JOHN VAKOC, SR.
John’s obituary refers to him as “John, Sr.” Because he was much
older and in America before Joseph, it may be that some thought of
him as Joseph’s father. Joseph’s father is referred to as John, Sr.,
in one place, but there is no other record of proof. It is logical
that his son, John L., was really John, Jr. This information was
taken from the John Vakoc, Sr., obituary. He was the brother of
Joseph.
John Vakoc, Sr., was born in Sepekov, Milevsko, Tabor, Bohemia, on
December 13, 1836, and died February 1, 1927. The obituary states
that he came to this country in 1872, alone, but this is uncertain.
He had probably been living in Chicago for some time before he
arrived in Knox County in the fall of 1873. He had traveled to
Niobrara by rail in the company of the Kalals to journey to the far
frontier. Her husband’s sister had married Vaclav Jedlicka. It was
probably not an accident that John Vakoc traveled with the group for
his brother Joseph’s wife was a cousin of Vac Jedlicka. Mrs. Kalal,
who later wrote an account of the trip, made no reference to
children or to a wife.
John Vakoc, Sr., was, however, thrice married and thrice widowed.
His first wife was Rose Citkova (Citek). Two daughters, Josephine
and Marie, were the product of this marriage. Josephine married
Frank Vlasnik and their children were Rose (Van Wert), Emil and
Margaret (Kellogg). Marie married John Kocina and their sons were
named Joseph, Raymond, James, John, William and George.
When Rose Citkova died is not known but on January 4, 1876, John
Vakoc married Mary Kocina. The children of this marriage were Rose (Kleinlein)
and Elizabeth (Walker). The later couple had one daughter, Irene
(who married Henry Noll). By this time John Vakoc had settled on a
farm five miles northeast of Verdigre.
The parish records would indicate that on October 4, 1876,
Wenceslaus Vakoc, son of John Vakoc and Mary Kocina, and a twin were
born, the latter not surviving to be baptized.
After the death of Mary Kocina Vakoc, John Vakoc married a widow,
Katherine Hejna Burian. Their son John L. ((sometimes called Black
John), was born June 24, 1881, and died March 17, 1955. He married
Pauline Kolar and their children were Ervin, who married Gertrude
Brunn; Felix, who married Florence Butterfield, and had three
daughters Patricia, Beverly, and Shirley; Margaret married Fay
Hayden and they had four children; Pauline, married Lester Davis;
and Marvin, who was born in 1911, died in 1912. A daughter, Barbara,
married Edward Schneberger, one of Verdige’s famous ball players,
and Edward Vakoc (born January 26, 1887) first married Emma
Chocholousek on October 10, 1910, by whom he had four children,
Katherine, Archie, LeRoy, and Lawrence. After her death Edward
married her sister Elsie on May 24, 1926, and they had one daughter,
Norma (VanRiper).
-Submitted by Leatrice (Pavlik) Vakoc
Pages 439, 440
