After the "Hrabczak Family Reunion" this summer, Mom and I went on an adventure to find Anton and Parinka's homestead as well as the Holy Ghost Church and cemetery where they were buried.  I had never been there and Mom, Frances Schoenfelder, had been there but many years before.  After finding all of these places, we asked the question, why didn't we do this earlier?  It would have given us another chapter and a lot more information and pictures of Anton and Parinka's lives to add to our history book. 

 

After we got over our regrets, we realized that everything happens for a reason.  If we would have done more research last year, the book would not be in your hands today.  It works out better this way as we now have more time to dedicate to Anton and Parinka's lives here in Canada and Ukraine. 

 

 

We have taken on the mission to "Do The Good" for Anton and Parinka and their family.  We felt bad that both Baby Tomko and Little Mary did not get much recognition in the book.  People should not be forgotten so today we focus on remembering the lost souls of Tomko and Mary. 

 

We are currently trying to find a death certificate for Baby Tomko to confirm where he died.  Family story has it that he died on the ship over and buried at sea, though the ship list does not confirm this.  It is possible that he died here in Canada and may be buried in Halifax, the port where they landed.  Many records were either not kept or destroyed so finding any records of Tomko have been difficult.

 

Tomko/Tymko's name was definitely on the ship list thought as you all now know we also have heard that he didn't take the trip and instead was left behind in Ukraine to later have his own family there.  Only time and more research will give us the real answers... and until then we will just have to be patient and wait.

 

As for Little Mary, she has basically gone missing.  We have tried to get her birth and death certificates but the Archives office do not have either.  We had hopes to find her birthday and day of death to put on her new tombstone.  Since Mary was accidentally killed, some of her information may be difficult to find.  We hope that continued research will bring out more information about Mary's life, as short as it was.

 

More and more it is looking like Mary passed away in 1910 and that the "Hrapchak Marker" that was located outside their homestead was irrected to commemorate the death of Mary since she died on the farm.  Putting up crosses for those who died was and is a very common custom in Ukraine.  In time we hope that research will help us confirm whether this is true or not.

 

At the end of September, Frances Schoenfelder stopped in Rosthern on her way to Saskatoon to visit the church, cemetery and homestead once more and to visit the RM Office in Rosthern to see if they had more information on what section's of land Anton owned and when he acquired them.  They were very helpful and are looking for any information they might have in the RM basement. 

 

Then she visited a woman named Clara Rudolph.  It was here that she found out that Clara's family use to live on Anton and Parinka Hrabczak's homestead from 1952-1960.  Clara mentioned to Frances that she thought she had an aerial view picture of the homestead with all the original buildings!  She found the picture and gave a copy to my Mom.  Mom was very excited and when she told me that Clara gave her a photocopy of the homestead, it sounded like she won the lottery!

Then a friend of Clara's, Jerry Blocka suggested Mom talk to another woman,
Ann Yaniw who use to live at Wasyl Hrapchak's (Anton's son) homestead.  Mom got some information from her as well.  It was a wonderful experience to hear bits and pieces of Anton & Parinka and Mary from people who actually knew them and went to the same church.  Ann remembered going to Anton and Parinka's farm for Prasniks back in the good ol days.