Friday, February 28, 2014

Wedding and Graduation Season, 1946? - Updated and Corrected with Kotwas Family Members

The previous posting featured Casimir Zdrojewski in his high school dorm at St. John Kanty preparatory school in Erie, Pennsylvania.  Here is Casimir all robed up for graduation therefrom.  It looks like the basement at Kanty; maybe it rained that day.

Grandma Victoria Zdrojewska, her daughter-in-law Eleanor Kotwas Zdrojewska, and to her left (in white dress and black hat) Eleanor's mother, Ludwicka ("Louise") Chmielewska Kotwas.

John, our JFZ, writes of his maternal grandmother Louise, our LCK, as "the kindest person I have ever met."

Also, "And, interestingly, Louise' parents came to America in the late 1870s and were among the first parishioners of St. Stanislaus Church in Buffalo."

Continuing around the table, we have 3 mystery people, JPZ nattily dressed, and to the JPZ's own left is, as John writes, "Eleanor's father, who came from the Russian partition of Poland in 1902."

Then we have the man of the hour, Casimir with boutonnier and mortarboard.  Oh, and diploma!

Does someone have more photos of this event, or the diploma to scan?  If so, please send them; I would love to put them up!


And here below, a terrific find from the New Trove - thanks, Marty!  Casey and Gene and a very cool car, all right at the front doors of Kanty Prep.

Andrew, you are the Spirit and Image of your grandfather at that age.  Come walk around Krakow with me so I can have fun watching you run into a doppelganger around every corner. 


A Google Image search on "Ford coupe converible 1941" returns many pretty pictures of cars like Gene's, including these two:



Must be Eugene took the photo below, probably in 1946.  JPZ and Eleanor were married in August of that year.  Casey is grinning wickedly in his James Dean hairdo still.  And a similar Ford is prominently included in the shot.  Paint job? New car? JPZmobile?


Le pique-nique with Grandma Kotwas, Eugene, JPZ,
the picnic basket and percolator, Casimir, and Eleanor.

Below, we see Eleanor, at right, and Clara, at left by Eugene, gamely smiling as they realize the antics their new family gets into at the drop of a hat, or some napery, or a potted plant.

Paul Zadner's lovely Mamma is unfazed. Paul has no idea that there is Chow Mein in his future. We saw this photo near the beginning of this blog, in - let's see - "Wedding Photo on the Wall".


1 comment:

Julie Zdrojewski said...

John, our JFZ, writes:

"The last photo should be entitled: "Posing Under the Influence"."