t rise when whipped and she scolds you when you keep nibbling on the cookie batter.

More Pictures of Shirley Marries Roy