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Pekala's out there

Pekala's out there

Posted: 6 Feb 2009 7:38PM GMT
Classification: Query
My name is Maryann (Pekala) Berestka and I live in the USA. Don't know too much about the Pekala name only that my grandparent John and Mary were born in Poland. Both of them are gone as well as my dad and mom. I, too am surprised to see so many Pekala's out there. When I first moved from Massachusetts to Arizona, I was surprised to see them here as well. My dad had 6 brothers and 2 sisters, all gone now. They had kids and I believe there are only two boys carrying the name. All the rest had girls. Mark Pekala in Vermont and John Pekala in Connecticut.

Re: Pekala's out there

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 9:21PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Pekala
My name is Elaine Donovan and I just saw your post (a year late). My grandmother was Catherine(Pekala)Rup born in Poland lived in Massachusetts and I believe we are related. I have been doing research on my family for ten years and have established a tree back to the early 1800s in Poland. I have a John and Mary in my research who had children; Carl, Frank, Michael, Stanley, Joseph, Edward, Catherine, and Mary. My great grandfather was Tomas Pekala from Padew, Poland and I believe John was his brother.

Re: Pekala's out there

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 11:42PM GMT
Classification: Query
Hi Elaine
Yes John and Mary were my grandparents. My dad was Frank. All are deseased. I remember your grandmother. Didn't she live in Hatfield MA? I believe my dad used to stop over to see her once in a while. I have 3 full sisters and 2 half sisters. I was the baby of the first group. My mom died when I was 4. My dad (Frank) remarried and had two more girls. My sister Pat lives in CA, Carolyn here in AZ as well as I do. The two half sister live in MA. All our uncles and aunts are gone, There also was an Anthony and John. John was killed in WWI. I know my sister Pat was doing some research as well. Hope some of this will help you.
Where do you live? Your mom/dad is probably about my age. I can't remember how many kids Catherine had or what sex they were. I know she came to my wedding. I remember her introducing herself to me at that time and that was 48 years ago.

Re: Pekala's out there

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 12:38AM GMT
Classification: Query
Hi Maryann,
Thanks for the reply. I live in New Hampshire not too far from my mother in MA. She is helping me with my research and has a great memory of the little bits of information her mother, Catherine, told her.
My grandparents moved from North Hadley to Whately in the 1930's. They had eleven children (Anna, Joseph, Toni,Andrew,Jenny,Roman,Wanda, John, Edna, Ramona, and Jim). My mother is Ramona (Rup)Nieskoski. My mother and two sisters as well as her oldest brother Joseph are still alive (Joseph is 94) and my mother is 82.
I have accessed birth/marriage records from Padew, Poland. I found the birth record for my great grandfather Tomas. His parents were Peter Pekala and Sofia Majka. They had a lot of children and "John", I believe, was one of them. But I haven't found a John or Jan. There is a "Joamis" (I think thats John in Latin) born in 1849. Peter and Sofia had at least eight children starting in 1849 to 1870 (Joamis,Adalbertus, Catherina, Anna, Jacob, Adalbertus, Tomas, and Michal). I don't know why there are two Adalbertus born to the same parents on different years( I think they baptized with one name and then called their children by a nickname). So, do you know the birth date for your grandfather? I would love to confirm my tree with another branch of the family.

Elaine

Re: Pekala's out there

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 3:42PM GMT
Classification: Query
Hi,
No sorry I don't know as they were both dead before I was even born. However, I will ask my sister Pat. She may have more information.

Re: Pekala's out there

Posted: 1 Nov 2012 6:13PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Pekala
Hi, My husband's grandfather was Jadek Pekala from Pilzno, Poland. We have had no luck tracing his ancestry back to Poland as yet, but it looks like Pilzno is very close to Padew. Did your family have any relatives in Pilzno that you know of? Thanks! Dorie

Re: Pekala's out there

Posted: 1 Nov 2012 7:40PM GMT
Classification: Query
Well, most of my Polish research is pre-1900's because my grandmother, Katarzyna Pekala, came by herself to the U.S. in 1912 from Padew. Some of her uncles or great uncles could have moved from Padew to Pilzno because they didn't all come over to America. "Jadek" is Polish for grandfather. Do you know his real first name and his birth year? I wouldn't rule out that there is a relationship.

Re: Pekala's out there

Posted: 1 Nov 2012 7:48PM GMT
Classification: Query
Also, you might contact Pekala's on the message board from Leki Gorne. When I looked on a map, that town was very close to Pilzno and I think I saw alot of chatter from Pekalas in that area.

Re: Pekala's out there

Posted: 1 Nov 2012 10:05PM GMT
Classification: Query
Hi - Thanks for responding so quickly! My husband always referred to him as Jadek, and I thought that was his real name in Polish. It was actually John Albert Pekala, and he was born around 1882. He immigrated to the U.S. when he was in his 20's, and settled in Rhode Island.

Re: Pekala's out there

Posted: 5 Nov 2012 7:37PM GMT
Classification: Query
I can't tell you if the Pekala's from Pilzno and those from Padew are related. The family was large and they could have spread out. I will research my notes. "Adalbert" was a common name passed down through the family tree and your "John Albert" had "Albert" as a middle name. I'm not sure if Albert and Adalbert are similar versions of the same name or not.
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