Given that my post two days ago concerned my search for the long lost brother of my grandfather, John Sabo, it seems fitting to share the 1936 obituary of my grandfather, George Sabo, which took years to find.
Last year, I was thrilled to find that the Passaic Herald News had finally been digitized and was available online on a subscription website. When a free access weekend was offered, I jumped at the opportunity to search for articles about friends and family.
I never knew my grandfather, George Kucharik, born 24 May 1893 in Delano, Schuylkill, Pennsylvania, as he died of tuberculosis when my father was only ten years old on 27 November 1936, the day after Thanksgiving.
Nana adored her husband and wore her wedding ring until she died at the age of 91 years in 1985. My dad didn’t talk much about his father and I didn’t think to ask. However, by Nana’s account, he was kind, gentle and well-loved by his family.
Nana kept all kinds of photos, records and receipts, but she didn’t have a newspaper clipping of my grandfather’s obituary. I was sure she would have had one published. She did save a thank-you notice published after the funeral:
Therefore, I quickly searched for the Sabo surname and up came an obituary for my grandfather, George Sabo, published in the Passaic Herald News.
George Sabo, Obituary
28 November 1936
My grandfather must have died early in the morning as his obituary was published the very next day, 28 November.
I was surprised about a couple of things and learned a couple of new tidbits of information.
First, I was surprised that nothing about his cause of death – tuberculosis – was mentioned. I wonder if it was because TB is contagious? Nana’s only sister, Mary, had also died of TB ten years earlier. Likely both caught it because they had worked in the factories.
Second, while I knew that my grandfather’s funeral was held at St. Michael’s Church, it says that funeral services began at the LATE HOME – 49 Summer Street – at 8:15 on Monday morning, followed by “further rites” in church. I wish I could ask Nana about the part of the service held at home – the same home where I lived until I was almost 12.
Next, I knew that my grandparents owned a butcher shop for many years and had traced it in records back at least until 1922.
The obituary says that they had operated the market for 15 years, meaning the business was established about 1921.
Lastly, survivors included my grandfather’s siblings. Given that they rented and moved often, I now know that his brother Stephen was living in Wallington in 1936, sister Mary Bubbly lived in Passaic and his sister Anna Pezont lived in Garfield.
Thank you to whoever made it possible for the Herald News to join the digital 21st century. 🙂
How exciting to finally see your grandfather’s obit and know even more about him and his family! As you say, obits of the time generally used euphemisms and vague mentions of “brief illness” or “lengthy illness” or similar wording, rather than stating any specific cause of death. But you know the truth.
I was just surprised that my grandmother didn’t have a clipping of his obituary. She saved everything!
How exciting to have found your grandfather’s obituary. Sometimes the searches go on for years and years, and then, success! The obituary is wonderful but I might have been (maybe) just as thrilled to have found the photograph.
The photo is from a business newsletter that I have in my possession. One of the many items my Nana saved over the years.
What an exciting discovery! This is a genealogy happy dance moment. Woo hoo! It’s interesting what you can find in obituaries, especially information that you may not have heard of before.
I was sure there had to be an obituary. Eventually, my local newspaper got digitized and there it was!