Church Record Sunday: Mom's Sacramental Records

Recently I stumbled across some unindexed records at FamilySearch.org for Catholic churches my mother and her ancestors were parishoners of in Houston, Texas.  Using some indexes built into the documents, as well as some paging to appropriate dates, I found records for a number of relatives.

Here are the sacramental records for my mother, Geraldine Margaret Guokas Pape:

Above:  Baptism at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Houston, Texas, on December 9, 1928, the second record above.  Godparents were Frank O’Rourke and what looks like “Mrs. Agnes Wolfe.”  This could be either her aunt Agnes Guokas Payne, or her aunt Annie Volce Wolfe, wife of her grandfather’s brother Shannon Wolfe.

Below:  First Communion at St. Joseph Catholic Church, May 9, 1937.  Mom's record is at the bottom right.  Her older brother Charles Guokas III also received his First Communion this date; he is #9 in the left-hand column.

Left: Geraldine Guokas on her First Communion Day, May 9, 1937.


Below:  First Communion class at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Houston, Texas, May 9, 1976.  Gerrie is on the second row of girls from the front, about the sixth girl from the right, and two rows above and just to the right of the right-most candle-bearer in the front.  Her older brother Charles Thomas Guokas III (1927-1999) is the left-most boy on the second row from the top, in front of the light-colored stone framing the doorway.  Geraldine's younger sister Jo Ann (Sister Jean Marie) Guokas did not have her First Communion that day, but was selected to be one of the angels - she is the one on the left, same row as her brother, with a crown on her head.  (Click on the photo to enlarge it.)

Above:  Confirmation at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Houston, Texas, May 15, 1938.  Mom's record is at the bottom left, and her confirmation name is Mary.  Her high school friend Vera Barbosa Stowell is just above her on the list.  A Mrs. T. A. Breed was apparently the sponsor for all the girls.

Below:  Marriage at Annunciation Catholic Church, Houston, Texas, September 11, 1954.  Witnesses were Norine Moreland Valicek and George J. Kaiser Jr., and Rev. Felix J. Penna performed the ceremony. Gerrie’s mother’s name is wrong (it should be Melzina Wolfe Guokas),  as is the date of baptism (it should be December 9, 1928).

Below:  Geraldine Margaret Guokas and Frederick Henry Pape (1929-2017) leaving Annunciation Catholic Church in Houston, Texas, after their marriage ceremony on September 11, 1954.

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