Welcome to June! In Tucson, we’ve settled into daily highs of 100 degrees, which isn’t too bad because it still cools down at nigh to about 70. Mornings are perfect and then that modern invention called air conditioning kicks in, so all is good!

It’s also time for the first Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge of the month, posted by Randy Seaver on Genea-Musings:

1)  The life of every person has events and decisions that have a risk factor that can significantly affect their life.

2)  Describe a risk that one of your ancestors made that affected their life. How did it all turn out?  

I think most of us might be heading towards our immigrant ancestors, who definitely took risks upping stakes and moving thousands of miles away.

Michael Scerbak (1868-1932), my paternal great grandfather, from the tiny village of Ujak, now Slovakia, was one of the first Ujak residents to decide to try out factory life in Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey. He appears on an 1888 passenger list that arrived at Castle Garden in New York City, just 15 miles from Passaic.

My great grandmother, Anna Murcko, followed a couple of years later.

The reason for emigrating was purely economic. Michael and Anna married here and their first three children, including my grandmother, Julia, were born in Passaic.

Michael’s intent might have been to live permanently in the Passaic area and live the American dream. However, Anna wanted to return home, so in October 1898, they boarded a ship and left.

Michael returned a couple of times to earn money in the factories, but died in Ujak in 1932.

However, their decision to move to America and then go back to Europe had repercussions.

On the positive side, Michael was able to provide for his family in Ujak, having American dollars in his pocket. He was able to buy a tiny piece of land and own his small home.

On the downside for the family unit, Not only my grandmother, but also her brother Peter and sister Maria all returned to Passaic in the early 1900s, permanently splitting the family.

My grandmother never saw her mother again after she left Ujak in 1910 even though my great grandmother lived until 1967.

Peter was living in Europe when World War I broke out and he was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian empire army, costing him his American citizenship. He was naturalized after he returned to American in the 1920s. Pete married in Europe, but his four children were born in New jersey.

Maria, born the year after the family returned to Europe, married Stephen Tidik in Ujak. Stephen came to America and settled in Pennsylvania. He sent for Maria and their two little boys in 1923. Sadly, Maria got tuberculosis and died in 1926. Stephen died in 1938, leaving their sons orphaned.

The final effect of Michael’s choice is that he has descendants of his children Julia, Peter and Maria living in the United States and of his children Michael and Stephen living in Slovakia.

One of Michael’s great grandchildren has been to Slovakia and met some of the cousins. I chat with another, Helena, via Facebook using Google Translate since she doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak Slovak.

All of the family is aware of cousins on the other side of the pond.

Thanks again, Randy, for an interesting challenge.