Ray's USMC Dogtags

 

I had heard, for many years, that my Uncle Ray's USMC dog tags had his last name spelled incorrectly. Out of the blue yesterday, my cousin Bob ( Rita's son ) sent me the picture below.

 

 

 

I still have a dream of having my Uncle's Marine Corps ring, his burial flag, ( I have those two items ) his dog tags and his Purple Heart gathered together for a photo.

 

I hope it happens. 

  

Happy Birthday, Aunt Helen!

 

Helen (Raykovitz) Bolacker is 85 today.

 

Happy Birthday, Aunt Helen!

The three Raykovitz sisters from the Mayflower section of Wilkes-Barre are all alive and well at 90 (Rita), 85 (Helen) and Mary (82).

 

Building the Family Tree

 

Below: Stanley & Kathryn Rajkowicz, my maternal great-grandparents.

 

Stanley Rajkowicz: 1864-1933

 

 

Kathryn (Kras) Rajkowicz: 1871-1933

 

 

More to follow.

Thanksgiving Day 2014

 

My Mom & Aunt Helen joined us for Thanksgiving.

 

Below is a pic of them by the circa ~1917 Victrola that - according to the them - was from the Raykovitz family homestead on S. Meade Street. The wooden cabinet is in exceptional shape and the hand-cranked turntable still works.

 

Perhaps some day I'll put on a needle and see if the entire unit still works.

 

 

 

One Last Visit

 

The pic below is of my Mom - Mary Barbara (Raykovitz) Williams (right) & Aunt Helen (Raykovitz) Bolacker  - standing in the house they were born in one last time before it was sold in early October.

 

It was well worth the effort getting them there. The globe with the yellow roses and the small mirrored shadow box on the wall behind them graced those same spots over 60 years ago.

 

More in a future post.

   

 

May 28, 1944 - A Letter from PFC Dan Ugran, USMC

I thought when I wrote this post that I had actually found "The Ugran Letter" my Mom had talked about over the years.

 

I was wrong, and I am still pondering why - after all these years - my wife found this letter in an old GAR yearbook the night before we were taking my Mom & her sister Helen to their Kent Lane homestead - the house they were born in over 80 years ago - for one last visit before it was sold.

 

Without further adieu, here's a letter written by PFC Dan Ugran, USMC - over 70 years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below: My Mom reading the "Ugran Letter" in the kitchen on Kent Lane.

 

 

More in the days ahead.

  

Leaving & Living On

As best we can tell from the various Q&A sessions we've had with my Mom and her siblings, the rose bush in the pic above and below was planted at least 50 years ago. The hostas in the background - still flourishing - are even older...perhaps 80+ years. 

More than likely within the next 30 days, this property will be sold...outside the family.

 

The rose bush, a few pots of the hostas, perhaps a few lily of the valley plants, and a lifetime of good memories will leave that 40' x 100' lot and live on elsewhere.

 

We will send a few pics before we lock the door one last time and give the keys to someone else.

 

P.S.: Here's a pic of my Mom taken in 1953, when she was 21. You can see the hostas to the left and the 80+ year old privet hedges to the right.