First, the Silvasi Family. These are the descendants of my Grandmother's sister, Verona Ceholnaj, and Ivan Silvasi. Ivan and Verona had 3 daughters - Marisa, Irina, Elizabeth - and 2 sons - Mikola and Ivan.
Ivan Silvasi was conscripted into the Hungarian Army when they invaded Czechoslovakia at the start of WW II. He was never seen again.
(Front row, Volodya Hojdra, Irina Hojdra nee Silvasi, Verona Silvasi nee Ceholnaj, Taras Gombos, my Probaba Maria Ceholnaj nee Toth, Klara Maximovich nee Silvasi, Marisa Gombos nee Silvasi, Marta Didik nee Silvasi, Elizabeth Silvasi wife of Mikola.
Not pictured are Marisa and Yuri Gombos's daughter Maria, and Elizabeth's daughter's Natalia and Olga
Hojdra Family:
above: Ivan Zjaty, Olga Zjaty nee Hoidra, Irina Hoidra nee Silvasi, Imri Hojdra
Olga and Ivan Zjaty
On the left, Elizabeth's daughters Olga and Natalya Hlivko, Olga Hojdra, Marta Didik nee Silvasi, Ivan Maximovich's brother (don't remember first name)
Olga today, helping Ivan butcher a goat
Volodya Hojdra and wife Magda. Volodya is deceased.
Volodya's granddaughter, Olga Viyushi. Olga, her husband Stopya Viyushi, and daughter Karina live with Olga, who had no children. Olga Viyushi's mother Tatyana lives next door.
Karina Viyushi
Marisa and Yuri Gombosh and Family:
I don't have any photo's of Marisa and Yuri. They had 2 children, Maria and Taras.
A young Taras Gombos can be seen in the upper left corner, standing behind the women at Verona Silvasi's funeral. Taras is now deceased.
Marisa's daughter Maria and her husband Josef Piyuk. Marisa worked as a nurse; Josef is a master carpenter and wood carver, as well as a beekeeper. They have a daughter Nadya, married to Ivan Tsuga, and grandson Stasik, married to Yana. They also adopted a handicapped orphan, Lisa, below.
Elizabeth and Ivan Hlivko Family:
Elizabeth Hlivko, nee Silvasi
Elizabeth, Ivan Hlivko, and one of their 2 daughters. Ivan Hlivko was a Pokholnik or Colonel in either the KGB or Border Patrol
Elizabeth with her 2 daughters, Olga and Natalya. They are standing in front of the house my Grandmother was born in. The house has since been torn down, and a new, larger house built in its place.
Elizabeth's daughter Natalya. She is holding a picture of her husband Josef Molnar, painted by her granddaughter Aleen. Josef retired as a Pokholnik from the Border Patrol.
Natalya's daughter Alla
Alla's husband Anatol Sokolov, standing in front of his house. Anatol owns the restaurant/bar "Egan's Pub", and the pizza parlor "Mir Cafe"
Alla and Anatol's daughter Aleen. She is an art student, will be studying in Bratislava. She has a 9 year old brother, Artem.
Elizabeth's younger daughter Olga is married to Misha, they have a daughter Mariann
Mikola Silvasi Family:
Mikola Silvasi was a professional singer with the National Folk Chorus, sponsored by the Soviet government. He performed with the Chorus all over the USSR and Eastern Europe. He was only 56 when he died of lung cancer, from smoking. I asked if smoking didn't hurt his singing; they said,no, because he sang bass. When he was a little boy, he was sitting on a horse and pretending to be a German officer. He gave a Nazi salute and said "Hiel Hitler!" Since then, he was known to all the people in Dravtsi as "Hitler". "Hitler" and his wife Elizabeth had 2 daughters, Klara and Marta.
Klara Maximovich and Marta Didik
Below: Ivan and Klara, with their son Misha on the left
Below: Ivan and Klara, with their son Misha on the left
Ivan spent 3 years in the Soviet Army when he was young. He was stationed in the East, and fought in a 3 day battle with the Chinese on the Amur River in 1969. He worked as a butcher, and his hams are every bit as good as Italian prosciutto. Misha has a business buying timber and exporting to Hungary.
Misha and his family. This photo is maybe 3 years old. Left to right, Sasha (now 19 and a dental student), Miroslava (she is the daughter of Father Banik), Katya (in front), little Misha, and Misha
In the photo below is much of Marta's family. Marta's husband Mihailo Didik died in 2006. Marta has 2 children, Misha and Tanya.
left to right: Ivan, Klara - holding little Misha who is on Misha Didik's shoulders. He is Marta's son, and has a business buying timber and exporting to Hungary. Beside Klara is Tanya, Marta's daughter. Beside her is Natalya, Misha's daughter. Then Marta. Beside Marta is Julius (Jusie). Jusie is married to Tanya. Next, holding Anna is Natalya, Misha's wife and mother of Natalya and younger Marta to her right. Anna is the younger Natalya's daughter. (confused??)
Tanya and Jusie on the ends, with their daughter (I can't believe I forgot her name!) and husband Kolya. . Jusie drives a long-distance bus. Tanya works in a bank.
Natalya and Misha on the ends, with daughter Natalya and her husband Pavlo in the center. Pavlo and Natalya are the parents of little Annuchka. Natalya works in a bank.
Andrew Vasko had 2 wives. The first, Anna Hreha (Gregus), had 4 children: Maria, Margaret, Mihailo, and Andrew. Anna Hreha died in 1938. Maria died in 2006. I don't have any information about Mihailo or Andrew. But Margaret, below, is still living. She is 91.
I did not get to meet Margaret Khoma, nee Vasko, on this trip, but I did meet her grandson, Peter Khoma, his wife, his son Peter, and daughter Tanya.
Tanya is an English teacher. She married Igor Solovey several years ago, but they are now divorced.
Tanya Khoma at her graduation.
Tanya and Igor
Andrew's second wife was Anna Budish, Bela's mother. Bela and wife Anna Rohach have 2 children, Pavlo and Tatyana, Tatyana is married to Sasha Zinchenko. Sasha's mother Magdaline is still alive; she went with is to the thermal mineral water spa. Sasha's father (a Vasko) was a Pokholnik in the KGB. Sash and his family lived with Bela for 15 years while building his own home in Baranintsi.
Sasha is working his second career as a Customs Officer. After 20 years, he retired from the Ukrainian National Police as a Pokholnik. He also served 2 years with Nato Peacekeeping Force in the Sudan. He has wife and 2 daughters, the eldest will soon be studying for the travel and tourism industry.
Sasha and his youngest daughter
My grandfather had another brother we didn't know about - Fedor. He was 10 years younger than my grandfather. He married Maria Pazinets of Baranintsi, and had 3 children, Marta, Magdalena, and Josef. Marta married Oleksander Danko, Magdalena married Vikenty Fekeshgazi. I didn't meet them or their children; I won't go into all their descendants here.
Josef is still living, although he is in poor health. He married Etela Oletska, and they live in Dovhe Pole with their son Misha, Misha's wife Natalia Sany, and their daughters, Stella and Nikoleta. Nikoleta is married to Robert Lutsko, and they have a son born in March - Dennis. Misha works for Customs. His wife Natalia is the School Director for Veliky Gaiivtsi. Robert works on a Collective. Josef and Etela have another son, Slava, who has been living and working in the Czech Republic with his wife Martsela and son Voitishek.
Vasko relatives:
Because my Grandfather didn't write to his family like my Grandmother did, I have less information about the Vasko Family. My Prodido Mihailo Vasko was married 3 times; his first 2 wives died. He had 5 children, I don't know if they had the same mother or diferent mothers. My Grandfather's mother was Elizabeth Hreha (Gregus). We knew he had a brother, Vincent, who died during WW II in an Italian POW camp of pneumonia. He had a sister, Mary, who married a Matsko. We also knew about his brother Andrew, who spent 12 years working in America. Just 6 years ago, we learned that my Grandfather had another brother, Fedor. Fedor was the youngest.
Beginning in 1875, my Prodido Mihailo Vasko made 5 trips to America to work in the coal mines around Pittsburgh. He saved money to educate his children and to buy land back home. My Grandfather graduated from the Gymnasium, and was attending the Uzhgorod Seminary when WW I began. I don't know if he was studying for the priesthood, or studying to become a teacher, as the Seminary educated both. When WW I began, my Grandfather dropped out of school to join the Austro-Hungarian Army as a Cavalry Lieutenant. After the war, he married my Grandmother. They had 2 children born in Dravtsi, who died - Vincent and Margaret; in 1921 My Grandfather came to America, followed the next year by his brother Andrew and my Grandmother.
My Prodido never wanted any of his children to come to America. He was working to provide a better life for them back in Dravtsi. On his final trip to America, my Prodido didn't even know that while he was working in the coal mines around Brownsville, my Grandfather and Andrew were working in East Pittsburgh. They had come to stay with John Toth, my Grandmothers uncle. He was responsible for sponsoring many of our relatives in America; many more stayed at his home while working here,saving money to return home.
Seated are John Toth and his wife Baba Mary Toth, nee Halagan, Patriarch and Matriarch of Toth-Ceholnaj-Vasko Families. Their 2 oldest daughters, Mary and Elizabeth are standing, Baba Toth is holding Martha. Standing, left to right, are John Halagan (Baba Toth's brother), Ivan Silvasi (my Grandmother's sister's husband), and my Grandfather, George Vasko. John Halagan and Ivan Silvasi both returned to Dravtsi.
When my Prodido died in 1932, Andrew Vasko returned home, took over the land my Prodido bought, and built a new house, below.
Andrew's son, Bela, lives in the same house today. (below)
Bela Vasko retired a few years ago after serving as Dravtsi's School Director for 15 years. He had studied and obtained degrees in Ukrainian Language and Literature. His wife Anna was a chemistry teacher.
The original home has been added to and remodelled.
Andrew Vasko had 2 wives. The first, Anna Hreha (Gregus), had 4 children: Maria, Margaret, Mihailo, and Andrew. Anna Hreha died in 1938. Maria died in 2006. I don't have any information about Mihailo or Andrew. But Margaret, below, is still living. She is 91.
I did not get to meet Margaret Khoma, nee Vasko, on this trip, but I did meet her grandson, Peter Khoma, his wife, his son Peter, and daughter Tanya.
Peter Khoma
Peter's wife (in white, with fishing pole)
Peter Khoma's son, Peter, atop the statue
Tanya and Igor
Andrew's second wife was Anna Budish, Bela's mother. Bela and wife Anna Rohach have 2 children, Pavlo and Tatyana, Tatyana is married to Sasha Zinchenko. Sasha's mother Magdaline is still alive; she went with is to the thermal mineral water spa. Sasha's father (a Vasko) was a Pokholnik in the KGB. Sash and his family lived with Bela for 15 years while building his own home in Baranintsi.
Sasha is working his second career as a Customs Officer. After 20 years, he retired from the Ukrainian National Police as a Pokholnik. He also served 2 years with Nato Peacekeeping Force in the Sudan. He has wife and 2 daughters, the eldest will soon be studying for the travel and tourism industry.
Sasha's wife and older daughter. His daughter wants to go to school to work in the travel and tourism industry
Bela's son Pavlo, Pavlo's wife Tatiana, and youngest daughter
Pavlo's older daughter, Olga
Bela also has a daughter, Tatiana. She is married to Oleksander Zinchenko. They have two daughters, Yana and Marina. I have not met them.
Fedor Vasko's familyMy grandfather had another brother we didn't know about - Fedor. He was 10 years younger than my grandfather. He married Maria Pazinets of Baranintsi, and had 3 children, Marta, Magdalena, and Josef. Marta married Oleksander Danko, Magdalena married Vikenty Fekeshgazi. I didn't meet them or their children; I won't go into all their descendants here.
Josef is still living, although he is in poor health. He married Etela Oletska, and they live in Dovhe Pole with their son Misha, Misha's wife Natalia Sany, and their daughters, Stella and Nikoleta. Nikoleta is married to Robert Lutsko, and they have a son born in March - Dennis. Misha works for Customs. His wife Natalia is the School Director for Veliky Gaiivtsi. Robert works on a Collective. Josef and Etela have another son, Slava, who has been living and working in the Czech Republic with his wife Martsela and son Voitishek.
Etela, Slava, Misha, Josef
Josef, Etela, Martsela, Natalia, Misha, and Slava
Nikoleta and Robert
Their son Dennis
Misha's younger daughter Stella in folk costume
Natalia at her desk in the Veliky Gaiivtsi school
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