The words you are searching are inside this book. To get more targeted content, please make full-text search by clicking here.
Discover the best professional documents and content resources in AnyFlip Document Base.
Search
Published by klump04, 2019-02-02 12:04:42

John L. GOLOB JR A FAMILY HISTORY

while her mother Ursula had become the matriarch of an extended American
family headquartered in Northern Minnesota.

Marija’s grandmother was Kathryn Zarasek and she was married to a farmer
named Frank Tomlje. They had eight children and the seventh, a girl they
named Ursula, was born when Kathryn was 46 years of age. Ursula gave
birth to Kathryn’s granddaughter (pictured above) when Kathryn was 66
years of age.

The child’s father, Joze Berlin, left for the new country before young Marija
was born. The economic fortunes of this area was almost solely in the
hand’s of one family who owned a very large home and many, many acres
of land. Most of the people in this area worked for this landowner and lived
in poverty. The ships heading to the States were filled with immigrants
searching for a new life and many came from this area of Slovenia.

Soon after Marija was born, her mother, Ursula, received an offer to
accompany a lumberjack’s wife from Luce, Slovenia to the States. Kathryn,
now 67 years old, reluctantly accepted the young child to raise as her own.
The picture of Marija was taken to send to the United States to her homesick
mother, Ursula.

Marija’s mother, Ursula had her hands full. She was working for a woman
that by the standards of the day was reasonably wealthy. Her husband had
been a lumberjack with a crew of over two dozen men. He had been hired
by the Czar of Austria to clear a highway site over the Alps. It had been a
good working relationship until the Czar’s political troubles turned into
financial difficulties and he could not pay his bills. This in turn caused the
lumber boss to be unable to pay his men and forced him to close his
business. After a long trip to the back woods in the north country of the
United States, the lumber boss came back to Slovenia to find his old
employees, pay them some back pay, and talk them into going back with
him to to the “New Country” and seek a new fortune by clearing lumber
from the land over rich iron ore sites in Minnesota. He made this trip twice,
each time getting his wife pregnant.


Therefore, Marija’s mother, Ursula, found herself on board a crowded ship
working as a nanny to an eight year old girl and a one year old boy and
waiting on a woman that had just suffered a miscarriage and was pregnant
again on a rocking ship. That ship voyage ended in Baltimore, and that



150

Ursula accompanied that woman and her children by rail and horse and
wagon to Northern Minnesota. Ursula promptly learned how to become
midwife and delivered her first of many babies in the woods of Minnesota
and learned well how to cook for many mouths.

In the summer of 1901 Ursula met a man that remembered her when, as a
boy in Slovenia, he regularly watched a girl ride a horse up a hill near his
house. In October 1901, that girl Ursula, Marija’s mams, married that man,
Joseph Zaic, in the Blessed Sacrament Church in Hibbing. In October 1904
Ursula, gave birth to the first of thirteen more children, a girl named Laura.
Twenty six years later, Laura married the man that her mother, Ursula, had
tended to before he was born and helped deliver in 1891. That man, John L.
Golob, was the son of the lumber boss, and married the nanny’s daughter,
Laura, in 1930. In 1931, when I came into this world, they were my Mother
and Father.

My Grandfather sent money back to the “Old Country” with regularity to
care for Marija and Grandma’s mother and father. We lived in real luxury
compared to those that lived in the areas torn up by two world wars.

But now back to Marija who became the matriarch of the European side of
the Zaic family.

Marija Tomlje married Joze Jancar, a man seven years older than her, in the
St. Jacob’s Church in Ljublijana on January 21, 1919. They had four
children, a boy and three girls.

The oldest was Dr. Joze Jancar, 1920 – 2000, who when he died in Bristol,
England, was considered to be the most renowned psychologist/psychiatrist
in all of Great Brittan. Dr. Joze married Marija Hribar in 1945 in Lienz,
Austria. They had three children: a daughter Sonja, a blazing redhead of
Bristol, England, a son Joseph Anton of Dublin, Ireland and Martin Peter, of
Bristol.

Their daughter Marija was born in 1922 and married Anton Kompare. They
live in New Haven, Connecticut, close to Yale University and grow beautiful
roses and peonies. The have two sons and a daughter. Anto Joseph was born
in 1954, Mary Ione was born in 1957 and John Alen was born in 1960.
They all live in or near New Haven and their parents.




151

Daughter Ana (1925 – 1996) stayed single and remained in the family
compound in Zalna until her death in April 1996.

Paula was born in 1926, married Frank Cebasek in September 1949. They
have two children, Aco (1950) and Tanya (1954). Husband Frank died in
1983. Aco remains single but has a son Jacob (1991) who lives in
Ljublijana. Tanya married Janko Ploj in 1978. They have three children.
Urska (1980) is now married and has a child and lives in Grosupleji.
Gregory (1982) and Gaspar (1984), both tall boys, are currently in the
process of completing their education.

Therefore, Marija’s descendants include four children, nine grandchildren
and currently four great grandchildren.

Marija came to the United States in 1980. Her Mother, Ursula Zaic, had just
turned one hundred years old and had finally consented to live in a nursing
home. Nine years earlier in 1971, Ursula had lost her husband of almost
seventy years when Joe Zaic had died at ninety years old.

Thank you Monsigneur Ecker for allowing me to give my tribute to Mitz

Nazia Maria ‘Mitzi’ Keegan was born December 24, 1930. Mitz was the
eldest of the five living children born to Melvin A Keegan and Elizabeth E
Galob. Papa told me, when Mother said it is time to go Melvin. He picked
up the Christmas tree he was decorating, throwing tree with the decorations
outside. His mother, our Grandmother Nell, came later, saving all the tinsels
and decorations for future use, this was during the depression era when
everything was saved.
Nazia Maria was named after her maternal grandmother, Nazia Maria
Golob The name in Slovenian means Agnes Mary Her nick name Mitzi or
Mitz means little Mary

Now we will start

“Memories are made of this. “
Mama had a heart attack after Tom was born and we three stayed at St.
Agnes baby home run by the Sisters of Mercy. I cannot remember sleeping
near her, but I remember in the morning we would meet by the door, hug
each other, talk for a moment then get dressed and go to breakfast. She ate
with the big girls. When we left the Baby home, we came home to the big



152

house on Fulton St., how we enjoyed pulling Tommy in the wagon or riding
our tricycles on the porch that surrounded the entire house. We moved to
39th and Clinton and that Fall Mitz entered the first grade at St Ignatius
parochial School When I started school, it was always a mini adventure
going to school as Mitzi always discovered a new route to school, returning
home from school especially in the Fall; when we walked thru the leaves,
listening to and feeling the crisp leaves crunching under our feet was
exciting.
On weekends going to Mass with Papa then returning home, Papa would
give us piggy back rides. We used the Slovenian term of asking Papa for a
koochy kotch. On summer evenings we would go to Laurelhurst Park every
week to listen to the Portland symphony and/or band practice there. Mitz
was always dressed in blue and I in red. And naturally we always wore white
gloves
Mitz always received her birthday gift on Christmas Eve, dessert for her
birthday was walnut potica or apple strudel she always had a cake on Jan 21
the feast day of her patroness, St Agnes
Christmas was always something to behold, in Portland and also in Mt
Angel. For In Portland we had those enormously tall ceilings and Papa
always with labor of love decorated the trees gorgeously. .lights were always
green and blue for what reason I do not know The crib he made was always
prominently displayed In Mt Angel he would do an etching for the living
room window The etching was exquisite with Christmas tree lights glowing
behind it.
We always received one gift from the Christ Child something for which we
had to ask St. Patrick’s day was always a special day in the Keegan
household. Lent was always put on hold for St Patrick’s feast One year St
Pat’s Day fell on Sunday, Mama and Papa attended late Mass. Mitz and I
decided we need a green meal, mashed potatoes, dumplings and yes even
gravy, colored green Dessert was naturally a cake with green icing. Did we
try that again OH NO WAY never can you imagine getting green mashed
potatoes and gravy into your mouth
When we were in high school we thought we might be the next singing
sister sensation like the Andrew or the McGuire sisters, therefore, we would
harmonize while doing dishes,(no dishwashers then) knowing we would
make the big time soon, however, that never transpired as Mitzi went to

Yakima for nurses training at St Elizabeth’s,. Met her Albert, married Al
Kojenge on Aug.6th, 1955 and became the mother of their five daughters






153

In high school Mitz was slender and elegant, she would comb her hair to one
side making one braid over the top of her head, always looking elegant.
Unhappily for her sister, Mitz could take a burlap bag sew it in to something
chic, looking as if she walked out of Saks 5th, I Magnin or Macys, Mitzi’s
sister was rather on the chubby side never looked well put together. Much to
Mitz’s consternation. Her sister looked as if she grabbed something from a
hobo’s living quarters and slung it on her body any which way.

The two Keegan girls had the same set of parents but you world never know
that seeing their taste in decorating and in clothing
Mitzi entered this world on a cold winter day, her departure on the warm
summer day, the 28th of July, which was the birthday of her eldest grandson,
Will, was rather fitting as she joined her parents, on the day before that,
which would have been Melvin and Elizabeth’s 86th wedding anniversary.
What a joyous reunion for Mitzi, her parents and three brothers Tom, Mike
and Joe, also her husband Al and grandson, Max

Now Mitzi, it is fitting for your children, grandchildren, great grandchildren,
godchildren, yes your sister and all who love you to say Goodbye as our
Irish ancestors would say So Mitzi Dear, may you have entered into eternity
and may you travel through eternity in the palm of God’s hands
We love you Mitz, Good bye and God be with you
My love always

Your Sister,
Paddy

















154

My Mom & Dad,
John & Laura
Golob

With the exception of the one picture below which was taken in
1930,
I took these photographs with an Argus C-3 camera as color slides
in 1948 – 1949. They were taken at Surgeon Lake that is located
about twenty miles north of Hibbing, Minnesota.

The first year of their marriage in 1930, they rented the Kiam
cabin which is located about a quarter mile north of McCarty’s
Beach,
which is now a State Park. We spent summers at that lake about
the
first ten years of my life. When Pearl Harbor was bombed in
December
1941, World War II brought gas rationing and inhibited the
commute.











We seldom if ever drove into town for Sunday mass after the
Sturgeon Lake Chapel was built. A widow on the right side of the
chapel still hadthe family name inscribed on it at the turn of the
century. One mass was held each Sunday by having a priest drive out
from the Hibbing Blessed Sacrament Church.




155

Where all but one of these pictures all show the beauty of the
winter snow, summers on McCarthy beach were a joy. The clean
white sand forms a beach where the water is still no more than
knee deep at least a hundred yards from the shore. And that
same pretty beach extended over to
where we summered.









This photograph is taken in the early 1920”s in the front yard of the Joe
th
Zaic (Sr.) home at 2403 4
Avenue West in Hibbing, MN.
My Mom, Laura Zaic (Mrs.
Golob in 1930) is on the left,
Mrs. Joe Ursula Tomjle Zaic is
in the center and Laura’s best
friend, Mary Studahar, not
be confused with the Studahar
family that lived next door to the
Zaic’s. Mary was related but
lived about a block away.
















156

Hibbing, M innesota

This streetcar is turning east from First Avenue on to
Howard Street in a picture taken between 1917 and
1921.














157

Pictured below is a World War I victory parade
in Hibbing in 1918. This view looks west down
Howard Street. Sachs is a men’s clothing store that
can be see on the left side of the street.















































158

2009 scriptures
The Blessed Virgin Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word”.
(Lk. 1:36-38)

These are words of total acceptance of God’s will.

Mary wasn’t saying that this was great. What she said was that she really
didn’t understand. It sure wasn’t anything she had planned. She was saying
that she would do her very best to do what God wanted of her.

Suppose we started every day saying words to this effect and then really
tried to live those words. Do you suppose that we might become “Blessed”.

Blessed is a Greek word meaning “inner happiness”. Happiness equates to
peacefulness. Isn’t a sure path to peacefulness the acceptance of the life I
have and not the life I wish I had? I don’t understand why I’m going
through this messy stage in life and I can’t seem to be able to change it. I’ll
continue to try to change the things in my life that I can change. But most
importantly I’ll say “Yes” to God for the life that I’ve got and trust that He
will stay with me and give me peace.

Jesus said for us to “take up his yoke” and he will give us rest. A yoke
partners two oxen to enable them to share a load. Doesn’t Jesus mean that if
we partner with him that he will share our load and give us rest?

Maybe we should try to say “Yes” to Him more often and try hard to partner
with Him.


December 12, 2009

My Catholic Faith by Mary Heuberger

Way back in the late 1930's, I was the only child born to my dear parents
who loved me very much. They both had come through difficult times in
their early lives before they found one another, married and I came into their
lives; they were very, very grateful to God and very happy to have a family.
They placed a great value on Catholic education in order to give me



159

information about how to appreciate God's gifts to us in life and thus enjoy
my life. Interestingly, during my childhood, both of my parents were ill and
unable to work. My father, who was born in early 1889, had spent many
years in the US Army on horseback in Nebraska rounding up the Indians.
He, as most all of the Army soldiers, smoked continuously. At age 50, when
I was born to him, he already was suffering from difficulty in breathing and
severe Emphysema. My mother was the victim of severe debilitating
Rheumatoid Arthritis.

We lived in a studio apartment over a group of stores and the rent was
$40/month. I well remember the priest shaking hands with my father after
Sunday Mass and handing him a couple of $20 bills to assist him in paying
the rent and paying utilities and purchasing food.
A strong Catholic education was important to my parents and the local
Catholic school allowed me to attend free. We wore uniforms and the Nuns
would give me uniforms and also other clothes, shoes, school supplies,
crafts, etc. that had been given to them by parents of other students. I
completed the local Catholic Grade School and then attended the local
Catholic High school.

During my 10th grade of school, the Sisters of St. Joseph in St. Augustine,
FL invited me to join their convent. I was very honored yet, I was
uncomfortable leaving my parents at home alone since they were so
disabled. I wanted to learn how the Sisters lived and attended their girls
boarding school during my 10th grade school year.
Since my 8th grade, the Sisters of St. Joseph were strongly encouraging me
to enter their convent and told me many times, "God is calling you to come
to us, Mary. You'll be our Mother Superior one day." I felt honored and
very much wanted to enter the Sisters of St. Joseph. I was much honored
yet, I was uncomfortable leaving my parents at home alone since they were
so disabled. I wanted to learn how the Sisters lived and during my 10th
grade school year. I did live in their girl’s boarding school in St. Augustine.
I learned to know the Nuns well, enjoyed their companionship and also the
companionship of many of the other girl boarders. I returned home after that
school year and completed high school at the local Catholic High School.
While attending high school, one of the Nuns at St. Vincent's Hospital, our
local Catholic Hospital invited me to work in the hospital's Business Office
and I learned how to admit patients, post medical bills, bill Insurance
Companies, collect monies to pay discharge patients' bills and work on the
Switch Board.. This gave me 50 cents per hour and that was terrific gift for



160

me since I had some 'spending money' and learn lots that I carried through
my lifetime. I received a full scholarship to Catholic Barry College in Miami
which was then an 'all-girls school'. Sadly, I did not accept it because I was
uncomfortable leaving my ill parents alone and traveling 250 miles away. I
received a full scholarship from the state of Florida and I attended and
graduated from the local Catholic St. Vincent's Hospital and became
licensed as an RN.

During my growing years, I was fortunate to learn about the Catholic way of
life by observing the teachers and also witnessing the Nuns and the Priests
and their ways of honoring God and those made to God's image and
likeness.

As a RN, I witnessed people ill and dying and family members and loved
ones suffering emotionally as loved ones lay ill and dying, happiness and
gratefulness to God when ill loved ones became well or their suffering ended
and they were rewarded with an afterlife with God.
Fifty one years ago, I married Nate, a man of high integrity and we became
the parents of two beautiful little girls. Sadly, an inebriated driver struck our
car which resulted in my major surgery and the subsequent death of our third
daughter and I was an invalid for a year. Where was God?
My husband and I subsequently adopted three infants. We were very
fortunate to be the parents of five lovely children and life was good. God
was good!

During the teen years of several of our children, their behaviors brought
much concern, worry and heartbreak to our family. Through professional
counseling which I sought, I was encouraged to "make changes in my life"
which I did laboriously study for several years ending with my PhD in
Psychology. I enjoyed my studies and after becoming licensed, I gained
much with a private practice for several years. Because of the values that I
learned during my Catholic upbringing, I gained a status of the ability to not
only help others but also to help myself. This validated my belief that "Love
One Another..." is important and valuable to one's relationships with others
during one's life.

Now, our five children are all grown, married and the parents of their own
children and grandchildren. So, life is my husband and I enjoying one
another's company and the day’s one at a time. God is good!





161

God played a big role in my life in assisting me in my belief that 'Life is
Life" and we cannot expect every day to bring positivity. Bad and sad
situations happen during our time on this earth. Good and happy situations
happen during this time also. It is my belief that God provided us with a
beautiful world and we are most happy when we see the positive in people,
places and things.. God's gifts are available to all of us... the sky, the sea,
the sunshine, rain, trees, flowers and amazingly other humans made to His
image and likeness. God is good! I thank God every day for the gifts that I
have been given during my lifetime.

I believe that my strong Catholic upbringing and education has been the
foundation for my ability to face both the Good and the Bad situations that I
have been faced with during my lifetime. The Catholic educational pursuit
of truth has been an essential component in Catholic education which
involves participating in the ongoing growth and awareness of God’s
incarnate presence. The Catholic Church has shown Jesus' Catholic values
to me and hopefully I have attempted to follow the message of Jesus, “Love
One Another as I have Loved You." to be my basis of daily life's policy
while living with other humans on this earth.
I learned as an RN that we cannot change many situations in life which can
bring sadness and fear although if we look for the positive in every
happening and learn to sincerely "Love One Another as I have Loved You"
we live happier lives. I am pleased to state that my Catholic childhood,
teenaged and adult educations have all been extremely valuable to my both
coping with difficult situations and enjoyment of happy situations or what
life brings.

It is my belief that the Catholic Church works to reinforce public theology
and helps us to enrich and expand to include a commitment to the betterment
of our lives. Through my Catholic teaching while growing up and my
witnessing the kindness and love expressed by many Catholics, I have
learned to shape my life and learn to live among others while witnessing the
healing, liberating and empowering the truth of our Creator. I learned that
Jesus's message to us "Love one another as I have loved you," is essential to
the lives of each person and I have attempted to follow this method of facing
life.
God bless each of you,
Mary Heuberger





162

Life is not about all the steps that we
have taken or all the places we have
been but the footprints we left behind!
Sin is the abuse of a relationship.

There is nothing that offends God in
heaven that does not first offend
someone on earth. And that includes
myself.

Sin is not necessarily related to
religion. Sin is most definitely related to human dignity.

The first paving contractor on earth was Jesus Christ.

The reaction of some folks to Church can be compared to a child and a
telescope; the child can get carried away with the lens or the tripod. Some
folks get carried away with the services or the vestments in a Church. Like a
telescope, Church should be used to see beyond this life, even to a blessed
vision of eternity.

One story tells of a priest that promised an inspirational homily to a man that
had quit going to church by visiting him in his home and not
“Saying a single word”. The man said that if this priest did that he would
consider it enough of a miracle that he would start going back to church.
The priest picked a good cold day. The priest walked in the house out of the
cold and didn’t say a word as he went over and stood by the fire. In a little
while the priest reached in the fireplace and took out a stick that was burning
brightly on one end. He placed the stick on the hearth and watched the
flames diminish, smoke for a bit and then finally go out. Than without a
word having been said, he picked up the stick and placed it back in the fire,
stood and watched as the stick began to burn very brightly again, and
without a word having been said, he left the house. The next Sunday the
man was back in church again.

It is also said that our converted faith needs a church congregation to allow it
to flourish. It is compared to a log that is first put into a fire. It smokes.
Sap runs out and it smokes some more. Only after some time in the fire does
it start to glow and finally burns brightly.




163

Scripture in Hosea makes it clear that you must shape up first and then God
will love you. God’s love for us is constant and it is steadfast love in return
that He desires from us, not sacrifice.

Mr. Business went to mass.
He never missed a Sunday.
Mr. Business went to hell,
For what he did on Monday.

When we acknowledge that there is a God, we acknowledge there is a
revelation. God was revealed through Jesus Christ at the first Christmas.
The Son was sent to us because God could no more desert us than we could
desert our children.

There are so few people willing to let Our Dear Lord have his own way.
Offer yourself to the Lord many times a day to do what He pleases; to such a
one, worry is unknown.

Too much gazing at the ground can prevent one from seeing heaven.

This from a writing by St. John of the Cross: “O thou soul, most beautiful of
all creatures, who longs to know where thy Lord is, thou art thyself that very
tabernacle where He dwells.”

My response to praise should be a simple “Thank you”. I must always
remember that I should deserve no more praise than a window for letting in
light; both man and the window pass thanks back to God for whom thanks is
due for all good gifts. But if I screw up, I can compare that to an
imperfection or dirt on the window.

The Holy Spirit is only hope that we have to truly turn our life over to
Christ. No human being can cause you to do this. No priest can persuade
you. No deacon or parent can cause a conversion. Yes, the Holy Spirit can
work through a person but you must recognize the converting work of the
Spirit before your life can change. I said that I had turned my life over to
Christ, but I remained in rebellion against God. I felt guilty about past sins,
knew I was still doing and saying things that God didn’t like and was very
aware that many of my thoughts were displeasing to God. I had to
experience despair and realize how worthless and unhappy I was apart from
Jesus Christ. Only when I accepted the Holy Spirit as the constant and



164

correcting influence that I required was I able to truly acknowledge Jesus
Christ as my personal savior.

God will give additional light to follow His will to anyone that will act on
the light that they already have. The problem is that many folks want a
spectacular sign from God and they are not obeying the signs that God has
already sent them.

To dwell above with Saints above,
Oh that will be such glory!
To dwell below with Saints we know,
Oh well, that’s a different story.

We are all uncomfortable with mercy because it conotates weakness.

Jesus blessed children and taught adults.
We do the opposite.

You won’t burn in hell for masturbating.
But you may burn in hell for the reason you masturbate.

You can make fine married love in the bedroom, but if you don’t take pure
love out in the world with you and spread it around, you are not a great
lover.

If we lead a natural life, we will die because we have supernatural destinies.
If a diver on oxygen sees a fish that thinks he can throw away his oxygen
tank and lead a natural life like the fish, he will die because he does not have
an underwater destiny. This life is a lousy home, but it’s a fine gymnasium.
The whole point of our lives in this world is not comfort, security or
happiness, but training. St. Phillip Neri said, “the cross is the gift God gives
to friends”. This life is not fulfillment, but preparation.












165

My favorite blessing before a meal purportedly comes from Saint Brigid of
Kildare. She was not a priest but it seemed to her that she was a bishop.

“Bless the poor.
Bless the sick
Bless the whole human race.
Bless our food.
Bless our drink.
And all our families please embrace.
Amen.”

My favorite sign of the cross is:

“In the name of the Father, my Creator,
And of the Son, my Savior,
And of the Holy Spirit, my Inspirer.
Amen.”

My initials are JLG!
Much more importantly they stand for Jesus Lord God!
He died for me, so I’d be forever forgiven!
And forever living!

If ONE person someday in the future would be positively influenced by the
following, ALL my writing will have been worthwhile.
Don’t let any infatuation progress without first asking a very basic question:
“Tell me about your God.” Only if the answer really impresses you, should
the relationship progress. The answer should be prompt and well thought
out long ahead of time… and logical. The second step in this inquiry should
not progress more than a weekend. That will be all the time it should take
for your infatuation to display sincerity to the previous answer. Progress
only with serious caution and don’t think past platonic fun times unless you
get the answer that satisfies you.


Don’t ever believe you have a limited field. Walk into any church service
and look around. It is rare not to find one or two attractive possibilities.

And don’t ever believe that those that look attractive to you are not looking
for exactly what you are looking for.
You don’t need a dating company to introduce you.





166

You simply need a church. It really helps to simply introduce yourself to a
clergy member and ask if they have a singles program. And as you take
your leave ask, “By the way, do you know anyone I should meet?”
The love a person shows for their God in indicative of the love they would
show for a spouse. Pay attention to their upbringing. Does your subject’s
family, parents, grandparents, other close family, go to church? Oh yes
some say, lots of the best real believers are quiet introverts and don’t go to a
church. This may be true, but a daunting time you will have to find this
needle in a haystack. It is very rare to indeed to find folks that chose NOT
to display their sincere enthusiasm for anything – a good movie, a good
store, a great car, a wonderful partner/spouse – and want to tell their world
about it. It certainly isn’t different about one’s faith in their God.


These next thoughts were pecked out during Holy Week 2009. Addressed to
a woman that was like a daughter to me, I held it for a later delivery. I did
think that Holy Week was an appropriate time to write this and said a sincere
prayer that, whenever it was delivered, it would be received in the same
loving and concerned manner in which I wrote it.

“Once years ago you asked me a question that I was ill equipped to answer.
You asked in words similar to these, “When you take communion you surely
don’t think that the wine in the cup is really blood, do you?”

The first twelve pages in a book written by a priest from Vero Beach is the
best answer that I ever seen to this question. (The book enclosed was
entitled “Medicine of Immortality” written by Father John Pasquini.)
However, please note the highlighted sentence on Page Eight. (It states,
“…only by a gift of God can one truly comprehend and believe what Jesus
has said.”)

I sincerely believe that only with the Pentecostal effect of the Holy Spirit
within each individual person that any of us have the grace to truly believe
in the real presence of Jesus body and blood in the Eucharist. For that
matter, the same goes for the belief that Jesus lives among us today and that
we can obtain eternal life with Him. Those that really believe this are true

Christians of the Church that Jesus started when he named Simon, “Peter”,
“you are Rock, and on this rock I will build my church”. (Mt 16,18;LK
22,31;Jn 15, 17-17Acts5,20) I wonder how many are true Christians and

don’t know that they really are. I do believe that those that profess


167

themselves to be Christians but only select the portions of the Old and New
Testament that pleases their lifestyle are way off base.

In my personal love for you and all of yours, I share this personal insight to
you: I was a “cradle Catholic”. But like so many raised that way, I doubted
and had to seek my own answers. As I look back it doesn’t seem strange to
me that my love of history led me back to search for original teachings. My
decisions were hurried along a bit by my choice of careers. Where I ended
up it was well known that there were no atheists in a foxhole. So I probably
rushed my goal of finding my God as my co-pilot. Now, the older I get the
more reassured I become to find all the quite clear answers I need in one
place, one book, the Bible.

Don’t know when I’ll get this to you, but it will be in the most receptive way
that I can find.”

(Thus the letter ended.)

Pride is one of the most prevalent and disastrous evils in our aggressive dog
each dog society. Scripture said it well: “Whoever wants to boast must
boast about what the Lord has done. For it is when the Lord thinks well of a
person that he is really approved, and not when he thinks well of himself.”
(2Co 10:17-18)



Jesus Christ was a joyful person. Oh yes, He could be downright irritated
with the right reason. But in my tiny life study of Him (compared to bishops
and doctors of the Church), His life was dominated by prayer, preaching and
partying. Like many, I wasn’t called to preach but to parent and provide and
I don’t claim to be good enough at that. And I truly believe that I should
have been a lot more diligent than I was to pray and a bit less quick to party.
In the sense that His (Jesus) partying involved joyful meals, maybe I have
only eaten too much but should have been quicker to smile and reflect joy.

I wonder how soon after leaving the one hundred dependence on Mother did
I learn to be a cool little kid in order to get the attention that I needed from
the adults that needed little kids to babble over.






168

But in no time at all I learned that I needed to be the same -- but just a very
little bit different – than the other school kids to be accepted into “the gang”.

Too soon the twenties arrived where I had to have the right clothes and car
with proper manners to be a preferred mate.

Quickly came prosperity -- never enough – but just enough to give my
family the image of prosperity. About this time, the vacation trips started to
be planned as much too personally relax and enjoy but most important to
return home with impressive stories of the big who and what we saw.

Now with grey hair and aching joints, I finally realize what a stupid effort it
has been all my life to continually try to impress everyone in my life since
Mother and mate. Everyone else has really been too busy trying to impress
all those in their world to waste their time to be impressed by me.

And now as I contemplate the next life that follows, I realize that I should
have devoted a significant portion of all that effort expended trying to
impress other humans instead to building a better dossier for that judgment
day with my God.

Which is better?

To accept that we were born a sinner, have been an evil doer, but having
heard the Good News, repented and lived a good life.

Or

To have lived in accordance with ancient philosophy, i.e. such as preached
by Plato and maybe more Aristotle, you shun evil and you live a whole life
accepting that evil is abnormal to your given life.


Or is this being too simplistic?

Scripture says (1 Cor 3:16)


If anyone among you thinks that he is wise by this world’s standards, he
should become a fool, in order to be really wise. For what this world
considers to be wisdom is nonsense in God’s sight.”



169

I’ve learned that to learn is not to know. There are learners and there are the
learned. Memory makes a learner. Philosophy makes one learned.
Philosophy, like experience, cannot be taught; these are both the application
of the truth that has been taught. Feb. 27, 2011



March 2, 1952
My ?Aunt? Cheerie

My Mother was the oldest of thirteen children born in the United States.
The youngest girl was Frances, known as “Cheerie” and is only eight years
older than I am. She is, even today in her 80’s, every bit as lively as her
nickname. She claims to have been my baby sitter but also calls me
“Brother”. After she spent five years in the convent, World War II broke out
and she, like the rest of her convent class of four girls, she joined the
military service and became a WAVE in the United States Navy. Three
years later with the war over, she left the Navy to become the wife of Roger
Lamosse, a discharged GI. Roger was a shy, quiet first generation French
man that had led as sheltered a life as Cheerie. What a great combination and
they raised a family of eight wonderful kids.

I went to a Catholic College just a few miles from where they lived in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, so I became as much of a baby sitter for them as
Cheerie ever did for me. I had the privilege of being the Godfather of their
first child.

In order to sell Roger his first car, my well used 1934 Pontiac coupe, I had to
teach him how to drive.

A policeman stopped me in that car once at two a.m. in a small town about
200 miles north of Minneapolis and about thirty miles from my parents and
grandparents home. I was taking Cheerie and her proud first four children
home for a weekend to see their grandparents. The cop looked in that little

coupe at those three of the four squalling kids and shouted “Drive slower”.
He hesitated and as he walked away shouted, “Get a lot bigger car or a lot
less kids”.

On Cheerie’s birthday, March 2, 1952, I took Roger and Cheerie to a dance.
I believe it was the first time Roger had ever danced. I fixed us a Southern



170

Comfort Manhattan with plenty of cherry juice before we left. Cheerie
loved that sweet drink.

Coming home from that dance and with Cheerie having had the second one,
I had two very jolly passengers in that little coupe. In March in Minneapolis
it was still cold with ice and snow on the streets. It was a slow drive and I
had to drive very carefully. I had WCCO, the main Minneapolis radio
station, on the car radio and their best disk jockey was playing the favorites
of the day.
I swung to a curb and asked my two happy passengers to wait as used a pay
phone booth. When I got back in the car, Cheerie and Roger teased me
about calling a girlfriend. Just about the time was arrived back to their
house, the disk jockey sang a special birthday greeting for a lovely lady
named Cheerie and hoped that she was having a very cheerful birthday. It
depends on the time and the audience, but that story has been told over and
over again. Sometimes it is told about the time that Johnny fed Cheerie to
many Manhattans and she first became light headed. But because of the
career changes of that disk jockey, the story is more often told about how
Arthur Godfrey had sang happy birthday to Cheerie.
























171

“UncleJohn” Znidar and “Pappy” Golob


















In about 1967, Uncle Znidar told Pappy, he was about three years old at
that time, that he ate little boys up but only if he had catsup.

From that date on, John Znidar was known to all of the Golob children
as “Uncle Catsup”!



















172

The Week That Molly Died

Anything but routine was the start of the first full week in January in the
year of 2001 in the Mary and Jamie O’Sell household at 4545 East 49th
Court in Davenport, Iowa.

After Christmas the entire O’Sell family, Jamie, Mary, Elizabeth, Andee and
Meg journeyed to Athens, Georgia for a belated Christmas with Mary’s
th
family. So at midnight on Sunday, January 7 , 2001, the first stoke of this
memorable week found the family driving across the Illinois – Iowa border
about a half hour from home.

Exhausted after about a seventeen hour drive that concluded a hectic holiday
week, the O’Sell household was a very quiet place until the morning hustle
started the effort to make an eleven o’clock Sunday mass. The afternoon
was spent unpacking, sledding on fresh snow and catching up on playtime
with the two dogs, Molly and Boots. The “tree” was still up surrounded by
Christmas and some unopened packages.

Sunday passed too fast! It was an early-to-bed night, not just because of the
remaining fatigue of the trip but because Monday was planned to be such a
BIG day.

Jamie was to drive Mary to Chicago for walk-in surgery, Mary’s father and
wife were arrived Monday from Florida and of course the girls had their
usual school and extra curricular events planned.

Monday started early for the O’Sell’s. Jamie and Mary left for Lake Zurich,
Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, at 5:15 a.m. Neighbors got the three
girls off to school by 8:15 a.m. All three girls attend Paul Norton Middle
School located about one half mile from their house. At the time, Elizabeth
was in fifth grade, Andee was in fourth and Meg was in second grade.

Mary arrived in the offices of Dr. Salvador Yunez, MD at about 9:15 a.m.
She remained here until after 5:30 p.m. undergoing a double ambulatory
phlebectomy. This is a closure procedure on BOTH legs to correct varicose
and spider veins. It is not common that both legs are done at once and the
procedure is interrupted a number of times to get the patient up and walking.
So Mary was on and off a treadmill a number of times and, with bulky well





1774

wrapped legs, she had to get out of the car three times on the way home to
walk a bit.

Meanwhile, a friend, Karin Dixon, picked up the girls from school and
assisted in meeting their schedules. Mondays are basketball practice days
for Elizabeth and art class days for Andee.

When Mary’s Dad and Myra arrived they were greeted by Karen Emard who
looked after the girls that were home. Mary and Jamie got back home at
about eight p.m. with Mary walking like she was saddle sore.

Tuesday started mighty early for Jamie. He was up at 4:15 a.m. to catch a
six a.m. flight to Pittsburgh, PA. Jamie is a computer guru for Alcoa
Aluminum and had been commuting weekly to the company’s international
headquarters for the past six months or so. The winter weather this Tuesday
was not much different than most for Jamie. Airline delays in his St. Louis,
Missouri stop over caused for an uncertain schedule and he was late getting
into the Pittsburgh office.

The fresh half inch of snow wasn’t enough to disrupt the girl’s school
schedule and by mid morning Grandpa John had cleared the fresh light snow
off most of the driveway. Tuesday is a typical after school day for the
O’Sell girls. Elizabeth had piano lessons, Meg had her guitar lessons and
Andee bragged about this being her easy day. She said, “This is the day I
relax.”

Grandpa John and GrandMyra treated the family to the Tuesday Kids Night
at Old Chicago, a close-to-the-house restaurant in Bettendorf.

Wednesday morning the O’Sell family awoke to one of the most infrequent
thaws of the 2000-2001 winter season. After the children were in school,
Grandpa John actually was able to cut into the patches of ice on the
driveway. Then Grandpa took his two lovely ladies, Daughter Mary and

Wife Myra to Jumer’s Castle Lodge and Restaurant for lunch. After lunch,
John and Myra took Mary to the Camera Corner and bought her an
th
electronic flash attachment for her upcoming birthday, January 26 . All
three of the children finished their school day and missed their CCD
religious education classes. Mary, on impulse when she was showing
Grandpa John and Myra around downtown Davenport, stopped at the Adler

Theater and inquired about tickets to the Broadway play, “Annie”. She was


174

advised that the single performance for tonight had been sold out for many
weeks. However, Mary ran into a friend that worked there. Through the
friend’s antecedence, it was discovered that some tickets reserved for cast
members were not being used. Not only did Mary acquire six seats but the
seats were in the second row of the Theatre. The girls were thrilled and all
six were not only impressed by the seating, but by a wonderful performance.
All the girls and ladies were singing, “The sun will come up tomorrow…
Tomorrow… TOMORROW” for the rest of the week.

Thursday afternoon, Grandpa John took Myra to the riverboat President so
she could try her luck at the slot machines. It was a lucky day for Myra as
she settled into a favorite machine. After over a couple of hundred dollars in
winnings, she ended up losing about eleven dollars for over three hours of
entertainment.

Mary had let the dogs out just after noon. Because the snow and ice has
buried most of the shock guard that surrounds the O’Sell’s back yard, the
family has become a bit relaxed about having the shock collar on when they
turn Molly loose. Molly had become pretty much accustomed to her
boundaries anyway. Boots was a bit young and untrained so didn’t wear a
shock collar. But the two dogs generally always stayed together.

Molly was a beautiful golden lab thoroughbred about six years old. Boots is
a pup and a mutt, but a most loveable one. Boots certainly recognized her
senior and generally followed the very fast running lab.

In the yard, Molly would follow Boots as she was very leery of the shock if
she crossed the line. Once Molly recognizes she out of her boundaries she
was a fast runner and that’s when Boots was the follower.

Mary called the dogs before she left to pick up the girls from school. As It
was about three p.m. when Mary drove the half mile or so in the
neighborhood heading toward the girls school that she saw the dogs. She
stopped and called them but they were enjoying their freedom. The day was
foggy and with a low overcast. It looked as if it would start to snow at any
time.

Mary had to get all three girls to scouts and Andee to dance at five. Between
runs with the children, Mary cruised the neighborhood calling the dogs. By
the time the grandparents got home, it was starting to get dark and Mary



175

started to worry. Than when Boots showed up by herself, everyone in the
O’Sell house started to get worried. Oh yes, Molly had stayed out late a
time or two but it was not like Boots to come home along. Those two dogs
always stayed together.

Grandpa John and Meg worked until bedtime trying to assemble a Lego
helicopter.

Thursday was a worrisome night. Boots was crying and whinnying in the
basement and the girls were being brave assuring each other that Molly
would be home in the morning. Some kind soul has feed her and given her a
place out of the cold. She’ll be home in the morning.

Grandpa John took the girls to school Friday morning in a dense fog. After
dropping the girls, he went to the church for nine o’clock mass. He was
surprised to learn that mass was cancelled due to the fog. After a quick post
office stop, he headed home to see if Molly was back. He found Mary on
the phone calling to place a notice on the school bulletin board and notifying
the vet.

Her Dad no sooner sat at the table and Mary excitedly hollered, “They’ve
found her. They’ve got her!!!”. Mary quickly dialed the vet that had Molly
and said, “Is she alright? Is sh….”. Mary’s smile vanished and she began to
sob. Seems as if this vet was the one to have responded to a call about five
p.m. Thursday night and when they placed Molly in the van, Molly died.
rd
She had been hit by a car on 53 Street near 18th Avenue, about one half
mile from the house. The driver stopped and saw a black dog (Boots)
running from the scene.

Well sir, what do you do? Elizabeth more than the other two girls insisted to
her Mother that she would come home at lunch because she wanted to check
up on Molly. So as not to destroy Friday afternoon concentration in school,
Mary decided not to tell the girls until after three p.m. Grandpa John asked
Mary how she could pull that off the way she was red eyed from crying.

John took Myra off that afternoon again to see if she could repeat on the

President’s slot machines. Well she did! Myra hit at least seven medium
size jackpots and was ahead over two hundred dollars at one time. But she
was having so much fun that she played over four hours and left $120.00 of





176

her money with “the establishment”. John thought that $30.00 per hour was
cheap for the degree of excitement he saw her display,

Meanwhile, Jamie, fearing another snow delay, took an earlier flight back
from Pittsburgh. He paid for the luxury of getting home a little earlier by
having his bags left in St. Louis, Missouri. So Jamie arrived home at about
five p.m. with Grandpa John’s favorite rueben sandwiches; the rueben
shoppe is across the river but somewhat on the way home from the airport.

By the time the Grandparents got back from their outing, all three of the
O’Sell girls had reacted to the bad news. Elizabeth was the most
heartbroken and cried off-and-on throughout the night and into Saturday.
Andee shook it off the best but with the determination to pick a replacement
RIGHT NOW! Meg sobbed but only until the boy next door came over to
go out and play. Mary had the experience of the first hand sorrow as she had
to go to identify Molly. But THIS DOG WAS JAMIE’S!!! From the
previous black lab named Gia, to Molly, Jamie is a lab dog man. And then
there was Boots, lonesome and crying all by himself in the basement. So it
th
was a sad, sad evening in the O’Sell home on Friday, January 12 .

th
Now what would you recommend a sad family due on January 12 to
brighten the spirits? Well, how about celebrating Christmas?!

After Rueben sandwiches, the O’Sell family gathered around the lighted
Christmas tree and proceeded to shower Grandpa John and Grandma Myra
with Christmas gifts. The case, yes whole case, of homemade jams and
jellies that Mary gave her Dad was a highlight. John is so fond of
blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and rhubarb that his daughter could not
have picked a better and more personal gift. The girls gave Grandpa a
spotlight like their Dad received that will be the perfect thing for the summer
lake place. And they also gave him an air compressor to help blow up those
inner tubes and life rafts. They gave Grand Myra a birdhouse and Christmas
tree ornaments and to both some beautiful photographs of the girls.


Saturday morning didn’t start off slow either. The O’Sell girls as babies had
a set of twins as their baby sitters. Gretchen and Jill Ide lived across the

street from the previous O’Sell home. Both girls are now married and
Gretchen’s little girl, Avery, had a mid-morning three year old birthday
party at a local restaurant. Grandpa John knew the twins too so the whole
O’Sell household participated to one extent or another at the party.



177

In the afternoon, Anne Golob, Grandpa John’s brother’s daughter, came in
on the Greyhound bus from Chicago. In her late 20’s, Anne works for
Oracle. She made an immediate hit with the O’Sell girls. She and Meg
went through a hair twisting routine that was just hilarious.

On Saturday evening the O’Sells and Anne were the guests of the
grandparents at one of Mary and Jamie’s favorite restaurants, the Iowa Iron
Works. The meal was outstanding. Anne seemingly received a half a hog
when she ordered a pork roast dinner. Just her doggie bag alone was able to
feed one for a couple of days.

Well, that in capsule is a brief account of the week that Molly died. The
author apologizes for not finding a family and period where there is not
much to write about!!! Isn’t it a shame that life is so boring around the
O’Sell home?

March 18, 2000
Lake Seed, Georgia
Dear Brother:

While spending part of an icy and snowy January here in the North Georgia
mountains, I took to stopping in at the Seed Mountain Bar and Grill. I asked
to bartender to give me a shot of Bicardi Rum, a shot of Crown Royal, a dry
martini and a Southern Comfort. The bartender said, “You got folks joining
you”. I said no. He looked at me kind of funny but served me the drinks. I
sat quietly and rotated taking a sip out of each in turn. One more round and
as I left I noticed the bartender talking to some locals and looking funny at
me.

After about the third visit on this cold, snowy week, the bartender asked me,
“I don’t mean to pry but some of us are real curious. It’s odd to see a guy
ordering four different drinks”. Well I told him that I hated to drink alone
and that I had a brother in Miami, one in New Hampshire and one in North
Carolina and that I enjoyed having a toddy thinking about their good
company.

Well, I was in Florida for February, and when I got back here last week, I
stopped in the Seed Mountain Bar and Grill again. When I ordered a
Bicardi, a Crown Royal and a dry martini, the bartender brought me a
Southern Comfort too. I pushed it away and said that I only ordered three



1779

drinks, not the Southern Comfort. He was very apologetic and looked at me
very funny. I noticed that he quickly went over to talk to the group of locals
at the other end of the bar. After about the third visit ordering three drinks,
the bartender stopped after serving me. “Folks around here, me first, missed
seeing you. We want to wish you condolences on the death of one of your
brothers”. “Oh no”, I replied, my brothers are alive and well. I just decided
that I’d give up booze for Lent”.

Hey Good Brother, God bless you and have a great day!

1135 Mayflower Avenue
Melbourne, FL 32940
January 24, 2003

Mr. John Ritter
USA TODAY

Dear Mr. Ritter:

Reference your article enclosed:

This investigation may be “largely lost in the buildup in the Middle East” in
Canada, but be assured that here in the USA many old military such as
myself will continue to do all that we can to make sure that the fate of these
two pilots is not “overshadowed”.

I served as an Air Force fighter pilot in two wars and the kind of command
and control that Schmidt and Umbach apparently experienced was quite
evident in Viet Nam. I regret the fate of the victims and pray for them and
their kin. However, the pain and misery that these pilot’s wives, children
and family are going through is beyond comprehension by most people and
requires just as much prayer. This reference to “most people” includes those
non-rated, desk bound military brass that are putting these men through
miseries beyond the terrible memory of the event itself.

You want to write a great article? Research how many of our Senators,
Representatives, Cabinet Members and high ranking presidential staff, have
any children that are (1) in the military service, (2) are serving overseas, (3)

or for that matter, are military veterans. I’m told that only two of nine
Supreme Court Judges have had any military experience.



179

Is it any wonder that our national policies are so quick to advocate war? Is it
any wonder that this country is so quick to send our neighbor’s son and
daughter overseas with a military unit?

You can just be that there are quite a few like I that now advise five children
and eleven grandchildren to be patriotic in every way, but not to place
themselves in a position to be a pawn to our politicians.

Sincerely,


John L. Golob


A Long Distance, Vertical Line of Sight TELEPHONE CALL

In the Spring of the Year of 1969



This is the story of a telephone call that I made about forty years ago. This

was when we still had some live operators that handled long distance. There

were no cell phones in common use. The Walkie Talkie of that day was a

radio phone that virtually operated line of sight. Normally, you talked on a

telephone through wires.



I was an Air Force fighter pilot at that time and had talked my way onto a

flying command post for an orientation flight. I was used to close quarters;

we strapped in before takeoff and didn’t leave our seat until back on the

ground. This command post aircraft I was on was large for its day but to me

was huge. As I wandered throughout the cubby holes of the large bird I was

truly amazed at the electronics that I was viewing. I was honored to have a

colonel friend as a guide and bombarded him with questions.






180

We were flying over the Rockies. The view of the snowcapped mountains

below was awesome, but I was enthralled this day with the equipment.



When informed that an instrument of my curiosity was just a common

telephone, I asked if I could use it to make a call or two. When permission

was granted, I was also advised that I could use the computer next to it to

also view where I was calling. First call was to my Mom in Minnesota. The

only thing I now remember about that call is that it was one of the last times

I talked to her before she was killed in a shocking car accident.



In the stress of a very uncomfortable divorce at that time, calling my home

was not an option. Being we were flying about six miles above the cities of

Colorado, my mind turned to the first real love of my life who was married

and living in Northern Colorado. I had no phone number for her but it

amazed me that it was so easy to get at thirty five thousand feet. And what

amazed me more is that she answered. And what amazes me today is that

about forty years later that she does not remember that call. Of course, I’m

the one that was airborne. I was only another call that interrupted her day

and duties as a wife and mother.



That was the first time that I was able to look into one’s backyard from the

sky and almost look in a person’s window. Today “Zillow.com” will allow


anyone with a computer and the internet to look at almost anyone’s property
from different angles. You can find accessed valves, construction details

and photographic presentations as quick as the click of a mouse. And all of

this started from a military need (?) to obtain such information.





181

December 12, 2009



Commencing June 2007

Many ladies, I’ve observed, when they go “to town” to get hair and
nails done, will stop at the grocery store and carry on about what a full day
they had.

So many times I’ve been asked by “the wife” what I’m going to town
for, or, what I did in town.

Maybe a man’s “trip to town” is quite different than ladies.

Oh, I concede that a trip to town at Lake Seed is a bit different than if
one is living in Melbourne or Athens. Sure, just the longer drive might
cause a bit more planning. However, it doesn’t seem to be that much
different…. just a whole lot different than “the wife’s” trip to town.

As an example, yesterday’s trip to Clayton was seven hours, noon to
seven p.m. and involved thirteen stops:
On the way out of our driveway, I picked up the mail from the mail
box.
On the way in town, I stopped to drop the garbage at the recycling
center. Next, I dropped the outgoing mail at the post office.
Had the disability tag renewed at the court house.
Had the XM satellite radio installed in the car (1 1⁄2 hrs.)
Dropped off the dry cleaning.
Stopped at Edwards Photo Studio. Photos still not ready.
Spent over an hour at the bank about the Seed transfer of address.
Made an unusually brief stop at the library.
Then I spent the usual hour or so with Jerry the Barber while he
trimmed me up. Had the usual bantering from the other patrons about
swapping my white hair for their somewhat bald heads. But the bulk
of the conversation was about all the thunder and lightning but no
rain.
Picked up three prescriptions and eleven grocery items at Walmart
and the thunder and lightning finally turned to rain. Then the rain
turned the hail, some golf ball size.
Attended six p.m. mass.



183

Picked up a quart of barbeque at Café Sugo.
And drove home in the first good rain that we’ve had in weeks. We
are over ten inches below average rainfall for the year in these first
five and half months.

The hail had piled up six inches deep in some places and with the heat that
we have had, the resulting fog that occurred was so dense that driving turned
very hazardous. Especially tough driving were the areas where the hail had
taken down so many leaves and small limbs and strewn them over the
highway. So much for a quiet little afternoon and a routine trip into town.

At least this time, we also had rain at the lake, but at least no hail. But the
dog, Sid, sure was glad to see me.

August 2008


I have never been active in politics or written about it. Few in our extended
family ever have. Some of the large family have been called religious
fanatics and I don’t believe I’ve been tagged with that. However, I guess as
I have gotten older I am also more taken up with the Word of God.
Certainly, this election has me thinking more of Scripture than I ever have.

Jesus speaking of the commandments says that the “greatest of these is
love”. I sincerely fear the coming election for all of my loved ones and the
country for which we deeply love.

My love of history and my study of the subject has impressed on me the
inevitability of the collapse of societies that have strayed into moral decay.
Our founding fathers started our country on the basic principle “In God We
Trust”. Almost without exception, our presidents have solace and wisdom
our God, the Father and, his Son Jesus Christ for guidance from the Holy
Spirit in times of national crisis. Historically we brag that the job has really
made the man.
It appears that the international and economic dilemma that we find
ourselves in at this time demand that we dare not stray from a candidate of
superior traits in our new president.

Believe me, personally neither of our two candidates represent a real good
choice. However, in the serious jeopardy that our country is in today, I feel



183

that it is absolutely critical that our choice must be a person that believes in,
trusts in, and seeks answers from our God. Also, a woman who does so
would be a far more acceptable choice than a man who doesn’t.

Enough said. I love each of you that read this, and of our extended families,
our freedom and our nation too much to remain silent.

May we have two safe and rewarding conventions?

January 2009

In a few days we will have an inauguration. That means that within a week
or two, the media will start to have us suffer through four more year of pre-
election garbage.

February 2009

Do you know, or have ever known, anyone that was in debt and broke.
Would you have lent that person, or even co-signed for that person, so they
could borrow an amount that was equal to a significant portion of your net
worth? Does it seem that conventional wisdom would preclude anyone from
doing such a thing?

Well, isn’t that exactly what our legislatures in Washington are debating
about doing with the ?920? BILLION dollar stimulus at this very time?


February 2009

I plan on passing this one on to my daughter, Peggy:

A teacher kept looking over her young student who was supposed to be
drawing a picture of a teacher. All that was on the paper were two circles.

After an unusually long time, the teacher finally said, “Child, are those my
eyes?” Looking up without a pause the child said, “No, they are your nose
holes”.







184

IRCC
also known as
Indian River Colony Club
also known as
Where friends go away for good

03/22/04 Pearl Langham died
07/20/04 Jackie Znidar died
07/09/05 Augie Jensen died
10/13/05 Irv Anderson died
17/05/06 Bill Sinko died
01/ /09 Cathy Roberts died

MEMORIAL DAY 2009

Sunday, May 24, 2009

After eleven o’clock mass, we went home to a telephone recorder that said
that my cousin Anne Golob Stewart of Chicago had called. She said that
she’d be sending me an e-mail.

Sunday evening Myra and I watched a Memorial Day television broadcast of
the celebration in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Myra remarked
about all the medals worn by one of the speakers, the admiral that was the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In the middle of that night I woke up aware of the fact that I was dreaming
of arranging medals of awards and decorations. Not being able to go back to
sleep, I got up and wrote the following for the memoirs that I was
composing for a class on memoirs and autobiographies. The pattern that I
have been following is to write around old photographs that I have. I recall
having a picture of my Dad with his three children/sons, and he is showing
us his Purple Heart.

“Dad’s three sons together served approximately forty four years of military
service. Among the three, they were awarded about a dozen and a half
decorations and awards.
Our Dad served less than one year of healthy military service before he shed
a large quantity of his blood on the Argonne battlefield of France when he
caught a piece of shrapnel from a German artillery shell. His one medal, the



185

Purple Heart, distinguishes him a lot more than all of his son’s medal
altogether.”

Monday, May 25 Memorial Day

When I saw that I had no e-mail from Anne, I called her. After a little
family catch up, she said she was calling me about the Purple Heart Medal.
She said that she tried to call me yesterday after a talk with her Mom, my
sister-in-law, Mary Golob, from Manhattan Beach, CA. Anne said that she
asked her Mom about the Purple Heart she remembered on a plaque when
she was a little girl. Mary told her that it was her father’s medal from World
War I but her uncle, Mary’s brother, also had one from the South Pacific in
World War II. However, she said that neither of those two medals had been
awarded for injury inflicted on the battlefield. Mary told her the real story
she would really enjoy hearing would be about Grandpa Golob’s Purple
Heart. That was why Anne had been calling me. I told her about how I had
just scribbled the above note in the middle of last night and promised to get
back to her with a copy of that writing and a more complete story of my
Dad’s army action. However, I was hurrying off to a volunteer job.

At about four p.m., imagine my surprise as I returned to our subdivision to
see a large trailer behind a car close to our house with Purple Heart painted
all over it. This was too much coincidence; I made a u-turn and parked
behind the trailer. I rang the doorbell of a J.B. Haskins, a person that I never
had heard of before.

It turns out that Mr. Haskins moved into our subdivision eight months ago.
He not only proudly wears a Purple Heart, but is a recently retired chapter
commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart and is currently that
organization’s State of Florida Adjutant. It took his only minutes to
determine my Dad’s membership dated back to the founding of the
organization in 1933.

Also on Monday, May 25 Memorial Day

After my dreams and interrupted sleep due to my writing, I woke up after
about another three hours of sleep at about 6:45 a.m. Until Father Brad
started the eight a.m. mass I could not recall the act that this holiday was
called MEMORIAL DAY. I am 78 years old as I write this and should one
of this age have that loss of memory? I recalled my years of military



1 86

service, awards and details as well as those of my two brothers. But I can’t
remember the name of the holiday?!? Does this worry me? Yes, it does.
My Mom was bothered by memory loss before she prematurely died in an
auto accident at 65 years of age. My brother Martin was bothered by
memory loss as I worked with him in Miami in the commercial real estate
appraisal business. His inconveniences increased until he died of a stroke at
age 69. My aunt Frances, my mother’s youngest sister, is presently 86, is
now being very seriously bothered by memory loss. Her immediate family
blames the problem on medical actions that saved her life when she
developed an acute cardiac emergency. But, yes, I am bothered enough to
try to offset the problem. The question is how.

January 11, 2010

Awoke from a fine sleep morning dreaming about hitchhiking home to
Hibbing from Chisholm. I have no recollection of how old I was or whether
I had been deer or dear hunting. I just knew that it had been cold out.

And on this day in Florida, it was cold out. 28 degrees with a chill factor of
19 degrees is mighty cold out for Melbourne, Florida. I left my pajama
bottoms on under my slacks to go to mass this morning. Maybe I should
consider moving south in the winter!


2014- one liners
SHORT FILLERS FOR “THY WILL BE DONE”

One liners and Short Stories to Use to help pagination:

A young Texan told his parents he’d have to bring his gun to school. The
teacher said that they were going to learn to draw.

Our friendly undertaker concludes his letters with “Eventually Yours”.

My newborn tumbles from my arms
And toddles off to school.
A tall youth saunters home with her.
Their child brings me shawl and stool.

By Martha Berndtson




187

An Indian petitioned a judge of an Arizona court to give him a shorter name.
“What is your name now?” asked the judge.
Chief Screeching Train Whistle”, said the Indian.
“And what do you want it shortened to?” asked the judge.
The Indian folded his arms majestically and grunted,
“Toots”. Capper’s Weekly

st
1 Hunter: “Hey Bill!”
nd
2 Hunter: “Yeah!”
st
1 Hunter: “Are you O.K.?”
nd
2 Hunter: “Yeah, why?”
st
1 Hunter: “Then I shot a bear.”


A second grader saw the principal give his teacher a paycheck. “What’s
that?” he asked. When the teacher told him it was her paycheck, he
remarked, “Oh, do you work somewhere?”

Grandma Zaic asked young Frank if he was going to give one of the two
pieces of birthday cake that were left to his brother. Frank asked, “Do you
mean my big brother or my little brother?”

John’s secretaries don’t know which vacation they enjoy most – theirs’s or
John’s.

(Laura’s husband John was in the insurance business 65 years) John tells
about a man that bought several hundred very expensive cigars and had them
insured against fire. After he had smoked them all, he put in a claim that
they were destroyed by fire. The insurance company refused to pay and the
man sued. The judge decided that as the company agreed to insure the
cigars against fire and had given the man a policy, it was financially
responsible. As soon as the man accepted the money, the insurance
company had the man arrested on a charge of arson.

Minneapolis is such a wonderful city to visit and we have many times. It
has been called the city of Hiawatha, a park filled with homes. There are
151 parks and 22 lakes within the city limits. Any attractive home of a
Minneapolis citizen is only five minutes away from a lake with good fishing.




188

“Stand up! Shouted the evangelist “If you want to go to heaven.”
Everyone got up but one old man.
“Don’t you want to go to heaven, brother”, hollered the preacher.
“Sho” said the old fella. “But I am not going on any excursion.”


From Dick (John’s attorney brother) comes this jury story.
“Are you acquainted with any of the jurymen?” the attorney asked the
elderly witness.
“Over half”, answered the elderly gentleman.
“Are you willing to swear that you know more than half of them?” asked the
attorney.
The old man looked them over and said,” If comes right down to it, I’ll be
willing to swear that I know more than all of them put together.”

Sometimes the best theology seems to come from the young. “An old man
said to a little boy, “I’ll give you an orange if you tell me just where God
is?” The little guy replied, “I’ll give you two oranges if you tell me where
God isn’t.”

A man was complaining to his pastor that the Church was demanding too
much of his money. He argued that “salvation is free”. The priest
acknowledged that salvation is very definitely is free. However he said that
water is free also but you have to pay to have water pumped and piped to
your house.

“What did the Puritans come to this country for?” the teacher asked the
American history class. “To worship in their own way”, said one little guy,
“and make other people do the same.”

President Lincoln was found by a foreign diplomat in the act of blacking his
own boots. The diplomat in all his elegance exclaimed, “So, Mr. President,

you black your own boots?” “Yes,” replied President Lincoln. “Whose
boots do you black?”


Poor Richard advises me to tell my sons: “Keep your eyes open before
marriage and half shut afterwards.”






189

Of course universities are full of knowledge. Freshmen bring a little in and
seniors take none away and the knowledge accumulates.

To my knowledge, no controversy has ever ended on the ground where it
began.

Henrik Ibsen said it right: “Money may buy you the husk of many things,
but not the kernel. It brings you food but not the appetite, medicine but not
health, acquaintances but not friends, servants but not faithfulness, days of
joy but not peace and happiness.”

Alexander Pope compared narrow minded people to narrow necked bottles.
He said that the less they have in them the more noise they make in poring it
out.”

After church we talked about what a fine voice one of our parishioners has.
One of our group asked if we knew if she cultivates it. Another woman
quickly spoke up, “Don’t know about that, but she sure irrigates it a lot.”


Written by a close friend


Daily Mass
I knelt among the saints-to-be, my heart was filled with peace. To feel that
God permitted me the joy of knowing these.

Their minds uplifted in rapt prayers, I added my humble plea, hoping that
mine, joined to theirs, would somehow reach to Thee.

Sweet Jesus, Thou has granted me a joy I don’t deserve to knees among the
saints-to-be, God to know, to love and serve.

The twinkling bell summons us To Eucharist feast,
With them I go joyous
To receive, though I’m the least. Stay with me, Lord, I beg Thee, As I return
to place, And kneel among the saints-to-be, To adore and ask Thy grace.

By good friend, Marie Cox




190

Story of Two Tragedy

Once upon a time there were a couple would of the adults on the second

story of the boathouse. There was a young child's approximately 1 year old

playing on the floor with railing around the deck of this 30 feet high

platform above the water. Many war warnings were given to the youngster

by one of the men to stay away from the edge of the deck. The child kept

crawling close to the edge and one of the men continued to pull the baby

away from the edge. The man became preoccupied with that of conversation

and lost track of the children playing on the deck. Soon somebody noticed

the-year-old youngster was missing. Imagine the calamity when it was

found that the baby's body was found in the water. Below the deck.



Who was at fault in this case? Should the man that gave the child all the

warnings to stay away from the edge of the deck live in constant terror

because he did not take a more positive action?



Now let's just suggest a second situation.

A very close friend of yours was left alone when his wife died three years

ago. His family that is left lives many miles away from your friend. Your

friend becomes very ill. You are only one of two visitors that he has as she

goes through about a month in and out of four hospitals. The last two or

hospice units. You were his only visitor. Other than as nurses in the last

four or five days that he was awake and alert. You asked him whether or not

he wanted to see or talk to a clergymen. He acknowledged that the last time

a family member had seen him they had called in a cleric. At no time in the

last alert hours of his life did you ask him whether or not he had been





191

baptized or whether he believes the in our Lord Jesus Christ? When your

friend slipped into a coma and when it occurred to you to ask him anything

else about his faith he was beyond answering you. Should you feel

responsible for his possible loss of eternal life?

Are there any similarities between these two incidents?

Is omission of action is terrible as evil action?



Julian of Norwich wrote these inspired words, "The great honor we can give

to Almighty God, greater than all our sacrifices and mortifications, is to live

gladly, joyfully, because of the knowledge of His love."



Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could do that? Of course it would, and we

can. Jesus wants us to. Remember His words at the Last Supper, "I have told

you all these things that your joy may be full." John 15:11.



St. Paul echoed the Lord's teaching when he said, "Rejoice always, and give

thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God for you in Christ

Jesus. I Cor. 5:16



the question before us therefore, is not whether such a life is possible, but

how can we attain it? And the answer is found in the words of Jesus. He

gives us the secret, but we must act on it. When He speaks, we must not only

listen, but obey. For instance, when Jesus says, "Be of good cheer. Though it

is true, in this world you will have many troubles, always remember, I have

overcome the world. “John 16:33.



If you listen to these words in a spirit of obedience, you will want to lift up




192

your drooping spirit. Faith is not merely a matter of pious devotions, true

faith is found in the degree of one's determination to obey the Lord.



Jesus emphasized this point, "If you love me, and obey Me, I will ask the

Father and He will give you a Comforter, and He will never leave you.”

John 14:15, 16. This Comforter is none other than the Holy Spirit. “The fruit

of the Spirit is joy. “Gal. 5:2



Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit.



Genuine faith therefore, listens to the words of Jesus, and takes them to

heart. When Jesus says "Cheer up," you must snap yourself out of the

doldrums. Guard your mind against negative thinking. Reject every sign of

self-pity.



What is the psychology behind all this? It is this: the thoughts you allow

yourself to think will always determine the state of your emotional life. As

thunder follows lightening, so will painful emotions follow negative

thinking!



Therefore think of the good you've done, not the bad; think of the love

you've received not the hate; think of the laughter you've shared, not the

tears. Focus on God's unchanging Love, and be grateful in all circumstances.



Since it pleases God to see you enjoy your precious life, why not make this

effort? Live joyfully because of the knowledge of His love. To do so you

must will it. Jesus says, "Be not afraid.” Luke, 12:4. So you must cancel all




193

those fearful thoughts which cause you emotional pain. If you don't know

how to accomplish this, then turn your life over to the Lord and ask Him to

do it for you. Pray as if everything depended on God, and act as if

everything depended on you.



Joy is the byproduct of listening to and obeying the words of Jesus. Joy is

also the byproduct of our intimacy with the indwelling Trinity. "Rejoice with

those who rejoice, be sad with those who sorrow. Treat everyone with equal

kindness. Never be condescending, but make real friends with the poor. Let

everyone know you are interested in the highest ideals." Romans 12:15.



I hope these words help you to find your higher calling.



Dear Lord, I thank you for this day,



I thank you for my being able to see and to hear this morning.


I'm blessed because you are a forgiving God



And an understanding God. You have done so much for me



And you keep on blessing me. Forgive me this day for everything



I have done, said or thought that was not pleasing to you.


I ask now for your forgiveness.



Please keep me safe from all danger and harm.



Help me to start this day with a new attitude and plenty of gratitude.





194

Let me make the best of each and every day



to clear my mind so that I can hear from You.


Please broaden my mind so that I can accept all things.



Let me not whine and whimper over things I have no control over.



And give me the best response when I'm pushed beyond my limits.



I know that when I can't pray you listen to my heart.


Continue to use me to do your will.



Continue to bless me that I may be a blessing to others.



Keep me strong that I may help the weak.



Keep me uplifted that I may have words of encouragement for others.


I pray for those that are lost and can't find their way.



I pray for those that are misjudged and misunderstood.



I pray for those who don't know you intimately.



I pray for those that don't believe.



But I thank you that I believe that God changes people and


God changes things. I pray for peace, love and joy.



I pray for all my sisters and brothers





195

And each and every family member in their households,



That all their needs are met and that they are out of debt.


I pray that every eye that reads this knows there is no problem,



Circumstance, or situation greater than God.



Every battle is in your hands for you to fight.



I pray that these words be received


Into the hearts of every eye that sees it.



In Jesus' name. Amen!





































196

ZAIC FAMILY ADDENDUM


The following is an abbreviated Zaic Family listing:

Two very important observations must be made regarding this brief update
regarding Zaic genealogy:

However, understand that the information contained herein has been
furnished by each family of Zaic descendants. Some have been very
generous with their time required to furnish family data. Some family
information was only available to the compiler from public records.

Secondly, let there be no feeling of slight by gender. In all but the most
recent generation, the Zaic women followed the Old Country custom of
accepting their husband’s name in marriage. The children of those
marriages not only do not carry on the Zaic name but in some cases follow
very few of the Zaic family customs and manners.

The errors and omissions in this writing are accompanied by the compiler’s
apologies and regrets.

There were nine first generation Zaic sons to carry on the Zaic name, all of
whom are now deceased. As of this writing only two of the five first
generation daughters are still with us: Julia Zaic Znidar and Frances Zaic
th
Lamosse. As of the 19 of February 2018. The above two are deceased:
Frances as of __________ and Julia as of December 2017.

As of June 2002, there are fifteen second generation family that carry the
Zaic name and twenty third generation Zaics over age eighteen.

They are:

2-1 Robert Zaic of Minneapolis, MN and with his wife,
Marilyn Bergerson Zaic, have three Zaic children.
3-1 Michael Allen Zaic




197

3-2 Karen Jean Zaic
3-3 Daniel John Zaic
3-4 Jeffrey L. Zaic, son of Joseph F. Zaic, deceased, and
Delores Carlson Zaic
3-5 David J. Zaic, also a son of Joseph and Delores
2-2 James Zaic of Palm City, FL and with his wife, Barbara,
have two sons
3-6 James Jerome Zaic
3-7 Alvin Zaic
2-3 William Zaic of Swanville, MN and with his divorced wife,
Joan, have two Zaic sons
3-8 Steven Zaic
3-9 John Zaic
2-4 Alvin “Rocky” Zaic of St. Xavier, MT, and with his wife,
Mary Lou Arlt Zaic, have two Zaic sons
3-10 Peter Kenneth Zaic
3-11 Devin Robert Zaic
2-5 John “Jack” Zaic of Maywood, NJ and with his wife,
Myra Corbett Zaic, have a Zaic son and daughter
3-12 John Kelley Zaic
3-13 Kelly Ann Zaic
2-6 Allan James Zaic of Silver Springs, MD
2-7 Jerome Edward Zaic of Mountain Laurel, NJ, and with his
Wife, Catherine Mary Forgioni Zaic, have a Zaic son
3-14 Michael Joseph Zaic
2-8 Daniel Frances Zaic of New York City
2-9 Shirley Joanne Zaic of Seattle, WA
2-10 Edward John Zaic Jr. of Seattle, WA, and with his wife,
Linda Lea Mabe Zaic, have a Zaic son
3-15 Edward John Zaic III
2-11 Lawrence Zaic of Seattle, WA, and with his wife, KathleenAnn
Stults, have an eighteen year old Zaic daughter
3-16 Ann Frances Zaic
2-12 Denny Zaic of Gulfport, FL, has a Zaic son
3-17 Omar Zaic
2-13 Roger Allen Zaic of Coleraine, Mn, and with his wife, JoAnn
Marie Kekkonen Zaic, have two Zaic sons
3-18 Brent Allen Zaic
3-19 Ryan Lee Zaic
2-14 Martin “Boots” Zaic of Jacobsen, MN



198

2-15 Scott Zaic of Grand Rapids, MN, and with his wife, Brenda
Paatela Zaic, have one Zaic child
3-20 Skie Korri Zaic



We end this document as we started it. The primary purpose of this writing
is with the hope that a copy will get into the hands of a third or fourth
generation Zaic that recognizes the value in sustaining records and
gatherings of the family.

God bless you all.
























































199


Click to View FlipBook Version