Mary Barbara (Raykovitz) Williams (1932-2021)

~*~*~

One by one by one...the sons and daughters of John Theodore and Mary Barbara (Geffert) Rajkowicz are joining their parents in the great beyond. We said our final earthly good-byes to my Mother yesterday and, fittingly, she is buried next to her mother & father in the Rajkowicz family plot in West Wyoming, PA. 

Since my Mother's passing on October 28th, the time has sped by like a spring freshet. I will circle back with some additional thoughts in a week or so, but for those that stop by from time to time...I wanted everyone to know of her passing and that - in the days to follow leading up to her traditional Mass of Christian Burial and interment next to her mother...we did her/our Polish heritage proud. 

The Raykovitz Gals: From 5 Days ago...

We hosted my daughter's bridal shower at our home this past Sunday. My Mom (86) and her sister Helen (88) were able to attend. I (62) hope I inherited their longevity genes.

My Mom is in the wheelchair in the pic below. 

From 50 years ago...

Celebrating a birthday at the Kent Lane homestead on 2/3/1968.  

From L to R:  Mary Barbara (Geffert) Raykovitz (76), Mary Barbara (Raykovitz) Williams (36), Helen (Raykovitz) Bolacker (38) and Diana Lee Williams (9).

Happy 86th!!!

Mary Barbara (Raykovitz) Williams is turning 86 today. 

May she remain forever young!

From Arlington...

 

My daughter was in Arlington yesterday and took a few photos as flags were being placed at all gravesites in preparation for Memorial Day.

 

 

 

 

 

Raymond M. Raykovitz - March 6, 1944

 

On March 6, 1944, an uncle I've never met died in WWII on an island in the South Pacific. Per the newspaper article below, he was a member of the famed First Marine Division and fought in many places during the war including Guadalcanal.

 

One of the many stories I've heard over the years is that Raymond's parents - my maternal grandparents - refused to accept the insurance money detailed in the two letters below.

 

Flatly refused.

 

Many years later, a decade after my grandparents wrote to the VA and asked them to stop sending the checks, it was discovered that someone in the US Postal Service was intercepting the monthly payments and cashing the checks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above/Below: Ray on the South Street Bridge in Wilkes-Barre PA in July 1941

 

 

 

 

 

Raymond M. Raykovitz was interred in Arlington National Cemetery on March 3, 1949.

 

 

Above: My Mom/Raymond's sister - pics taken 57 years apart

 

RIP, Ray.

 

A Rose E'er Blooming

  

To the best of my Mom's recollection, and that of her siblings, the "Seven Sisters" rose bush in the pictures below was planted approximately ~65 years ago in the yard of their parents' home on Kent Lane in the Mayflower section of Wilkes-Barre, PA.  Although the stories do vary a little, based upon other photos I have, it does appear to have been a Mother's Day gift from Mary's son Stanley and his wife Jean.

 

As I was cleaning out the Kent Lane property between 2012 and its eventual sale in October 2014, I pondered the fate of that bush. It had seen better days, but it still bloomed every year and - in addition to the hostas along the sidewalk - was one of the few plants surviving on the property from when John and Mary Raykovitz were alive.

 

About a month prior to selling the property, my sister and I decided to dig up some of the hostas ( they survived ) along with the rose bush. Based upon the 60+ year-old root system I was able to hack out of the ground, I truly doubted the bush would survive. When I got it home, I kept it well watered, prepped the spot I decided to plant it in, and mulched it liberally to protect the roots for what turned out to be a very harsh 2014-2015 winter.

 

Little by little, the transported rose bush began throwing out new shoots. This past summer, several roses bloomed that we were able to share with my Mom and her sister Helen.

 

As the new owner transformed the Kent Lane property into his home, one of the first things he did was to remove the front hedges and all of the trees and shrubs in the side yard to allow for off-street parking that is hard to come by on that narrow lane. The pink-flowering dogwood tree in the 4th picture below - now gone - was a Mother's Day gift I gave to my Mom in 1980. Seeing that ripped out did not disturb me as much as it would have if the rose bush was a casualty of his changes...but thankfully it was not.

 

As the bush appears to have established itself at its new location, I'll be doing some heavy pruning this spring to  - hopefully - encourage new shoots to emerge.

 

In the end, I view that simple rose bush as a living touchstone to the past.  

 

 

Above: Mary Barbara (Geffert) Raykovitz (circa 1960)

Below: Mary's three daughters - Rita, Helen & Mary (circa 1980)

 

 

 

Above/Below: Rose bush @ Kent Lane circa June 2014

 

 

Below: Relocated rose bush in 2015

 

 

 

More to follow.

  

Out of the Blue II

 

Out of the blue...again, I've received additional pics and pieces of the past from a descendant of Frank Geffert, my mother's (Mary Barbara (Raykovitz) Williams) grandfather.

 

My thanks to Pat Hennessey-Wing for providing the items below.

 

 

Below: Frank Geffert, daughter Josephine Geffert and granddaughter Helen Geffert-Reggie

 

 

 

Above: Josephine Geffert-Gutkowski and brother John Stanley Geffert

Below: Mary Banik-John Stanley Geffert Wedding 27 July 1914

 

Above: Josephine Geffert-Louis Gutkowski Wedding 21 November 1922

  

And here's a pic I took in Georgetown that I do not believe I've posted previously.

 

 

Greetings from the Raykovitz Gals & Grandkids

Above: L to R

Helen Raykovitz Bolacker - 85

Mary Barbara Raykovitz Williams - 83

Both are granddaughters of Frank & Helena Geffert

and

Stanley & Katherine Rajkowicz

Picture taken on 27 December 2015

 

On the wall above them is a plaque awarded to the Raykovitz family in ~1940 for having the most children enrolled in Marymount High School ( Wilkes-Barre, PA ) at one time.

 

Three other Raykovitz siblings are still alive and well; Rita (91), Stanley (88), and Bernard Michael (Mickey) (81).

 

Picture taken on 27 December 2015

 

Above: And here's a pic of the great-great grandchildren of Frank & Helena Geffert;

 

L to R:

 

Bryan Williams, Lisa Williams, Aunt Helen, my Mom, Lauren Williams and Andrew LeVasseur.

 

More pics to follow.

 

Happy New Year.

 

Keep the pics coming...and thanks.

  

Out of the Blue: More Geffert Photos

I began this blog in 2013. 

 

I was rehabbing/recuperating @ home from injuries sustained in a fall on 13 January 13 while cleaning out my mother's family (Raykovitz) homestead in the Mayflower section of Wilkes-Barre. 

 

Over those 6 months, mostly while sitting in a wheelchair, I went through dozens of boxes and containers taken from the Kent Lane property and sorted through hundreds of family photos and documents.

 

Over the almost three years that have passed, mostly through Statcounter, I've seen evidence of people from all over the world visiting this blog. It was my hope that, eventually, family & friends that I've never met would stumble across it and add to the Raykovitz/Geffert - Kras/Maslyk family history with photos, documents and anything else they wished to share.  

 

Turns out another descendant of John Geffert ( my matrilineal grandmother's father ) lives in southeastern PA less than 30 minutes away. He sent the pics below, and I'm hoping there are more to follow from other members of the extended Geffert/Adamczyk family.

 

This is just way too cool.

 

Thanks, Jeff.

 

 

Above: (Aunt) Josie Geffert-Gutkowski

Below: Mary Barbara Geffert-Raykovitz and Josie

 

Above: Mary Barbara Geffert-Raykovitz

Below: Nellie Geffert-Dotzel and Sally Geffert-Adamczyk & others

 

Above: Sally Geffert-John Adamczyk Wedding

Below: (L-R) Unknown, Mary Geffert Raykovitz and Sally Geffert Adamczyk

 

Above: Sally Geffert-Adamczyk & unknown

Below: Sally Geffert Adamczyk

 

All photos above courtesy of Jeff Kascsak - great-grandson of Sally Geffert-Adamczyk.

 

More to follow...

  

In Search of Karol - Round #1

On to Round #2.

  

They called him "Slick"

In the past two weeks, I have received more pictures from family members than I have in the past two years. I hope to receive more, and I will post them here with any additional information received.

 

The pics below are of Frank "Slick" Raykovitz (1896-1986), my maternal grandfather's brother.

 

Thanks, Damian.

 

 

Above: Damian Raykovitz & his Grandpa Frank "Slick" Raykovitz in 1950.

Below: Frank and Margaret (Oleniak) Raykovitz circa ~1970.

 

"I think 'Slick' got the nickname as a result of his being a slick pitcher for the Blackman's Athletic Club baseball team in 1917"

 

More to follow.

     

The Search for Karol Rajkowicz

I sent a search request and a check for $30.00 off to the Luzerne County Register of Wills office this morning. They have birth and death records for Luzerne County from 1893 to 1905. 

 

As I'm 99.99% sure Karol died before 1909, I only have to search four years of online data for the period between 1905 and 1909 if they find nothing in their database.

 

Off we go.

And Here They Rest

Below you will find the burial locations of my maternal great-grandparents, Stanley & Kathryn (Kras) Rajkowicz, and seven of their children and spouses.

 

Per my prior post, there is one more gravesite I have to find, that of Karol Rajkowicz. I believe he may be buried in an old cemetery in Wilkes-Barre Township, but based upon a call placed to the parish church, no records exist of the burials there. My next step is to search the records kept by the Luzerne County Courthouse.

 

I will post updates as my efforts progress.

 

I hope current and future descendants of Stanley & Kathryn Rajkowicz not only find this useful, but will take the time at some point in their lives to visit the graves of their ancestors. From start to finish, it can be accomplished in less than three hours.

 

May they all rest in peace.

  

 

In Search of Karol

 

I've now located the gravesites of the seven children of my maternal grandparents listed on the Certificate of Naturalization below.

 

Today I will start the process of trying to locate their eighth child, Karol, who died in his youth due to severe burns suffered in an accident at home.

 

More in a few.