RAYMOND AND VLASTA [VONASEK] BARTA
Raymond Paul Barta was born August 31, 1879. On March 29, 1905, he
was united in marriage to Vlasta Eva Vonasek, who was born December
24, 1883. The parents of Raymond and Vlasta, John and Anna Barta,
and Frank and Josepha Vonasek, along with some other families, came
from Chicago and homesteaded along the Niobrara River northwest of
Verdigre in the early 1870s. The homestead was near a post office by
the name of Pischelville that was established by previous settlers.
There were nine children in both families - five boys and four girls
in the John Barta family: Frank, Rudolph, Raymond, Otto, Albert,
Bertha, Millie, Emma, and Tillie: and six boys and three girls in
the Frank Vonasek family: George, Otto, Ladd, Robert, Milos, Zdnek,
Millie, Vlasta, and Olga. There were three intermarriages among the
two families.
Raymond purchased a farm east of Knoxville, a post office that had
been established ten miles south and west of Pischelville. It was
here that Raymond and Vlasta raised their four children, Clifford,
Arnold, May and James. Raymond’s job as a young boy was to herd
cattle and he milked cows and fed cattle until the drought and
depression of the 1930s.
In the spring of 1939 they moved to a ranch near Long Pine where he
continued to live until his death. Raymond passed away June 9, 1955,
and Vlasta continued to live on the ranch with her sons, Clifford
and James, until she passed away on January 2, 1962. Burial was in
the Long Pine cemetery.
Clifford was born January 21, 1908, and James Raymond was born
September 7, 1918. They still reside on the family’s ranch south of
Long Pine and continue raising Angus cattle. In 1984, the Barta
Brothers were winners of the “Nebraska Outstanding Tree Farmer”
award for the outstanding job of planting over 50,000 trees over the
years. They also designed and planted over 100 acres of windbreaks
for a variety of purposes that complement each other. Their tree
plantings have provided excellent protection and shelter for
livestock in the winter, habitat for an abundance of wildlife
throughout the year, and helped control the spreading of “blowouts”
on the ranch. Besides the acres of windbreaks, there are plantings
of walnut and fruit trees.
James served his country in the U. S. Army Air Corps during World
War II from February 1942 until December 1945.
Arnold Percival, the second son of Raymond and Vlasta, was born
January 18, 1912. Arnold was married to Grace Conway in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, on December 14, 1936. They had one daughter, Barbara
Vlasta, who was born March 29, 1941, at Long Pine. Arnold ranched
with his brothers, Clifford and James, south of Long Pine until
after Grace’s death on December 14, 1962. Arnold was a wrestler as a
young man, and after he retired from ranching, he enjoyed traveling
and did carpenter work. In 1972 he married Lorena Kyner. Arnold, who
had leukemia, passed away August 12, 1981, in Omaha, Nebraska. His
daughter Barbara and son-in-law Gary Assarsson live on Arnold’s
ranch south of Long Pine. Barbara and Gary were married in November,
1958. They have three children: Michael, Annette, and Julie.
A daughter May Magdaline, was born to Raymond and Vlasta Barta on
May 27, 1914. She married John E. Pavlik on May 4, 1938, at Center,
Nebraska. The family history of John and May may be found under the
John E. Pavlik family.
Pages
198, 199
