Sentimental Sunday: Christmas Eve, 1967

Merry Christmas, everyone!

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Family Recipe Friday: Happy 8th Blogiversary to ME!

December 1, 2017, marks eight years of family history blogging for me.  The picture above is a close-up of the birthday cake from a picture I posted a few months back of my brother's 8th birthday.  The cake is homemade.

Growing up, my mother never got store-bought cakes for family birthdays.  She always made our cakes, albeit from a cake mix (usually Betty Crocker).  NEVER frosting from a can or a mix, though!  Here is the recipe she used, as best as I can remember (and adapted from Betty Crocker):

Birthday Cake Buttercream Frosting

• 4 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) of softened margarine (or butter, salted or unsalted.  We always had margarine growing up)
• 2-3 teaspoons of vanilla or other flavoring
• 1-2 tablespoons of milk

In medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and butter with spoon or electric mixer on low speed. Stir in 2 teaspoons of the vanilla or other flavoring, and 1 tablespoon of the milk.

Gradually beat in just enough remaining milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too thick, beat in more milk, a few drops at a time. If frosting becomes too thin, beat in a small amount of powdered sugar. You can also add more vanilla or other flavoring to taste. 

Frosts 13x9-inch cake generously, or fills and frosts an 8- or 9-inch two-layer cake.

You can also add food coloring (with the milk), or for chocolate frosting, 3 oounces of unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled (with the vanilla).


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

My Dad: Frederick Henry Pape, February 4, 1929 - November 6, 2017

Here is why I haven't blogged in a while.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Military Monday: Korean and Vietnam Memorial, Nueces County Courthouse Grounds, Corpus Christi, Texas

Korean and Vietnam Veteran Memorial [7 July 2007; modified] / Terry Ross / CC BY-SA 2.0

One of my former homes, Corpus Christi, Texas, has a memorial honoring 199 Nueces County residents who died in the Korean War or the Vietnam War.  It is located on the grounds of the current county courthouse.  It was originally erected by the Corpus Christi chapter of the American Gold Star Mothers, Inc., in 1976, but was not dedicated until Mother's Day, 1978, to allow for the completion of the new courthouse.

The memorial was re-dedicated in September 2005 after a $4,800 restoration.¹  The 3,000-plus letters in the names "had been treated with Lithochrome, a dye capable of penetrating granite. Over time, the names faded, blending into the background and making them hard to read,"  according to an August 15, 2005, article in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.² Three months later, the memorial was vandalized with graffiti.  Chemicals and steam were used to remove the graffiti, but the names had to be repainted and a sealant applied on them "to prevent graffiti from ruining the monument again."³ However, the memorial appears to have suffered further damage or needed cleaning by the time these July 2007 photographs were taken, as some names are difficult to read.

Rededication in 2005 [7 July 2007; cropped] / Terry Ross / CC BY-SA 2.0

The inscription on the center panel reads as follows:

In loving memory of those men of Nueces County, Texas, who gave their lives for their country in the Korea and Vietnam conflicts.  

Re-dedicated 9-12-2005 by David Chappell, USAF, Ret. * Abel A. Chapa, CVSO

Erected by American Gold Star Mothers, Inc., Corpus Christi Chapter, in 1976.

Following are transcriptions of the 199 names on the four other panels:

Names left slab [7 July 2007; cropped to left half of slab]
/ Terry Ross / CC BY-SA 2.0

Names on the left side of the left-hand panel:

Ables, James L.
Adams, James C.
Aguirre, Fidel Jr.
Alaniz, Paul G. Jr.
Alvarez, Ignacio Jr.
Amador, Ernest B.
Amador, Severiano
Angermiller, James A.
Auten, Norman D.
Ayala, Bernardo R.
Baker, Willy S.
Barnes, Merrill
Beardsley, William M.
Beatty, William T.
Blakey, Robert T.
Blunt, Samuel
Bowers, James E.
Boyd, Thomas M. III
Bradshaw, Faybert R.
Brooks, James E.
Browne, James G.
Browne, Robert G.
Buitron, Carlos S.
Caballero, David J.
Campbell, Ronald S.
Cantu, Raymond D.
Carr, George D.
Castanon, Alfredo
Castillo, Pablo A.
Cavazos, Reynaldo
Cavin, Douglas J.
Chavez, Ruben G.
Chuter, John D.
Coalston, Echol W. Jr.
Conolly, Sidney M. Jr.
Cortez, Jose G.
Davila, Guillermo Jr.
Davila, Jose
Davis, Kenneth A.*
Day, Joe B.
Deleon, Mario P.*
Dickey, Douglas P.*
Ducote, Lonnie J. Jr.*
Dulak, Raymond R. Jr. *
Durham, George B.*
Eaglin, John H.*
Elizondo, David*
Esparza, Israel *
Everett, Arnado


* Damage to monument makes these names difficult to read.  Some names were transcribed from a December 2005 photo.

Names left slab [7 July 2007; cropped to right half of slab]

/ Terry Ross / CC BY-SA 2.0

Names on the right side of the left-hand panel:


Eyring, Kenneth R.
Ferrell, E. M.
Flores, Jesus C.
Flores, Raul F.
Fortner, Carv D.
Franco, Noe
Galindo, Guadalupe
Garcia, Gilberto
Garcia, Guadalupe
Garcia, Miguel Jr.
Garcia, Pedro
Garcia, Arnoldo
Garcia, Raynaldo C.
Garza, Alberto B.
Garza, Ben III
Garza, Francisco
Garza, Frank
Garza, Marcello C. Jr.
Garza, Margarito
Garza, Pedro
Garza, Ruben V.
Gauna*, Daniel Jr.
Godinez,* Daniel
Gonzales, Benito R.
Gonzales, Guadalupe
Gonzales, Jesus
Gonzales, Manuel E.
Greathouse*, Julius Jr.
Grim*, Kenneth E.
Guerra, George Jr.
Guerrero, Richard Jr.
Gutierrez, Adolfo M.
Hammons, James L.
Haskett, George N.
Hernandez, Manuel Jr.
Hernandez, Rolando
Hibrich, Barry W.
Hobbs, Gary L.
Holtzclaw, John M.
Horton, Bill
Hoskins, Dale O.
Huth, Phillip N. II
Jennings*, William A. III
Johns*, Ronald E.*
Johnson, Howard H. Jr.
Jurecko*, Daniel E.
Kearns, James 
Kellum, Norman W.
Kettrick, William C.

* Damage to monument makes these names difficult to read.  Some names were transcribed from a December 2005 photo.

Names right slab [7 July 2007; cropped to left half of slab]
 / Terry Ross / CC BY-SA 2.0

Names on the left side of the right-hand panel:

Rodriguez, Bonifacio P.
Krussow, Donald J.
Lamas, Raul R.
Laurel, Desiderio C. Jr.
Ledesma, Incarnacion
Leos, Leonardo
Logan, Francis M. III
Lynch, Carl D.
McCartney, Ken A.
McDonald, Jerry C.
McGarvey, Charles E.
McKeown, John M.
Maeckel, Eugene A.
Makintaya, Alejandro
Mendez, Roberto
Meerdink, George Jr.
Mindach, William R.
Moneachi, David K.
Mora, Robert C.
Moreno, Jesus Jr.
Neely, James E.
Niedecken, William C.
Newcity, Theodore C. Jr.
Ochoa, Robert
Ojeda, Joe B.
Ortiz, Jose A.
Ownes, Frank Jr.
Padilla, Gilberto
Parker, Maxin C.
Patino, Roberto L.
Pena, Fernando S.
Pena, Manuel J.
Perez, Adolfo M.
Perez, Benito
Perez, Espiridion
Perez, Rodolfo
Phillips, Jerry
Poston, Willam T.
Price, Coy W.
Pritchett, Willie G.
Queen, Cary P.
Ramos, Jose Jr.
Raper, Alvin L.
Reyna, Samuel
Riley, Glenn A.
Roberson, Robert S. Jr.
Rocha, Ruben L.
Rodriguez, Juan A.
Rodriguez, Roberto P.
Ronje, Joe L.

Names right slab [7 July 2007; cropped to right half of slab]
 / Terry Ross / CC BY-SA 2.0

Names on the right side of the right-hand panel:

Ruiz, Leopoldo L.
Patterson, Joe N. Jr.
Ruiz, Alto
Ruiz, Manuel R.
Russell, John E.
Rylander, Robert J.
Saenz, Alfredo J.
Salazar, Joe Jr.
Salazar, Jose L.
Samford, Jesse L.
Sanders, Alan E.
Satterwhite, Dwight K.
Scalljan, Clinton
Simmons, Nolan L.
Simpson, Lloyde H.
Sims, John C. Jr.
Sims, Kirk W.
Singer, Kenneth E.
Smith, Linton C.
Solis, Antonio A.
Stoddard, Clarence W. Jr.
Stroud, Sanders K. II
Stroud, Roger L.
Taylor, Robert A.
Terry, Robert I. III
Thomas, Darwin J.
Thompson, Billy
Thornton, Kenneth R.
Till, Ralph G.
Trejo, Jose M.
Trevino, Faustino A.
Trammell, James
Vaught, Michael E.
Veit, Freddie J.
Vergara, Eliseo C.
Garza, Richard C.
Vetters, Scott
Vilano, Evaristo
Villarreal, Jesus Jr.
Waid, Billy G.
Weaver, Charles E.
Welborn, Joe T.
Whaley, Henry N. Jr.
Williams, Gayle E.
Williams, Gerald D.
Williams, Howard C. Jr.
Wokaty, Eugene A.
Wranosky, Robert W.
Yanez, Jesus Jr.
York, Emmett L. Jr.
Zanga, Peter A.



This post was done in honor of the upcoming Veterans Day for The Honor Roll Project begun by Heather Wilkinson Rojo of Nutfield Genealogy. 


Sources:

¹ Chirinos, Fanny S.. "Local veteran helps restore war memorial - The former master sergeant in Air Force donates $4,800," Corpus Christi Caller-Times (TX), August 30, 2005: B2, accessed September 17, 2017, http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/10C598C7AA50B7C8?p=WORLDNEWS.

² Chirinos, Fanny S.. "Monument may get repairs - Names of residents killed in wars faded," Corpus Christi Caller-Times (TX), August 15, 2005: B2, accessed September 17, 2017, http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/10C0A3FC46EC4338?p=WORLDNEWS.

³Saugier, Mari. "Bond raised for suspect in monument damage," Corpus Christi Caller-Times (TX), December 17, 2005: B2, accessed September 17, 2017, http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/10E9D0CD9B6B5538?p=WORLDNEWS.



© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

(Not-So-) Wordless Wednesday: Astros Fan Since 1970

My hometown baseball team, the Houston Astros, just won its first-ever World Series tonight, November 1, 2017.  The team has been in existence (originally as the Colt .45s, through the 1964 season) since 1962.  At some point (definitely by 1970, when I was in middle school), the team partnered with one of the local newspapers, the Houston Chronicle, to award two tickets to three games to students who had straight A's on their report cards during a particular grading period.  Smart move on their part; I think that created a number of fans at a young age.  I can still remember listening to Astros games on my radio at home, and while recovering from an appendectomy in the summer of 1972.  For a while, I had a crush on third baseman Doug Rader.


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: Halloween 1967

My siblings and I on Halloween in 1967, 8015 Sharpview, Houston, Texas.  I'm in the back on the left, and I guess I'm a black cat.  My sister Mary is the next tallest; I think she is an owl, as those are feathers all over her head and mask.  My brother Mark is the mummy in the middle, and my brother Brian is Frankenstein.  My little sister Mary, in the front, is a gypsy.  That's a paper accordian skeleton party decoration hanging behind Mark, and you can see the decorated pumpkin bowl full of candy to pass out on the right.


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday's Faces From the Past: Agota and Steponas Radauskas, 1921

Agota Radauskaitė (1902-1980) visiting her older brother Steponas Radauskas (1899-1944) while he was in the Lithuanian army,  1921.

This photograph is from the private album of Aldona Radauskaitė Zigmantavičienė, the daughter of Steponas Radauskas, a brother of Agota and Leo.   Thank you Aldona!  Thanks also to my third cousin Osvaldas Guokas in Lithuania, who has been sharing all these photographs and information with me!

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

(Not-So-) Wordless Wednesday: Happy 89th Birthday to My Mom (tomorrow)!

My mom in the late 1940s or early 1950s.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: Happy Birthday to My Baby Sister (tomorrow)!

Mary sometime during or before July 1966.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday's Faces From the Past: Bronė and Steponas Radauskas, BEF 1943

This is a photograph of Bronislova "Bronė" Skačkauskaitė Radauskienė (1905-1961) and her husband, my first cousin twice removed Steponas Radauskas (1899-1944).  I don't know when the photograph was taken, only that it had to be before Steponas' untimely death in early September, 1944.  More likely it was prior to 1943 (because a photograph from that year shows him with far less hair), but I think it was after 1930.  Bronė is thinner in this photo than she was in one taken in that year.

Bronė was born December 28, 1905, the daughter of Petras Skačkauskas.  She and Steponas were married January 29, 1929, in Šeduva, in the Radviliskis district municipality in Lithuania.  They had three children, daughter Aldona Radauskaitė Zigmantavičienė (born 1934), son Antanas, who was born about 1934 and died about 1935 (perhaps a twin to Aldona?), and son Petras Radauskas (1937-2004).  Bronė died July 7, 1961, and is buried with Steponas and Antanas at the Rozalimas cemetery.

The photo in this post came from the private album of Aldona Radauskaitė Zigmantavičienė, the daughter of  Bronislova "Bronė" Skačkauskaitė Radauskienė and Steponas Radauskas (tėtis means dad or daddy or papa in Lithuanian).   Thank you Aldona!  Thanks also to Osvaldas Guokas, who has been sharing all these photographs and information with me!


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Wordless Wednesday: Anastasia Radauskas Polianski, 1892-1978

Anastazija Radauskaite was born January 22, 1892, in Gikoniai village, Lithuania, the fifth of twelve children and the oldest daughter of Ignatijus (Ignotas) Radauskas (1858-1913) and Agota Guokiete (Guokas) Radauskiene (1861-1942), the older sister of my great-grandfather Charles (Kazimieras) Guokas (1863-1939).  

Anastasia came to the United States in 1912, and married fellow Lithuanian immigrant Joseph Anthony Polianski (1890-1952) on June 1, 1914, at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Baltimore, Maryland.  They had two daughters and two sons between 1915 and 1934, and eight grandchildren.  Anastasia died in January 1978.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Matrilineal Monday: Guokas Family Tree Chart

A couple of my Lithuanian third cousins, Audrys Guokas and Osvaldas Guokas, have been hard at work on a Guokas family tree that spans three countries (Lithuania, USA, Argentina) and goes back (from me) six generations (to our common ancestor, my fifth great-grandfather Stanislovas Guokas, married in 1775), and forward a couple generations as well!  Here's a member of one of those forward generations, pictured with the chart:

Jieva Guokaitė, my third cousin once removed, looks at the Guokas family tree chart that is almost as long as she is!  Photo courtesy my third cousin, Audrys Guokas.


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Those Places Thursday: Lagoon at Dawes Park, July 1939 and August 2017

The proportions aren't quite right on this one - but here is a then (July 1939) and now (August 2017) picture of the Arrington Lakefront Lagoon at Dawes Park in Evanston, Illinois.  The boys in the photo are my dad, Frederick Henry Pape, and his nine-days-younger first cousin John Charles "Jack" Bleidt (1929-1973).  The boys were ten years old here, and apparently had a model boat in the water.

Here's a photo of the lagoon from August 10, 2017, one of many photos I took of it that day.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Tombstone Tuesday: Nellie Julia Polianski Kane, 1915-1943

photo courtesy I See Dead People at FindAGrave

Nellie (Anelė) Julia Polianski Kane (1915-1943), my second cousin once removed, is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn Park, Anne Arundel County, Maryland.  Nellie was born in Maryland, the oldest child of Lithuanian immigrants Joseph Anthony Polianksi (1890-1952) and Anastasia Radauskas Polianski (1892-1978).  She grew up in Baltimore and graduated from Eastern High School there in February 1933.  According to the 1933 yearbook, The Eastern Echo (page 38), "Polly" could usually be found talking and had a hobby of skating, an ardent aversion to reading essays, and a secret ambition to be a nurse.

On the 1940 Census, Nellie is living with her parents, younger sister Helen, and younger brothers Joseph Jr. and Eddie on Pennington Avenue, and working as a bookkeeper for an insurance company.  Just down the street is Vincent Kane, a college graduate from Pennsylvania about her age, doing office work for a chemical company (Nellie made more money than him the previous year).

Sometime after that census was taken (on April 11-12, 1940), Nellie and Vincent Thomas Kane (1915-1989) married.  He enlisted in the Army on February 11, 1941, and served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, ending his military career on his birthday in 1975 as a major.

Nellie died on February 12, 1943, in Huntsville, Alabama, so I am guessing Vincent must have been stationed there about that time.  They had no children.


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: Anastasia Radauskas Polianski with daughters Nellie and Helen, ABT 1930

The photo above is of Anastasia (Anastazija) Radauskas Polianski (1892-1978), in the center, and her two oldest children, daughters Nellie (Anelė) Polianski Kane (1915-1943), on the left, and Helen (Elena) Eugenia Polyanski Hulshoff (1916-2007), on the right.  Anastasia looks a lot like she did on her trip to Lithuania in 1930, and the girls look to be in their early teens, so I'm guessing this photo was taken about 1930.

The photo came from the private album of Aldona Radauskaitė Zigmantavičienė, the daughter of Steponas Radauskas, brother of Anastazija.   Thank you Aldona!  Thanks also to Osvaldas Guokas, who has been sharing all these photographs and information with me!


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Those Places / Treasure Chest Thursday: 1959 Houston Directory; Sam Houston Park

photo courtesy Bill R. Hill

This isn't really my treasure - my high school friend Bill posted this photo on Facebook.  He found this 1959 Houston directory among his mother's things after she passed away three and a half years ago - you can see names and numbers scribbled on the cover.  Of course Bill is now getting requests from his friends who grew up in Houston to look up their parents' old phone numbers.

In 1959, my parents, Fred & Gerrie Pape, were living with me and my sister Karen at 7913 Cedel Drive in the Spring Branch area of Houston.  Bill says our phone number listed in the book was HOmestead 8-6002.  The Homestead exchange definitely rings a bell with me.  I was age 7 when we moved away from this house to 8015 Sharpview in Houston, where I memorized our number: PRescott 4-5681, later PR4-5681, later 774-5681.

Of the cover photo, Bill notes that "the predominate building on the far left is City Hall; in the center is the Bank of the Southwest. Both these buildings are still standing but cannot be seen from this vantage point with all the construction since."  (Click on the photo to enlarge it.)  He originally thought the photo was taken looking east on Allen Parkway, just east of Waugh Drive.

However, the statue on the left in the photo caught my eye - it's not in the Allen Parkway / Waugh vicinity today, so I was wondering if it had been moved.  After a little research, I figured out that this is actually the Spirit of the Confederacy statue in Sam Houston Park.  

Souvenir Folder of Houston, Texas - Confederacy Monument in Sam Houston Park, Houston, Texas, [1912-1924], Historic Texas Postcards, Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries, accessed September 27, 2017, http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/p15195coll16/item/358/show/351.

The bronze statue on a pedestal of rough-hewn granite was sculpted by Italian immigrant Louis Amateis (who also did the Brownie statue at the Houston Zoo). It was dedicated in January 1908. A 1912 postcard shows it to be even higher above the road level then than it was on the cover of the 1959 directory.  It is still in the same spot, albeit lower (or perhaps earth has been mounded up around it), and more surrounded by trees, so it is hardly visible from this same vantage point, where Allen Parkway enters the downtown area just west of the park and splits into Lamar and Dallas streets.

 Spirit of the Confederacy, Sam Houston Park [6 January 2013, cropped] / Brian Reading - Own work / CC BY-SA 3.0

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Tombstone Tuesday: Leonas and Ona Radauskas, St. Casimir Lithuanian Catholic Cemetery, Chicago

Here is the marker for the graves of Leonas "Leo" Radauskas (1889-1973) and his wife Ona "Anna" Tamošiūnaite Radauskas Marcinkus (1907-1988), at St. Casimir [Lithuanian] Catholic Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois:

photo by Christine Sheets Nutile via FindAGrave

The words "Ilsekis Ramybeje" at the bottom of the cross are Lithuanian for "Rest in Peace."  Here are photos of the engravings for Leonas and Ona at the base of the stone:

photo by Christine Sheets Nutile via FindAGrave

photo by Christine Sheets Nutile via FindAGrave

There are two other names engraved on the stone.  On the far right, it says "Agota Zakaras 1902-".  This was supposed to be for Leonas' sister Agota "Agnes" Radauskas Phillips Zaker (1902-1980), but she is buried in the same cemetery next to her second husband.  

The other name, on the far left, is "Justin Kiskunas 1892-1978."  He was buried in the plot on February 13, 1978, with "o.t. [one-time?] permit #161," according to the burial record available at FamilySearch.org.  That record shows only that his home address was Toronto, Canada.  Some Canadian records at Ancestry.com (not fully accessible to me, since I don't have a world membership there) indicate that he was living in Ontario province in 1972.  

My third cousin Osvaldas Guokas discovered a birth record for Justinas Kiškūnas that proves he is Ona's uncle, younger brother to Ona's mother, Agota Kiškūnaitė (born about 1875).  They were both children of Baltramiejus Kiškūnas and Ona Dzinkus Kiškūnienė.


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: Steponas Radauskas and Family, ABT 1943

This is a photograph from Lithuania in about 1943 of my first cousin twice removed Steponas Radauskas (1899-1944), his wife Bronislova "Bronė" Skačkauskaitė Radauskienė (1905-1961), his son Petras Radauskas (1937-2004), and his daughter Aldona Radauskaitė Zigmantavičienė (born 1934).  They also had a son Antanas, who was born about 1934 and died about 1935 (perhaps a twin to Aldona?).

Steponas Radauskas was born February 14, 1899, the tenth of the twelve children of Ignatijus Radauskas (ABT 1858-1913) and Agota Guokaitė Radauskienė (1861-1942, my great-grandfather Charles Guokas' sister) from the village Gikoniai in the Rozalimas parish.  He married Bronislava Skačkauskaitė January 29, 1929, in Šeduva, in the Radviliskis district municipality in Lithuania.

My third cousin Osvaldas Guokas tells the following story about Steponas.  During the Nazi occupation in World War II, Steponas Radauskas was a seniūnas - village elder. He was friendly with all in the village and always informed them when Nazis were coming for "contributions." One person from Gikoniai remembers that when Steponas warned them, this person quickly tried to catch a hen in the yard and hide. But the Nazi soldier came during this action. He remember that Steponas Radauskas said some words to the soldier in German, and there was no problem.

According to Osvaldas, Steponas Radauskas found a Russian grenade lost in the fields near the end of World War II.  He tried to detonate it in the nearby river Daugyvenė.  But something went wrong.  People from the nearby village of Gikoniai heard an explosion and when they found Steponas, he was dead from very serious injuries in the belly area.

Steponas, Brone, and Antanas are all buried in the Rozalimas cemetery.

The photo in this post came from the private album of Aldona Radauskaitė Zigmantavičienė, the daughter of Steponas Radauskas and the little girl in the photo above.   Thank you Aldona!  Thanks also to Osvaldas Guokas, who has been sharing all these photographs and information with me!

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

(Not-So-) Wordless Wednesday: Joseph Polianski Jr. and his Lithuanian Uncles, 1930

In 1930, my first cousin twice removed Anastasia (Anastazija) Radauskas Polianski (1892-1978) traveled back to Lithuania to visit members of her family of origin who were still living there.  She took her then-youngest son Joseph Anthony Polianski Jr. (1924-2002).  While there, the family members still in Lithuania had a portrait taken with their American daughter/sibling and her son.  Joseph also posed for this picture with his Lithuanian uncles.

Standing from the left are brothers Ignacijus Radauskas (Jr., born 1894), Steponas Radauskas (1899-1944), and Kazimieras Radauskas (born 1886). Sitting are Petras Palujanskas (ABT. 1891-1954), the husband of Virginija Radauskaitė and the brother of Anastazija Radauskaitė Polianski's husband Joseph Sr.; and Joseph Anthony Polianski Jr. (1924-2002) from America, son of Anastazija Radauskaitė Polianski.

The photo in this post came from the private album of Aldona Radauskaitė Zigmantavičienė, the daughter of Steponas Radauskas, a brother of Leo Radauskas.   Thank you Aldona!  Thanks also to Osvaldas Guokas, who has been sharing all these photographs and information with me!


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: Radauskas Family in Lithuania, 1930

In 1930, my first cousin twice removed Anastasia (Anastazija) Radauskas Polianski (1892-1978) traveled back to Lithuania to visit members of her family of origin who were still living there.  She took her then-youngest son Joseph Anthony Polianski Jr. (1924-2002).  While there, the family members still in Lithuania had this portrait taken with their American daughter/sibling and her son.

Back row from left: Petras Palujanskas (ABT 1891-1954), husband of Virginija Radauskaitė and brother of Anastasia's husband Joseph Polianski; Steponas Radauskas (1899-1944) and wife Bronė (Bronislova Skačkauskaitė Radauskienė, 1905-1961), daughter of Petras Skačkauskas; Bronė (Bronislova) Tamošiūnaite Radauskienė, wife of Ignacijus Radauskas (Jr.) and cousin to Bronė Skačkauskaitė Radauskienė; Ignacijus Radauskas (junior, b. 1894); Kazimieras Radauskas (b. 1886).

Front row from left: Adelė Palujanskaitė, daughter of Petras and Virginija Radauskaitė Palujanskas; Virginija Radauskaitė Palujanskienė (1896-1968), Joseph; Anastazija; Agota Guokaitė Radauskienė (1861-1942), mother of Virginija, Steponas, Ignacijus Jr., and Kazimieras, and Anastazija; and Teklė Savickaitė Radauskienė, wife of Kazimieras Radauskas.

I would have posted this picture sooner, but we were unsure of the identity of the little boy until recently (we thought he might have been Joseph's younger brother Edward, born in 1934).  My third cousin Mary Gina showed the picture to Joseph's widow, who confirmed it was him.  Mary Gina says, "I remember my mother telling me that her brother, Joseph, went to Lithuania when he was a child."  I also found the passenger list for Anastasia's and Joseph's return to New York City on August 20, 1930.

The photo in this post came from the private album of Aldona Radauskaitė Zigmantavičienė, the daughter of Steponas Radauskas, a brother of Leo Radauskas.   Thank you Aldona!  Thanks also to Osvaldas Guokas, who has been sharing all these photographs and information with me!

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday's Faces from the Past: Old Photos at the Memorial Service

Wonderful old family photos and a newspaper clipping on display at the luncheon following the memorial service this past Sunday for my uncle Frank James "Bud" Streff Sr. (1925-2014) and aunt Elizabeth "Betty" Marie Pape Streff (1927-2017).  I really hope my Streff cousins digitize and share the photos on this board SOON!  I see lots of family stories here - besides Papes and Streffs of various generations, I see Hedgers, Dietzes, and Massmanns too! (Click on the photo to view a larger version.)


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Wordless Wednesday: Streff Memorial - Family Reunion

A memorial service this past Sunday for my uncle Frank James "Bud" Streff Sr. (1925-2014) and aunt Elizabeth "Betty" Marie Pape Streff (1927-2017) morphed into a fun family reunion.  The photo above was taken just before the luncheon after the memorial service at the cemetery, and includes family from Bud's side and Betty's side.


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Matrilineal Monday: Happy 87th Birthday to My Aunt (tomorrow)

Jo Ann (now Sister Jean Marie) Guokas, dressed up perhaps for a high school dance in the mid-1940s.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: Happy 63rd Anniversary to My Parents (tomorrow)

Frederick Henry Pape and Geraldine Margaret Guokas,

married September 11, 1954, in Houston, Texas

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Fearless Females Addilee Harris and Lemore Stroud, 1960s

Today, September 9, is the 90th birthday of my first cousin twice removed Elise Lemore Thompson Stroud.  She is the oldest daughter of a younger sister (Euna Ann Shelton Thompson, 1905-1959) of my great-grandmother Addilee Tennessee Shelton Wolfe Odom Harris (1890-1977).

By 1935, Addilee and her third husband, Charles Burroughs Harris (1887-1959), had moved back to Louisiana from Texas.  Charles and Euna both died in 1959, within two weeks of each other, and Addilee and Lemora became close, as evidenced by this photograph, in an album owned by my first cousin twice removed Shirley Thompson, Lemora's youngest sister, which I got to see at a Shelton family reunion in June 2016.

The photo above is probably from sometime in the 1950s or 1960s.


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday's Faces from the Past: 2093 W. Lunt, Chicago, Illinois, 1952-3 and 2017

I superimposed two photographs onto a present-day photograph of 2093 W. Lunt Avenue in Chicago's West Ridge / Rogers Park neighborhood, where my father Fred Pape's family lived from about 1927 to about 1955.  One photo, from around April 1952, is of my father, home on military leave, his brother-in-law Frank James "Bud" Streff Sr. (1925-2014), and family friend Bill Doyle.  The other photo, from about 1953, is of Dad's sister and Bud's wife, Elizabeth "Betty" Marie Pape Streff (1927-2017), and her two oldest daughters, Rosemary Jean Streff Grandusky (1949-2016) and Marianne.

Here's the view of the east front side of the house from August 9, 2017:

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Wordless Wednesday: 2547 Hastings, Evanston, Illinois, 1962 and 2017

I superimposed a photograph from March 1962 of my paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Florence Massmann Pape (1902-2000) on the front steps of hers and my paternal grandfather Paul Robert Pape's home at 2547 Hastings Avenue, Evanston, Illinois, onto a present-day photograph of that triplex home, where they lived from about 1956 until about a year after Paul's death in April 1971:

Here's a more wide-angle view of the home, still with Nana on the front step, showing the second floor:





And finally, here's the view of the home as it looked on August 7, 2017.  Other than being painted red and the storm door removed, the front door appears to be the same, and the house number is the original sailboat design (that also appears in a 1956 photo taken on these same front steps).

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: 1043 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, Illinois, 1918 and 2017

I superimposed a photograph of my great-grandparents, John Pape (1851-1945) and Gertrude Kramer (or Cramer) Pape (1859-1919) along with three of their four sons, probably from December 1918, standing in front of their home at 1043 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, Illinois, onto a present-day photograph of that home, which John built in 1893:

From left to right, the sons, standing in front in uniform, are my grandfather Paul Robert Pape (1896-1970), his younger brother Walter Francis Pape (1900-1975) and his older brother Leo John "Lee" Pape (1893-1979). Walter is recorded as having enlisted in the Army on October 5, 1918, and released November 14 of that year.  Lee served in the Navy from July 19, 1917 to February 15, 1919.  I could not find a record, but it appears that Paul served in the Navy as well.

And here is the "present-day" photo in full, from August 10, 2017, almost 99 years after the black-and-white photo was taken, probably in December 1918.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday's Faces From the Past: 1043 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, Illinois: ABT 1905 and 2017

I superimposed a photograph from about 1905 of my great-grandmother, Gertrude Kramer (or Cramer) Pape (1859-1919) with her children and niece, on the front steps of their home at 1043 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, Illinois, onto a present-day photograph of that home, which my great-grandfather John Pape (1859-1945) built in 1893:





I think those in the top row are (from the left) Gertrude's daughter Martha Elisabeth Pape Bleidt (1890-1981, standing), niece Emma Genevieve Pape Childs (ABT 1885-ABT 1937, sitting), Gertrude, and daughter Rhea Maria Pape (1892-1977, standing).

Those in the bottom row are my grandfather Paul Robert Pape (1896-1970, standing), his younger brothers Walter Francis Pape (1900-1975) and Otto Richard "Dick" Pape (1898-1972, both sitting), his oldest sister Clara M. Pape (1889-1975, sitting), and his older brother Leo John "Lee" Pape (1893-1979, standing).  No idea about the dog.

And here is the "present-day" photo in full, from August 10, 2017, about 112-113 years after the sepia-toned photo was taken, probably in 1904 or 1905.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.