![\"Janice](\"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/11\/Janice-Nniedzialkowski.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nJanice Virginia (Quintin) Niedzialkowski, 1925-2005<\/em><\/p>\n In February 2005, a month after Uncle Fred died, I was in Massachusetts for a weeklong genealogy research trip .\u00a0 I stopped in to visit Aunt Janice while I was there and she and I talked quite a bit about family history .\u00a0 She told me a lot of family stories I had never heard before .\u00a0 Since I didn’t have a voice recorder, I took notes .\u00a0 Here are some of the stories Janice told me on 20 February 2005 .\u00a0 To make things a bit easier, let me note here that my Niedzialkowski grandparents were known to everyone as “Ma” and “Pa” .\u00a0 All notes\u00c2\u00a0in square brackets\u00c2\u00a0are my own comments.<\/p>\n Ma’s sister Stefania was a nun – she lived in Worcester .\u00a0 Ma went to clean Stefania’s house twice a week .\u00a0 Ma always had tape on her fingers – she cleaned rooms at the hotel – it was called the Bancroft Hotel then – and her fingers were cracked and bandaged .\u00a0 With her earnings from the hotel, Ma paid for the house on Barnes Ave. herself.<\/p>\n Pa worked at Worcester Pressed Steel .\u00a0 He carried a big long wrench with him all day, but I don’t know what he did .\u00a0 He wore a white shirt and bib overalls.<\/p>\n He called his car his “Budick” [Buick] .\u00a0 He couldn’t afford antifreeze, so in the winter he drained the radiator every night and put fresh water in the next day.<\/p>\n When asked about her life in the old country, Ma said “I never want to go back there again .\u00a0 There was so much misery” and when pressed on what life was like in Poland, Ma just\u00c2\u00a0said “Don’t talk foolish!”\u00c2\u00a0 Ma said that in Poland they had dirt floors in their house .\u00a0 Ma said her father had a horse and wagon .\u00a0 It tipped over and he was afraid that the horse was injured .\u00a0 Ma’s scalp was a mess .\u00a0 She said in Poland that she kept her hair in braids – Ma had clips in the braids .\u00a0 She got too close to the fire and her hair caught fire.<\/p>\n When Ma came to the United States, she traveled in steerage and when she arrived at Ellis Island, she was too sick to even care about her belongings .\u00a0 Ma had a place to stay her in Worcester when she came – Pa stayed at Sky Farm.<\/p>\n Ma and Pa had a\u00c2\u00a0grocery store on Prescott Street, and the family lived upstairs from the store .\u00a0 If\u00c2\u00a0Pa had two customers in the store he would bang on the pipes to get Ma to come down to help him .\u00a0 They went out of business because they extended credit to everyone during the depression, but nobody could pay.<\/p>\n Ma said she lost a child before Nat and another after Henry.<\/p>\n [The next entries refer to Pa’s Niedzialkoski cousins from Sky Farm]<\/p>\n Joe Niedzialkoski married a school teacher .\u00a0 They had kids .\u00a0 Joe was deaf.<\/p>\n Andrew was a good guy – he came to Ma’s funeral and Pa’s funeral.<\/p>\n John borrowed $20,000 from the government to start his own farm .\u00a0 He walked off his father’s farm because his parents wouldn’t accept his girlfriend who was Swedish .\u00a0 When he went out, he took the cow with him and left .\u00a0 He never went back except for his parents’ funerals.<\/p>\n When John Sr. died, John Jr. inherited the house .\u00a0 His mother still lives there .\u00a0 They put in an artificial pond and another house with horses .\u00a0 He’s done well .\u00a0 He’s the only boy.<\/p>\n Fred worked at Sky Farm .\u00a0 He wasn’t paid, but he ate well .\u00a0 They had ducks, geese, chickens, lambs, and Elsa [Janice’s sister] would take her children up there .\u00a0 They had no heat in the house [at Sky Farm] and no indoor plumbing .\u00a0 The mother ruled the roost .\u00a0 The kids would get dressed and run out to the barn to get warm between the cows .\u00a0 Fred would go on the milk route .\u00a0 He never got paid but he got a good breakfast.<\/p>\n [Janice now began to talk about her own family]<\/p>\n Fred was born on Endicott Street .\u00a0 I was born at home at 8:15 AM .\u00a0 I was 22 and Fred was 23 when we got married .\u00a0 Fred tried to go to Art School in New York, but couldn’t get in .\u00a0 He won $100 for designing a toilet cover in plastics at Worcester Art Museum when he went to school .\u00a0 The curator of the Art Museum said “Never let him put his brushes down”, but Fred never picked up a brush again .\u00a0 My brother could do woodworking, and Fred learned to do woodworking.<\/p>\n We had a flat\u00c2\u00a0that was alive with cockroaches .\u00a0 It took 14 pounds of plaster to repair the walls .\u00a0 It was a $12 per month cold water flat .\u00a0 It had a collapsible bathtub .\u00a0 We heated water on the stove .\u00a0 That’s where we learned how to paper walls .\u00a0 From 1948-1949 we lived at 10 Denny Street in Worcester, then we moved to 41 Cutler Street, then to 719 Main Street in Clinton .\u00a0 A train used to go by overhead on Main Street in Clinton .\u00a0 Then we moved to Gifford Drive.<\/p>\n The time the tornado came through, there was no wind, no birds, the sky was yellow .\u00a0 I called my mother who said “Fred will be home all right” .\u00a0 He got home at 9 PM .\u00a0 The tornado took all the paint off the car .\u00a0 We bought it brand new – it was a ’49 Plymouth .\u00a0 The car lasted through all that.<\/p>\n I couldn’t wait to get away from the stairs at the old house on Gifford Drive .\u00a0 We started to clean the multiple layers of paint off the woodwork .\u00a0 My mother would take care of the kids and I’d strip the paint off and sand it .\u00a0 It was colonial maple .\u00a0 Part of that time, Fred was in the hospital with TB .\u00a0 The only thing that wasn’t refinished was the bathroom .\u00a0 When we bought the house on Gifford Drive, we put $10 down on a dirty table in their kitchen.<\/p>\n We had a sweet little kitten .\u00a0 Jimmy [Fred and Janice’s\u00c2\u00a0son] went fishing and left the pole in the hall .\u00a0 The cat bit into the hook .\u00a0 I took the cat to the vet .\u00a0 The vet said “Come back in an hour” .\u00a0 I went back for kitty, and the cat was a rag from the anesthetic .\u00a0 I paid the vet bill and put kitty on the back seat .\u00a0 The floor of the car was rusted through and the cat fell through the floor .\u00a0 Fred went out and beat the bushes to find the cat, but all he\u00c2\u00a0found was poison ivy.<\/p>\n [Janice now switched to talking about Fred’s brothers and sisters]<\/p>\n Mary [the wife of Fred’s brother Ray Niedzialkowski] was one of 11 children .\u00a0 Her father graduated from high school in Dorchester or somewhere near .\u00a0 For a graduation present he got a trip to Ireland .\u00a0 He met Hannah [his future wife] there and married her within weeks .\u00a0 They came back to the United States after Mary was\u00c2\u00a0born.<\/p>\n Nat worked for a lawyer – she always looked nice .\u00a0 One of Ralph’s [Nat’s husband] sister’s sons died early from cancer.<\/p>\n Jane would go downtown at Christmastime with a buck and spend 19 cents for a toy Christmas present .\u00a0 Ray would go to the dump and find something with wheels on it to make a toy with.<\/p>\n [and finally, Janice talked about the last time she saw Fred before he died]<\/p>\n When Fred was taken out of the house the last time on a stretcher, he said “I’ve got the Power and Light bill paid but it needs a stamp on it” .\u00a0 I said “I’ll put two” .\u00a0 Fred said “No, just one”.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Aunt Janice died on 05 April 2005, just a little over a month after I wrote all this down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My Uncle Fred Niedzialkowski married Janice Quintin in 1948 and they spent the rest of their lives together .\u00a0 Uncle Fred died on 23 January 2005. Aunt Janice was big on genealogy .\u00a0 She had a huge chart of her … Continue reading