The History of the John Shroba and Zuzanna Stech Family.

by Matthew J. Mikulich, REVISED, July 2006

This is the history of the John Shroba and Zuzanna Stech family and their descendants in the US. This family became part of the history of succeeding Mikulich generations when Matthew A. Mikulicic married Pauline Anna Jancik in 1937. Pauline’s parents were Martin Jancik and Maria Shroba. Maria Shroba is the daughter of John Shroba and Zuzanna Stech. The Shroba, Stech, and Jancik families are of Slovak ancestry. The Slovak name Sroba is most commonly spelled Shroba and Jancik is spelled Yanchick in the US. Zuzanna’s name is spelled Zsuzsanna (Hungarian) on her birth record, but since her gravestone shows her name as Zuzanna, that is the spelling used in this history.

The information about these families is collected from personal communications with family members, birth and death records, Church records from Slovakia and the US, census records, county records, passenger arrival lists, and other documents. In this history the family name Sroba will be spelled Shroba.

The Author: The author is the son of Matthew A. and Pauline (Jancik) Mikulicic, a grandson of Martin and Maria (Shroba) Jancik, and a great-grandson of John and Zuzanna (Stech) Shroba Sr.

Special note: The Jancik and the Shroba families are doubly related. Martin Jancik married Maria Shroba. His sister, Susan Jancik, married Maria’s brother, Stephen Shroba.

Historical Note: The early history of these two families in the US is intimately tied to the development of the anthracite coal mining district of NE Pennsylvania. For perspective, a historical introduction and footnote are included in this narrative. In addition, a map of the greater Wilkes-Barre area with key place names is included at the end of the text.

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION

In the 1890’s the anthracite coal mining industry was rapidly expanding in northeastern Pennsylvania. There is an extensive anthracite coal field of multiple individual seams underlying the entire Susquehanna Valley from well north of Scranton to well south of Wilkes-Barre, a distance of at least 30 miles long and from 2 to 3 miles wide. Jobs for unskilled coal mine laborers, both surface and underground, were plentiful at the time, and were probably relatively high paying jobs, as the demand for laborers was strong. Underground jobs in the collieries paid more money than surface jobs due to the hazardous working conditions. In the period 1910 to 1920, earnings for miners averaged about $2,000 per year, but highly productive workers earned as much as $4,000 per year.

Emigrants from several countries, especially east Europeans, were pouring into the area to work in the mines from the 1890‘s and well into the 1900‘s. In addition to Slovaks there were large groups of Russians, Poles, Lithuanians, Czechs, Croatians, and Greeks, but also many Italians and Irish, and even some Welsh and a few Scots. The majority of these people were Catholics, and each national community built its own church, or churches. The great majority did not speak English when they arrived, and they lived in national communities near their churches. Because the population was growing rapidly, new churches were constantly being built. Today the churches these people built stand in tribute to their faith, their nationalities, and their new way of life. In many areas there is one church in every city block. On Zerby Street in Edwardsville, PA, there are three churches serving different nationalities built on adjacent lots in the same city block. In the Diocese of Scranton, which includes Wilkes-Barre, there were at least 23 Slovak Catholic parishes established between 1882 and 1930, and for comparison there were 46 Polish Catholic parishes established.

Zuberec, Orava County, Slovakia. The ancestral home of the Shrobas.

The county of Orava, Slovakia encompasses the drainage area of the Orava River. It lies in the north central part of Slovakia bounded by the Polish border on the north, and the Tatry (High Tatra Mountains) on the east. Orava Castle lies on the river in the village of Oravsky Podzamok (Orava below-the-castle). Villages throughout Orava owed allegiance to the nobles in Orava Castle. Zuberec and Habovka are two small villages at the foot of the western Tatry, where they are called the Rohace, which belonged to Orava Castle.

Orava Castle, Slovakia.

The elevation of Zuberec is 743 meters (about 2115 feet above MSL). Although the area was settled as a farming area, the soil is poor, and the locals say that the land is not good for much except potatoes, which not a high cash crop. However, there is plenty of forest on the surrounding mountains, and a timber industry did exist, along with sheep breeding. Zuberec is famous for its log houses. These houses use squared log timbers with dovetail notched corners, and are built as a simple rectangle on a stone foundation. They have steeply pitched roofs for the heavy snows, and very wide eave overhangs.

Log houses on street in Zuberec.

Today the economy has expanded to include tourism: camping and mountain hiking in summer and skiing in winter. During World War II, Zuberec was a center of partisan activities against the occupying German forces. The population of Zuberec today is about 1700. Zuberec has an excellent outdoor museum called Muzeum Oravskej Dediny (Museum of the Orava Village), which includes historical buildings of all types from the Orava area.

The ancestry of John Shroba, Sr.

John Shroba Sr. was born in Zuberec in house #80 on July 10, 1853. His parents were Janos Sroba (1820-1891) and Dorothea Jancso (1824-1879). His paternal grandparents were Joannes Sroba (1788-?) and Dorothy Leginus (1788-?). His maternal grandparents were Joannes Jancso (?-?) and Dorothea Fandak (?-?). This is the way the names are spelled in the church records from Habovka, which used the Hungarian spelling of that time. John had four brothers that we know of: Jozeph (1844), Janos (1848), Andreas (1850), and Thomas (1861). We know nothing else about John Sr.’s life nor of his family in Zuberec. In the 1800’s, Zuberec did not have a church, so the residents walked 2 kilometers to the neighboring village of Habovka where they attended church at The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mother, which was built in 1820.

Church of the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mother (completed 1820) Habovka, Slovakia (May 2001).

The ancestry of Zuzanna Stech.

Habovka is located just 2 kilometers north of Zuberec. It is mentioned for the first time in 1593 when it was founded by settlers from villages around the Orava River. The area was not good for farming so the villagers worked in sheep breeding, cloth production, shingles, lumber, and iron ore extraction. By the mid-1800’s the population was about 800. Today, the population of Habovka is about 1200.

Zuzanna Stech was born in Habovka on November 28, 1848. Her parents were Josephus Pilar, alias Stech (1818-1887) and Catharina Ondross (1818-1890). We are unsure of her paternal grandparents. The alias refers to a village surname "nick-name", and was common in Slovakia at the time. Over time in many cases the surname nick-name became the family name. Zuzanna’s maternal grandparents were George Ondros (?-?) and Maria Matulya (?-?). Her brothers and sisters were: Josephus (1842), Jozef (1844), Anna (1851), Josephus (1852), Stephanus (1853), Anna (1856), and Maria (1858). First names were commonly repeated in a family when a child died. This information comes from the church records in Habovka.

John Shroba Sr. married Zuzanna Stech on February 8, 1876 in Habovka at the Church of the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mother. They had 5 children, Joseph (1876), John Jr. (1879), Andrew (1881), Maria (1884), and Stephen (1886), all born in Zuberec.

The Shrobas immigrate to the US in 1890.

In 1890, John Shroba (herein called John Sr.) was aged 37 when he immigrated with his entire family from Zuberec, Slovakia, a province of the Austrian Empire, to the United States. This information comes from the 1900 census. We are unsure of how they came to the US, which ports they used, or ship’s name, or the port of their debarkation. Their trip predates the Ellis Island records.

On arrival in the US the Shrobas settled in the town of Luzerne, a suburb of Wilkes-Barre, in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, to take employment in the anthracite coal mining industry of the Susquehanna River Valley. John brought his family to this area because his older brother Andrew had preceded him and was already living there. At the time of immigration, John Sr.’s family consisted of his wife, Zuzanna (Susanna) 41, and their 5 children, Joseph 14, John Jr. 11, Andrew 9, Maria 5, and Stephen 4. They had no additional children after their arrival in the US. John Sr. and all of his sons eventually became coal miners in PA.

Tragedy, John Sr. dies in the mines.

On December 16, 1896, John Shroba Sr. was killed “by a fall of top coal” while working underground in the Harry E. Shaft, of the Forty Fort Mine in the Borough of Forty Fort, near Wilkes-Barre, according to the report of the Inspector of Coal Mines, State of PA. This shaft is less than ½ mile from the family home on Miller Street. See map. At that time, there was no life insurance or health insurance provided by the coal companies, as most miners and their “butty’s” (mine laborers) were individual contractors to the mining companies. When a man was killed in the mines, the body was carried home by fellow miners and the family had to deal with the situation by themselves, usually with the help of family, friends, and the Church.

Surface of the Forty Fort Mine, Luzerne County, PA. (April, 2000).

When John Sr. died, it is likely that Joseph and John Jr., and possibly even Andrew were also working in the mines, although Andrew may have been working in the surface operations where boys were employed at the age of 12. It was common for boys at that age to quit school and go to work full-time in the “breakers”, a large building which crushed and sorted coal in preparation for shipping. Men commonly went underground at age 16, usually as mule drivers or “door boys.” Door boys operated doors in the tunnels in the mine which regulated the flow of air into the various mine areas. In fact, the day after John Sr’s death, John Corrella was killed in the same Harry E. Shaft of the Forty Fort Mine. He was 16 years old.

The entrance to the Harry E. Shaft, Forty Fort, PA. (April 2000).

From the 1900 census, we know that the family was living together on Miller Street, with Zuzanna as family head, in the small town of Luzerne, PA, which is adjacent to the towns of Forty Fort and Swoyersville on the north, and Edwardsville on the south (see map). On that same census form Joseph and John Jr. show their occupations as “coal miner”, and Andrew and Stephen, who was now just 14 years old, listed their occupations as “mine laborer.” Also living at the same address were Joseph’s wife, Dorothy, Dorothy’s son Rudolph (by a previous marriage in Slovakia to another Joseph Shroba), and two boarders named Andrew Yostyok (Jostak in Slovak), and Stephen Yanoslin (spelling uncertain). The future son of Yostyok would eventually marry Agnes, the future oldest daughter of John Shroba Jr.

Also, from the 1900 census we find that John’s older brother, Andrew, is living in Swoyersville, along with his wife, Mary (Maria Tomaga), and children, Karolina, Stephen, and John. The record indicates that he immigrated to the US in 1887, and the rest of his family arrived in 1894. It shows Andrew’s occupation as a “miner”, and Stephen, who is 12 years old, is a “door boy”.

With all the boys working, and boarders paying room and board, and all living together in the same house, Zuzanna was apparently able to save enough money to buy property in Luzerne. In fact, she bought several pieces of property on Miller Street in Luzerne, less than one mile from the Forty Fort Mine. The first piece of property was purchased in 1898, and that was followed by additional purchases over a period of several years. All this is duly recorded in the courthouse records in Wilkes-Barre. She must have been a business savvy woman because she also set up a trust, with herself as trustee, which held title to all the properties in Luzerne, which the family owned. All her children were shown as equal partners in the trust. Since she was not able to read or write, nor speak English, my guess is that she employed a Slovak-speaking attorney to translate for her and to set up the contracts and handle all the paperwork. Her acceptance of contracts of purchase and sales is recorded with her “mark”.

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church was founded in 1901 as a Slovak parish, and a church was built in Edwardsville about one mile from Luzerne. Both the Shroba and Jancik families would have been founding members of this parish. In 1915, St. John Nepomucene Church, also founded as a Slovak parish, was built on Miller Street in Luzerne, just a few blocks from the property once owned by the Shroba clan. This church post-dates part of the Shroba family who had already moved to Illinois, but John Jr. and Stephen and their families, were members there.

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church, Edwardsville, PA. (April, 2000).

By 1910, all the Shroba children were married. Joseph had married Dorothy Kovalcik (1898). John had married Mary Flyzik (1902). Andrew had married Susan Simkovic (1904, stepfather, Farrar) in the church of St Mary’s, Kingston). She had also emigrated from Zuberec. Maria had married Martin Jancik (1900). Stephen had married Susan Jancik (1910). The children of John Sr. and Zuzanna Shroba were all married in Pennsylvania. We can confirm, from county records the license dates of Joseph and Dorothy’s marriage as September 12, 1898 and Maria and Martin Jancik’s as April 23, 1900. Because marriage records from Sts. C&M have been lost or destroyed, we cannot confirm any marriage dates from that church.

Shroba house on Kelly St in Luzerne, PA., date 1905. From the left, John Shroba Jr., Martin Jancik (with baby John?) Maria Shroba Jancik (with baby Elizabeth), Mary Flyzik Shroba (with baby Agnes), Zuzanna Shroba, unknown man, Susan Shroba. On the porch, Joe and Dorothy Shroba and 4 sons, Andy Shroba (back to post), and Stephen Shroba. 3 unknown men on the right who could be Jostak, Janoslin, or Jancuska ?

The Shrobas begin to leave Luzerne.

Sometime before 1910, Joseph and Andrew and their families left Pennsylvania and moved to Joliet to get into a different line of work. From the 1910 census, we find Joseph and Andrew and families in Joliet. They are living together at 225 Wabash Avenue. Both are working at the steel mill, Joe as a carpenter, and Andy as a boilermaker. Back in Pennsylvania, Stephen and Zuzanna are living together on Kelly Street in Luzerne, and John Jr. and family are living next door. (NOTE. We originally missed Stephen and John Jr. on our first pass of the 1910 Pennsylvania census because their names are spelled John Schrobel and Stephen Schrobil.) Maria and Martin Jancik are living on Dymond Ave in Swoyersville nearby. Sometime later Joseph became a well driller in Joliet. He bought a house on 5 acres on California Avenue, in the Forest Park area of Joliet. Susanna moved from Luzerne to Joliet and lived with Joseph and his family in that house until she died in 1924. Dorothy died in 1941, and Joe in 1944.

Zuzanna Shroba with 8 of her grandchildren in 1911. - On the left, the children of John Jr. and Mary Shroba. From the left Helen, Theresa (seated), Agnes, and Elizabeth (lap child). - On the right, the children of Martin and Maria Jancik. Elizabeth, John, Susan, and Margaret (seated).

Andrew and his wife, Susan, were in Joliet in 1910 according to census records. In 1922, they bought a house on 5 acres at 1599 California Avenue, on property adjoining that of his brother Joseph. But, we know that they also went to Missouri, bought a farm there, and lived there for awhile (personal communication). We are uncertain however, of exactly when they were in Missouri. They did sell the Missouri property and returned to Joliet. Andrew took a job at the Coke Plant in Joliet/Lockport, a division of the United States Steel Company. He retired from that job in 1946, only a few months before his death. Susan also died later in 1946.

The brothers John Jr., Stephen Shroba and their brother-in-law Martin Jancik, stayed on in Luzerne County and continued working underground as coal miners well after Zuzanna, Joseph, and Andrew and their families left Luzerne for Joliet. In 1913, Stephen and his family bought property from Louis P. Shaver in Shavertown and moved there. Shavertown is a small town about 3 miles west of the town of Luzerne.

Sometime in 1915 Martin Jancik and his family left Luzerne for Davis, West Virginia where he took a job in the timber industry. Maria was employed as the camp cook, working out of a railroad car, which served as kitchen and dining hall for the lumber camp crew. Quarters for the Jancik family were made at one end of the car. But, by 1917, the Janciks had moved to Joliet to join the rest of the Shroba family there.

On October 4, 1915, John Jr. was killed in the Louise Shaft of the Raub Coal Co. Mine as recorded by the Inspector of Mines, State of PA. “Fatally injured by rock that slid from gob at face of gangway” is the entry in the report. The mine was located between Luzerne and Shavertown. He left his wife, Mary, and 4 children according to that same report. However, in legal documents related to selling certain Shroba real estate holdings in Luzerne County in 1916, we find that Mary and her 5 children are referenced as inheritors of John Jr.’s portion of the estate, and they are also residents of Shavertown. We conclude that Mary was carrying their 6th child when her husband was killed. Elizabeth had already died at age 3 in 1913. There is a record of John Shroba Jr.’s death in the archives of St. John Nepomucene Church in Lucerne, so we believe that his funeral was held from that church. John Jr. was buried in a single grave site at the Mt. Greenwood cemetery in Shavertown.

In early 1916, Stephen Shroba decided to give up coal mining and move his family to Joliet. This decision was precipitated by the death of his brother John Jr. in the mines in October, 1915, and the fact that the rest of family had moved away. We know that by November,1916, Stephen had moved his family to Joliet where he eventually bought a building lot and built a house at the corner of California and Woodruff Avenues, in the Forest Park area, just a few blocks away from his brothers Joseph and Andrew, and his sister Maria. We confirm these dates from the records of the sales of Shroba properties, as taken from the Luzerne County Courthouse, and from Will County, Illinois records of deeds. Stephen sold his Shavertown property in 1920, according to county records. He eventually owned and operated a tavern in Joliet on Meeker Avenue.

As a result of all this, after 1916, the only descendants of John Shroba Sr. left in Pennsylvania were the wife and 5 children of John Shroba Jr., and they were living in Shavertown. However, soon after John Jr.’s death his wife, Mary, sent some of the children to live with relatives. Helen was sent to live with Joseph and Dorothy Shroba, and Theresa was sent to live with Andrew and Susan Shroba, both in Joliet, Illinois. We can confirm this from personal communications and from the 1920 census records. Thomas and John were sent to live with their maternal grandparents, the Flysiks, in New Jersey. We cannot confirm where Agnes went at this time. Mary Flyzik Shroba later married a man named Emmoran (Henry?) Petras.

EPILOGUE

The Shrobas in Joliet thrived. Joseph and Dorothy had a total of 7 children, and Zuzanna lived the remaining years of her life with this family. Andrew and Susan had no children, but were foster parents at different times to both Theresa Shroba (John Jr.’s daughter) and to Pauline Jancik (Maria’s daughter). Maria Shroba and her husband Martin Jancik had 10 children, of which 8 survived to adulthood. Stephen and Susan had a total of 13 children of which 7 children survived to adulthood. There were many grandchildren. We do not have much information about the John Shroba Jr. family which remained in Pennsylvania. We do know that a daughter, Agnes, moved to Joliet and married Andrew Jostak in 1920.

At the time off this writing one son of John Shroba Jr., Thomas, is living in Albuquerque, NM, and one daughter of Stephen Shroba, Elizabeth, is living in Joliet.

Burial sites of the Shroba Clan.

We have not been able to locate the burial site of John Shroba Sr. who died in the Forty Fort coal mine on December 16, 1896. The county record shows his burial in the Pringleville Cemetery, but after searching there we could not find it. Possibly his grave was marked by a wooden marker and has since rotted away? We have been told that his brother Andrew is buried in the Trinity Church cemetery in Swoyersville, in a marked grave. Zuzanna Shroba died on July 6, 1924 and is buried in the Sts. C&M Slovak cemetery in Joliet on a single grave site. There is a tall white marble monument marking her grave.

Zuzanna Shroba grave site, Sts. Cyril and Methodius Cemetery, Joliet, Illinois. (June 1999)

John Jr. who died in the Louise Shaft on October 4, 1915, is buried in the old section of the Mt. Greenwood Cemetery in Shavertown, PA. It is a single grave site. No other family members are buried in this cemetery. We know that his daughter, Agnes Shroba Jostak is buried in Sts. C&M cemetery in Joliet and Theresa is buried in New York State. But, we do not know the burial sites of other members of his family.

John Shroba Jr. grave site, Mt. Greenwood Cemetery, Shavertown, PA. (April 2000).

Joseph and Dorothy Shroba, and Andrew and Susan Shroba are buried on adjacent lots in Sts. C&M Slovak cemetery in Joliet. Stephen and Susan Shroba are buried on another lot in the same cemetery, but their children who died as infants are buried near the chapel very close to one another, but all on single gravesites. Many of the adult children of these couples are also buried at Sts. C&M, but some are buried at other cemeteries. Julia Shroba Glavan, for example, is buried next to her husband Martin Glavan in St Joseph’s Cemetery, Joliet.

Uncertainty in some dates.

The reader is cautioned that there are some discrepancies in dates throughout the recorded data of some (most?) individuals. We have found that census data is especially unreliable, and so is word of mouth. Church records of births, marriages, and deaths are the best information. Please note below.

Zuzanna Shroba. On the 1900 census form she says her birth year is 1854, in 1910 census she says 1857, 1920 census she says 1845. Her death certificate lists her birth date as May 18, 1861. And, on her gravestone her birth year is listed as 1849. We now know the correct date of her birth is November 28, 1848, from the church records in Habovka. So the census information is simply not correct, and it is pretty clear that she did not know her age.

Maria Shroba Jancik. Her marriage license lists her birth date as January (no day), 1882. Her death certificate lists her birth date as February 3, 1885. Her gravestone shows her birth date as February 6, 1884. On the 1910 census form she says she is 26 years old. We can verify from church records in Habovka that she was born on February 6, 1884, and therefore was 16 years old when she married Martin Jancik. She may have claimed to be 18 when she and Martin applied for a marriage license in the county, to avoid legal problems. The 1920 census shows her born in Pennsylvania which is not correct.

Variability in the spelling of the names.

There is a great variety of spelling of the Slovak first names and surnames on legal and church documents in the US. Generally the church documents use the original Slovak spelling of the names, but on legal documents and in everyday use the spelling varied. However, in Slovakia names are usually spelled in Hungarian, sometimes in Latin or Slovak, depending on the year of record.

The Slovak family name, Sroba, is most commonly spelled Shroba in the US. In Hungarian the spelling is also Sroba (s in Hungarian is pronounced sh in English). Maria’s name is spelled Schroba on the courthouse records of her marriage to Martin Jancik. Legal documents of property holdings in Luzerne County spell the name as Shroba, and all gravestones in the Slovak cemetery in Joliet use the Shroba spelling.

The Slovak family name, Jancik, is usually spelled Yanchick by most family members in the US, especially after the family moved to Joliet, but both spellings were probably in use simultaneously until 1930. In Hungarian the name is spelled Jancsik (cs in Hungarian is pronounced ch in English). Maria’s name is spelled Jancik on her gravestone. My mother clearly remembers being called Jancik (hard J sound) in grammar school, so she must have used the original Slovak spelling until that time. Martin’s name is spelled Jancsik (Hungarian spelling) on his birth record, Yansic on the courthouse records of his marriage to Maria, Gancik on some legal records, Yanchick on the 1910 census, and Yancick on the 1920 census.

HISTORICAL FOOTNOTE

The mining of the anthracite coal belt of the Susquehanna River valley around Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania reached its peak in 1918. This coal is a valuable commodity being very dense with high heat and low sulfur content, so underground mining remained an economic proposition for many succeeding decades. In the 1950’s approximately 80,000 men were still employed in the collieries of this giant coal field. Throughout this time, the extensive underground tunneling managed to connect virtually all the individual mines. But, on January 22, 1959, a catastrophe occurred which was called the Knox Mine Disaster. Miners from the Knox Coal Company, while illegally mining coal under the Susquehanna River near Pittston, caused the river to breakthrough the overburden, completely flooding almost the entire mining complex. Twelve men died in the accident, and immediately 80,000 men were out of work. Upwards of 400,000 people lost their livelihood that day. Coal mine operators tried diking and pumping the mines, all to no avail. The coal companies lost their assets, the miners lost their jobs, and coal mining in this area virtually ceased. Overnight Lackawanna and Luzerne counties became the poorest areas in Pennsylvania with the highest unemployment rate. The population slowly began to drift away, real estate became almost worthless. Many of the old timers refused to leave, or could not afford to, hoping the industry would come back. It couldn’t.

In the 1990’s, the Catholic Diocese of Scranton which includes both Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties, began to combine parishes and parish schools for lack of parishioners, and priests to minister to the remaining people. For example, Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Edwardsville was merged with St. Anthony’s parish in Larksville. St. John Nepomucene in Luzerne was merged with both Sacred Heart in Luzerne and St. Ann in Luzerne and given the new name Holy Family Parish. However, most of the church buildings stand today in excellent condition and are still in use.

END OF HISTORY.

Our visit to Zuberec and Habovka in May 2001.

During May 2001 my wife, Donalyn, and I traveled to Slovakia to visit Zuberec and to find any additional information on the Shroba family. We had house numbers from the church records and hoped to photograph the houses where these people lived. However, the house numbering system has changed over the years. Also, many houses in Zuberec are made from logs. As the old logs rot away, these houses are torn down and a new log house is erected on the old foundations. In any case we could not identify the Shroba houses in Zuberec.

We did search the cemeteries in both Zuberec and Habovka looking for ancestors of John Shroba Sr. and Zuzanna Stech, but we found none of them. Again we were frustrated in that the oldest gravestones were dated about 1900. It is likely that the older graves were marked by simple wooden markers and have since rotted away.

Zuberec Cemetery (May 2001).

We found the Zuberec area very beautiful and unspoiled. The valley is farmed and there is considerable timber on the slopes nearby. The mountains are very close giving an Alpine feeling. St. Valentine’s Church (built 1933) has been updated and recently repainted. There are no hotels in town, only pensions. We chose to drive 7 kilometers east of Zuberec and stay at the Primula Hotel, which is located near the ski area in the Rohace Mountains.

Slovakia is an inexpensive place to visit for a tourist from the US. The hotel room rate at the Primula Hotel was 700 Sk (about $14.50 US) per night, breakfast not included. Typically we could have dinner for 2 for about 300-350 Sk (about $6.00-$7.00 US).

Wilkes-Barre, PA and surrounding area. Key map locations are noted as follows. 1) Jancik and Shroba family residences on Broderick Street, Swoyersville and Miller Street, Luzerne. 2) Location of Sts. Cyril and Methodius Slovak Catholic Church, Edwardsville. 3) Location of Sts. Cyril and Methodius cemetery, Pringle. 4) Surface location of the Forty Fort coal mine. Site of John Shroba Sr. death. 5) John Shroba Jr. gravesite, Mt. Greenwood Cemetery, Shavertown.

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