Memorial Day Service @ St.Mary's Cemetery

I attended the annual Memorial Day service for the first time. Helen (Raykovitz) Bolacker was there, along with many longtime friends from the old Mayflower and Heights sections of Wilkes-Barre. I'm glad I went, and I hope to be back next year.

Memorial Day 2014; Remember

 

To all:

 

The pics above, of my mother kneeling at the grave of her brother Raymond @ Arlington, span almost 57 years. In 2007, we took her to Washington to help celebrate her 75th birthday.

 

There's not much more that I can add.

 

Before the backyard cookouts...remember the reason for the holiday.

 

 

 

 

 

While in the service, Ray wrote an incredible number of letters to his parents.

 

I believe I have most of them.

 

 

 

Harold Raykovitz: 1927-2008

 

Yet another find in a drawer filled with memories.

 

 

 

 

Random Pics from the Past...and Present

Pictured above: 

I'm the geeky looking kid holding the pumpkin almost two months (?) after Halloween. My mother ( Mary Barbara (Raykovitz) Williams ) is holding my sister ( Diana Lee ), and her mother ( Mary Barbara (Geffert) Raykovitz ) is smiling down at all of us.

+  +  +

I recently received a copy of the photo below of my Uncle Tom Bolacker ( 1930-2014 ) when he was very young. Check out those socks!

I decided to post it here, along with a pic of him ( & family ) from the 1960's on the front porch of a home that several generations of the Raykovitz family visited over the years.

 

 

Below is a pic from my sister's wedding in October 1981.

 

To CR in Tacoma:

Two of "Slick's" brothers are in the pic: Carl (front left) & Mike (back right).

 

 

For those that have been visiting regularly, you know the story of Raymond Raykovitz's Marine Corps friend, Joe Sheridan. Several relatives commented that they had never seen pics of Joe after the war.

 

Here's a pic from their time in Australia.

 

And here are two pics from one of the last times the brothers and sisters of Raymond Raykovitz got together with Joe. He's on the left.

 

Even though Joe Sheridan survived his wounds, as you can see from the picture, he dealt with the aftermath his entire life.

 

 

 

Finally, speaking of homes owned by the Raykovitz clan in days gone by...anyone recognize this location? 

 

 

More in a few.

Middle Room in Mayflower Homestead

 

Above: Joe & Joan (cousins) in February 1968.

Below: The same room/view in April 2014.

 

 

 

 

I found the glass globe in the basement a few months back, along with the mirrored shadow box in the upper left of the first photo.

 

Note the still visible shadow on the wall where it once hung.

 

More pics to follow.