Samuel KOWAL b. 23 Sep 1894 d. 5 Nov 1955: Our Family History

Fisher-Gunn Families Genealogy

The Leaves and Branches of Our Family Tree

1894 - 1955 (61 years)

Personal Information | Media | Notes | All

Name Samuel KOWAL

Birth 23 Sep 1894

Gender Male

Death 5 Nov 1955

Person ID I22 Fisher | Kowal

Last Modified 9 Jun 2022

Notes

Memories By Richard Carl Kowal

My father was eighteen years old when he came from Russia to the United States in 1912, the year the luxury ocean liner, Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic and 1500 people died. It was also the year that Arizona and New Mexico entered the Union bringing the total to 48 United States of America.

European immigrants often changed their names after arriving in this country because they wanted to be `Americanized` so my father changed his name from Kowalchuk to Kowal.

My mother and father loved the outdoors and spent as much free time as they could hunting and fishing. I`ll never forget our first family fishing trip to Lake Nakomis in Tomahawk, Wisconsin when I was fifteen years old. Dad`s 1936 Pontiac was loaded with Mom, Dad, Aunt Ann, me, and Brownie the dog. There wasn`t enough room in the car for the dog so we had to put Brownie in the trunk. We stopped every thirty or forty miles because the car was over-heating and while the car cooled off we released Brownie from the trunk and let him swim in nearby creeks to cool down.

There are so many happy memories. One fall Dad and I went mushroom hunting in his old Buick. While we were picking the mushrooms, an angry bull suddenly appeared and chased us but Dad picked me up and we ran to safety.

Shortly after Dad and Mom were married in 1922, he and his brother-in-law Emil bought a movie theater. It was called the Lasalle and it was located near Lincoln Park in Chicago.

It was very successful but Emil decided later on to get out of the business and buy a farm. After `talkies` (as sound motion pictures were called then), Dad sold the theater around 1930, the year the Great Depression started. Later, he bought anothermovie house called the Lucille located on Cicero Avenue on Chicago`s near north side. I had my own favorite seat in the back of the theater and I remember when they gave away things like dishes to lure customers to the show. One time they gave away a raft of live turkeys at Thanksgiving. We made an interesting car full when I helped my father bring the turkeys to the theater; Dad driving, me next to him and a cage full of gobbling turkeys in the back seat.

The Lucille was Dad`s financial downfall. He borrowed a lot of money to keep it going and when it failed, he was deep in debt so he resumed the trade he learned when he first came to this country, became a barber and managed the barber shop at Homan and Arthington Streets.

My mother and father were married on August 20, 1922. Her name was Bessie Hosnedl and she was born in Velhortice, Bohemia. Mom immigrated to America in 1905 when she was seven years old.

Mom liked gardening, fishing, and especially the Fox River where she and Dad spent so much of their free time. My grandparents built their first cottage many many years ago across the river from where we are located today in St. Charles, Illinois.

My father was 61 years old when he died of a heart attack in 1955 and Mom passed away in 1961 at the age of 63.

Family Bessie HOSNEDL, b. 3 Oct 1898, Bohemia d. 12 Jul 1961 (Age 62 years)

Children

1. Richard Carl KOWAL, b. 31 Jan 1926, Berwyn, Cook, Illinois, USA

d. 12 Oct 2012, Bradenton, Manatee, Florida, USA

(Age 86 years)

Family ID F87 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Last Modified 30 Jun 2014

Photos
Sam Kowal

Documents

» Slide Show

Petition for Citizenship

sam canadian border crossing

Naturalization Record

Passenger List

Oath of Allegiance

Samuel Kowal WWII Draft Card

Quick Links

Contact Us

Webmaster Message

We make every effort to document our research. If you have something you would like to add, please contact us.

Name	Samuel KOWAL
Birth	23 Sep 1894
Gender	Male
Death	5 Nov 1955
Person ID	I22	Fisher \| Kowal
Last Modified	9 Jun 2022

Documents » Slide Show		Petition for Citizenship
		sam canadian border crossing
		Naturalization Record
		Passenger List
		Oath of Allegiance
		Samuel Kowal WWII Draft Card