Hello there,
My great grandfather was Peter Chapek who was married to Maria Chapek and they emigrated to the US together with his orchestra in about 1870. They were from Bohemia also. My greatgrandfather, Peter Chapek, was a clarinetist and was born I believe in 1831 in Bohemia. I believe he had a son named Frank Chapek. I think he was born in 1853 as I found him in the Cook Cty Illinois Census. You see, his son, Josef Horymir Chapek was my maternal grandfather. He married a girl from Texas named Augusta Haenel. Josef was a violinist and had career that spanned 50 years in Chicago. He and his wife had the Chapek School of Music, with him teaching violin, and her teaching piano. Anyway, my father was Elmer Haenel Chapek. So that's the scoop on that. I haven't a clue as to whether we are related, but the names due sound similar and they both came from Bohemia which is interesting. So, let me know. Regards, Carol
My emails is: carolf7002@cox.net if you want to write to me directly. Thanks. Carol