The Polish Church in McAdoo

[Esmereldathree]

As a fellow Polish-American, who also treasures our culture and heritage, Dorothy, I am certain you will understand the seniments I express here. My family also has roots in Saint Cunegunda/Kunegunda parish in McAdoo. Three generations of Malickis/Malitskys worked hard to build two magnficent Churches for the Glory of God and in honor of our beloved Polish Saint. My ancestors were humble, hard-working coal miners who loved the Faith and their Church. Sacifice for the church was ingrained in our family. Kunegunda is the Saint of the salt miners in Poland, thus the local honor. My ancestors and I sacrificed mightily to build such magnificent structures; all in vain. Both the Diocese of Allentown and Rome turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to the injustices done to the Polish descendants in McAdoo, --Allentow, Boston, Cleveland, Scranton, etc. Oh, how we suffer! Do not doubt this for one moment, Dorothy!

I still live in McAdoo. I and a handful of other faithful parishioners spent an exhorbitant amount of time, money, andpersonal well-being to appeal to Rome against the closure of our beloved parish and church. It breaks our hearts to see this beautiful Church stripped down with all the contents for which we worked so hard SOLD to the highest bidder, and taken from us.

I, too, am an artist. My family would loved to have purhased the Our Lady of Czeschotowa stained glass window artwork which hung above the door to the left of our beloved Church's sanctuary. I loved these windows....every one of them. Yet, we were denied the comfort to hold onto a memento of a parish and a church we treasured. No one from the parish was allowed to purchase anything. We were told by the diocese of Allentown that these sacred windows would be sold ONLY to Catholic institutions, such as churches, hospitals, universities....NOT FOR PRIVATE USE.

I imagine any of St. Kunegunda's stained glass windows would have looked just as lovely in my art studio overlooking my humble McAdoo garden. But, sadly, none of us still living here will ever know! We were not allowed to circumvent diocesan policy/guidelines.


Yet, Dorothy,SAINT KUNEGUNDA (Cunegunda) parish church is not yet lost! Saint Kunegunda's proud history and heritage has not died yet so long as I live!

God bless you and yours,
Victoria Malicka Gennaro

[Esmereldathree]

Originally Posted by Dorothy Wieczerzak

My grandparents and their young family began their lives in Pennsylvania and then after a few years relocated to New Jersey. My mother was baptized in St. Kunegunda Church and my grandmother attended mass there when visiting relatives. My grandmother saved her money to purchase a stained glass window for the church upon her death. It was to be in memory of both my grandmother and grandfather. Luckily, our cousins from the area contacted my sister and she was able to negotiate the purchase of the window which her gifted son beautifully installed in her art studio facing her garden. St. Kunegunda is gone but at least one stained glass window is home in Port Jefferson, New York.

Hi Dorothy: My family and I are interested in purchasing a window from Saint Kunegunda's in McAdoo. Can you please inform us of the process you used to negotiate this purchase? Who can we contact to accomplish a purchase of one of these magnificent stained glass artistic treasures for our family? Our grandparents, Karl and Katarzyna were among the founders of the parish in 1893. Three generations of my family sacrificed to build the churches of Saint Kunegunda. Thank you very much.

[jon010665]

It's been sad to read this thread about the closure of St. Kunegunda. I collect baptismal certificates and obtained one for a Sophia Dubouski who was baptized at St. Kunegunda on 23 May 1915. I am trying to find out who her parents were, and get confirmation of the pastor and her sponsors. The pastor name on the form looks like M.S. Pacmeka. The sponsors look like Staukieniz and Wanda Rumieu. Can anyone help me with this family? Given the hasty demise of the church I wonder if the church records have been lost? Thank you for any help. Jon

[Clark Park]

I just read an interesting article on standardspeaker.com (date 8-19-12) that going against their own policy (of keeping religious objects including windows within the church), the Diocese of Allewntown sold the beautiful stained glass windows of St. Kunegunda to some lady in Long Island, NY, who how has them in her home.

[Louis Morandi]

Hi. My mother attended this school many moons ago. I have her original Certificate of graduation and would be happy to share the memory with you. I can not attach this file to this message. The web page keeps telling me this is not a valid file type (jpg) I can be contacted at:

Spoiler

louismorandi@icloud.com

Happy to send you a copy.

Originally Posted by Renal RN

Hello there! My parents were both born and raised in McAdoo. Many of my aunts and cousins live there as well as Haddock and Hazleton. My mom went to McAdoo High School. Anyway, she is elderly now (83) and when and if she passes away I would like to bury here back in McAdoo as that is what she wishes. I cannot remember the name of the Polish church - I thought it was St.Kunagunda - but cannot remember exactly and it is not listed in the yellow pages on the net. Many of my family are buried in the Polish cemetary there as well. My mom was married in this Polish church. My father, however, is buried in New Jersey and I would like to move him back to McAdoo with my mom when she passes. I think the funeral home's name is Stanislewski's on E.Blaine. Can someone please help me get the name of the Polish church and possibly a contact to discuss how she could have her service there and be buried in the Polish cemetary. I know there are certain requirements for burial in that cemetary and I need to get the details of what we need to do or if it is even possible. My mom is reluctant to discuss this and I would like to take care of it for her.
Thank you very much! I spend all my summers in Haddock, McAdoo and Hazelton grwoing up and have nothing but good memories about that area. As stated previously I have many family still there. I would appreciate any help or direction you can provide. Agaun, thanks!

[ktxbliss]

Withsosky - information wanted. Ancestry.com posts a death certificate for "Anthony Withsosky" dob 3/29/1910 due to injuries suffered in a mining accident. Buried in the cemetery at St Kunegunda.

Does anyone have any recollection or source for further information on what would be my great grand father?

Grace and blessings,
K
[email]ktxbliss@yahoo.com[/email]

[Pmczarick]

Just found this site. I graduated McAdoo H S in 1952. Moved to Ohio in 1954, but have lived n Ga for many years.. I remember the Polish church and cemetery, though my family members are buried in St. Michael'sl
Nice to find a forum mentioning McAdoo.

[suepro]

Originally Posted by Esmereldathree

Tony: The funeral director's name is Stanley Anilosky, Kennedy Drive and East Washington St., McAdoo.

Esmereldathree -- Can you tell me if the cemetery is located near the church on east washington street? I believe I have some family members buried there, as well.

[lizzes]

If anyone still lives around there, I have a strange request. I am a volunteer on the website Find a Grave, and I found that even though a lot of obituaries were stated to have people buried in St. Kunegunda's cemetery, only around 134 people were listed. I managed to raise this up to 148 using obituaries, however, I gave up after focusing on just one McAdoo area family. Only around 38% of the memorials that were listed were photographed (56 of them). That leaves at least 92 people without grave photos, and likely many, many more who were not memorialized at all. However, I live in New England and have no ties to McAdoo at all (I found the first obituary by accident while searching for an ancestor of a friend).

I am CERTAIN that there are more than 150 people buried in St. Kunegunda's cemetery! Can someone please help me out and help to preserve your heritage for future generations by photographing this cemetery? All you need is a camera, or even a phone that has a camera. (I use my iPhone or my tablets camera when I take pictures, and it works just as well as a professional camera) I am SHOCKED that with a place that has so much pride in your heritage, this has not been done sooner. (However, I understand that there are usually time constraints... I usually go out with a few friends and family of mine to photograph in my area)

Hoping for your help to preserve this beautiful cemetery. If we can't preserve the churches, we can preserve the cemeteries. Thank you.