My dad is going through his collection of slides and I wanted to share some old ones we scanned of the Cipko family from around the early 60′s. My dad is nerdy one with the buzz cut.
Grandma, Chris, Gary, Mike, Mary, Margaret & Dorothy
Gary Cipko
Chris Cipko
Mary Cipko
Mike Cipko
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It has always been a challenge finding information on my grandfather John Cipko’s parents. I have pictures of his father Mike and even some records I’ve found through Ancestry.com, but Mary has always been even more mysterious. I had some information that they might be buried in Portage Indiana, so while we were in town, my dad and I made our way to the cemetery. Calvary Cemetery is where all of our Walters relatives are buried in Portage, but it is a little odd for the Cipko’s to be buried there. As far as I know, the last place they lived was in Gary, Indiana. When we got to the cemetery, my dad went into the main building and asked if there was anyone by the name of Cipko or Matulis buried there. They said there was no one by that name, so we proceeded to the Walters graves. I was disappointed that I had heard wrong and wondered where they could be buried. Maybe they had the spelling wrong? Later that day, we met my dad’s cousin Kathy who has been working with others to document everyone buried in the cemetery. To my surprise, she said that the Matulis grave was in the cemetery. Someone had shown it to her once and she knew the general area it was in. We returned to the cemetery and within minutes we found them at last! The grave has been sinking over the years and we had to dig a few inches of earth away to see the engraved dates. Just to the right of Mike and Mary was a child’s grave, Mary Ann Turza. Grandpa’s sister Helen had the married name Turza, so now I have to find out more about Mary Ann. Here is the evidence that we found them. You can see from the photos how far the headstone has sunk. If I make a trip back, I will have to remember to take some supplies to clean this up better.
Mike and Mary Matulis, Calvary Cemetery, Portage, IN
Mike Matulis
Mary Matulis
Mary Ann Turza headstone, Calvary Cemetery, Portage IN
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Walters Cousins with Aunt Alice
Hobart VFW - where we had the party
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Aunt Alice was surprised that we came out all the way from California. It was great to finally meet that side of our family. Instead of presents, there was a large donation of cat food and litter donated to the Humane Society in Hobart Indiana.
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We took plenty of pictures around Portage and of course at the party for Aunt Alice in Hobart, IN. It will take me a while to add them all.
The old Portage Fire Station is right around the corner from the Calvary Cemetery in Portage. Grandma’s brother Simon Walters was a fireman there. Going past the cemetery, we turned on Mulberry and found the old land that grandma’s sister Anna’s house used to sit on. The house is gone and it is now owned by the VFW on the corner. The land resembles a park full of old trees and grass that stretches from Mulberry to the next street over. It is the perfect time of year to see the leaves falling and if you look closely you can see the blue crocus flowers that bloom in the fall, remnants of Annie’s garden.
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My dad and I just got back from a trip to Indiana for Alice (Walters) Felty’s 90th birthday. I have tons of pictures to post, but before I get to that, I have some family history to report. Christina (Walters) Cipko’s senior yearbook has been donated to the Portage Community Historical Society. Dorothy (Cipko) Hudson presented on behalf of the family. Thanks to Kathy Heckman for posting the images online so we can share them with the family for generations to come.
During our trip, we got to visit the museum in Portage and it was very cool to see some of the other donations from the Walters family. There were some pictures of Christina’s brother Simon, who was a fireman and also some of her sister’s school pictures. I quickly picked out the picture of grandma’s basketball team on the wall. I encourage anyone that visits Portage to stop in if its open.
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Since 2004, I have had this webpage that was always intended to be a way to share pictures and my genealogy research with family. Most of that is now moved to ancestry.com and I have let this space go to waste. So now I am giving this place a makeover and I think that a blog will be much easier to maintain and a better way to connect with friends and family and share pictures and stories.
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