SHEFL FAMILY HISTORY
Frank Shefl (originally Sefl) was born at Strasic, Bohemia, on
January 6, 1872. He came to the United States when he was 16 years
old. Two sisters preceded him to this country, and a brother, Vac,
and three sisters stayed in Bohemia. After a six-week sailboat
voyage, he made an enroute stop in Chicago where he and a small boy
were trapped alone in a huge fire. He grabbed the boy’s hand and
they ran together until they escaped.
[pg 393 photo Mr. and Mrs. Frank A. Shefl, Sr.]
He came to live with his sister, Mrs. Joe Klemish, at Creighton
where he worked for six years. Then he started farming on his own
south of Verdigre. He married Anna Sladek Proneke on November 16,
1903. Anna was born May 12, 1876. She married Bill Proneke and lived
at Pierce, Nebraska, where they had two daughters., Cecelia and
Lillian. When Bill and Lillian died of diphtheria, she moved back to
Verdigre to live with her brothers and her sister, Mrs. Albert
(Mary) Masat.
Frank and Anna lived in a log cabin south of Verdigre where their
oldest son, Frank, Jr., was born. Many years later their first
gandson, Frank O. Shefl, was born on the same place.
In 1908, Frank’s mother, Katherine Sefl, came from Bohemia to live
with them. She was born March 17, 1839, and died April 15, 1915.
Frank and Anna lived in that vicinity for the rest of their lives.
She died April 9, 1958, and he died October 5, 1962.
Six children were born to them.
Frank, Jr., who married Victoria Jedlicka, lives at O’Neill,
Nebraska. They have two sons, Frank O. and Michael.
Anna (Sister M. Leah) is a Benedictine nun at Yankton, South Dakota.
Charles was killed in an accident in the oil fields in Wyoming.
Anton married Marie Dufek and they have four children: Paul,
Leonard, Rose, and Kathy.
James married Grace Kliment and they had three children: Cecelia,
Phillip, and Bernard.
Mary died at birth.
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