Person:James Mercik (1)

MERCIK, James E.

James E. Mercik, 60, of Penfield, NY and formerly of Enfield, died Wednesday, (September 17, 2003). Jim is survived by his wife, Iris; his sons, James (Amy) and Joseph; granddaughters, Abigail and Rebecca; brothers, Henry (Agnes) Mercik, Jr. and Robert (Joyce) Mercik, both of Enfield; and several nieces and nephews. Jim retired after 37 years at Xerox. He was a member of Holy Trinity Church and Webster Knights of Columbus. Friends may call TODAY from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m.

Steven,

Oh boy, where to begin?

First of all, no apologies necessary. My brothers knew about Micki's (sorry about my original spelling...I came from the Mickey Mouse generation and, quite frankly probably never saw Micki's nickname in print) death; my "isolation" in upstate N.Y. often left Iris and me out of the normal information flow.

Next, yes, I'm the one who spent 13 months at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in 1964 / 1965. The National Science Foundation even named a mountain peak in my honor: "Mercik Peak". I took that job shortly after graduating from Georgetown Univ. You would'nt believe the lies I can tell you about the Antacrtic and what the media prints about it these days. But that is another story. As for my know, I will be officially retiring from a 37 year career at Xerox next March. (I am currently on a salary continuance until then and do my PC activities at the library. I determined that upon retiring from my engineering career that I was going back to the middle of the 20th century and not buy my own computer...too much of a temptation taking me away from my "books".

My wife Iris (she was my night nurse after minor surgery in 1970...we married 4/24/71) will be our official breadwinner for a few tears...I robbed the cradle.

The Mercik you found is Kenneth (Ken), my first cousin and the son of my brother, Henry Mercik, jr. and wife Agnes (Kula), born 1958 or 1959. He remains a confirmed single guy. He has a younger brother David, born several years later. (wife Mary Ellen). Kenny always did march to his own drummer (no pun intended to his musical talents and DJ'ing).

I will try to get the email addresses of Bob's kids, as you asked.

As for Katherine Drost; Ray Mercik's Dad, Frank, went to Poland about 25 - 30 years ago to what he said was Katherine's home town but said he could find no references to the Drost family; perhaps due to lost records during WW2. Ray may have more info on this topic. I'm sure Ray would be certainly one person who could help you (of course he and I are 1st cousins). We always enjoyed each other's company. Currently I am trying to get him to organize a Mercik family reunion like we used to have.

There may be many Mercik family questions you have that I would be happy to look up myself if you could prompt me. As you may be aware, my being in upstate NY for the past 36 years has left me ignorant of some of the family cousin names and relationship information over time. I would be happy to inquire into these questions.

I'm prattling on here...so I will close for now...but 1st, just a few memories from Hazardville. When I was a kid, my Dad would take me every Sunday out to see Grampa. We sat and talked while Grampa had a cigarette or too and a "shot" while Dad watched over the scene. I played outside with Micki during good weather and especially remember Grampa's pickle barrel our beside the garage. (It took me years to be able to duplicate his recipe...hmmm, hmmm, good!).

Time for this old engineer to sign off.

Take care,

Jim

PS: There is no spell checker on this beast...hope I did not make your reading too difficult.

> From: Steven Houser <[email protected]> > To: James Mercik <[email protected]>, Annie-ha Polito <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2002 17:04:03 -0700 (PDT) > > > Jim, > I am sorry you were not informed of my Mom's death - she was the central figure to communicate with the CT (and elsewhere) family, so we dropped the ball in informing people. She was sick for a long time with emphysema before she finally asked to be taken off life support. We (Anne, Eric, Dad, & me) were all there when she passed - very peaceful and dignified. > Mom (Micki) was the one that told me about the "Bak-something" story. Joseph lived with her while she was growing up. Boys used to pay attention to Flora just to get a chance to drink Vodka with Joseph - so Flora says at least! I clearly remember Mom telling me that He confessed to being named "Bak-something" on his deathbed, and it had something to do with being afraid he would not be allowed into the country, so he lied about his name. Anne found the (confirmatory?) info from the immigrant ship manifests I believe. It all fits together too well to be coincidence. I know Backinworth is not Polish sounding, but this is what was recorded in the ship's manifest - perhaps the recorder on the ship changed it from Bakawicz, etc? > Anne discussed Mercik data with Ray Mercik this past summer - he did not know much of the past data. Anne & I started doing this stuff after Mom's death - sort of a remembrance of her. Anne was looking for the home town of Katherine Drost as well. I will forward this info to her for her replies as well. > I changed the files on my files to reflect your data - and any more data you have is greatly appreciated & will be entered. I then upload the data about once a month. The site now has over 700 names - and I would love more Mercik data! > Seeing your email name reminds me - were you Mom's cousin that went on a scientific expedition to the south pole? I vaguely remember a story about this. > I once found a Mercik from Enfield on the internet & emailed, but he was completely disinterested. He was a DJ - country music? Perhaps in his 40's? I forget his name; he was not the least bit interested that we were cousins. > Do you have emails for your nephews/nieces: Rob, Steven, Lynn, or Susan? We grew up next door to each other - until I was 5 or so & moved to Huntington CT. > It is great to hear from you! > sh > James Mercik <[email protected]> wrote: > Steven, > > Ran across your FamilyTree Maker work. > > Before I continue, let me say that I heard about Mickey's death only at my > mother Helen's funeral, this past January...with no details. It came a > quite a shock to me. Mom died 1/15/02, in Enfield. No one in our family > notified me here in N.Y. > > Also, my Dad, Henry, died 3/07/82, in Enfield. > > Question: Where did the information come from about my grandfather, Joseph > Mercik and how he came to our family name. Does any "Mercik" in Enfield > know this information? This comes as a complete surprise to me. Granddad, > being Polish, sporting a quite "un-Polish" name??? > > PS: My wife's maiden name is Opdyke; Iris Opdyke > > Jim Mercik > > Also, Joseph and Katherine had Francis (Frank) as a son born, I believe, in > 1905. (My uncle Frank, died in 1992, in Enfield, I believe). > > Jim Mercik > > >