Up until now, I’ve really been focused on sharing obituaries from my mom’s side of the family.  Probably because I know much more about that side of my family than my dad’s.  However, today I’m going to share my great-grandfather’s obituary.  Jack Strelesky was my grandmother’s father.

I know next to nothing about this side of my family.  Jack was born in Mineral Point Wisconsin and had a bunch of brothers and sisters: Agnes, Rose, Mary, Amelia, Lavinia, Albert, James Alexander (or Alexander James).

Researching this side of the family has been challenging because they were always moving around.  Whereas my mother’s family were rooted to Jo Daviess county in Illinois, my dad’s family moved all over the place.  Most, if not all, of the Strelesky brothers seemed to work for the railroads at one time or another.  From my research, the family seems to have been a bit dysfunctional, and in some cases, a bit shady.

Jack’s wife, Ernestine (Sanders), died during the Spanish flu epidemic, leaving four small children.  My grandmother, Eunice, and her sister, Alice, impressions were he never recovered from her death.  Of course, as children their lives were uprooted and very difficult.

I do not have the citation for this obituary, but it’s probably the Telegraph Herald from Dubuque, Iowa.

Transcription of obituary:

John J. Strelesky, 77, 1024 Iowa St., died at 1:05 p.m. Tuesday at a rest home. He had been an invalid for the past 18 years. Friends may call after 7 p.m. Thursday at the Hoffmann Mortuary. Funeral services will be held at 9 a.m. Friday at the Church of the Nativity. The burial will be in Mt. Calvary Cemetery. He was born at Mineral Point, Wis. and was a long-time resident of Dubuque. Mr. Strelesky was a carpenter. Surviving are three daughters, Mrs. C.E. (Alice Humphrey, Moses Lake, Wash, Mrs. A.W. (Eunice) Lightcap, Dubuque, and Marjorie Strelesky, Seattle, Wash.; one son, Herbert Strelesky, Denver, Colo; one sister, Agnes Strelesky, San Francisco, Calif, and one brother, A. Strelesky, San Francisco. The rosary will be recited at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the mortuary.