This is a photo of my Great-Aunt Theresa Stosz with her godchild (not identified). This photo was taken in her native town of Segenthau, located in what is now Romania. Her native language was German. Theresa was born 17 Feb. 1914 , daughter of Maria Rauner and Anton Stosz. She immigrated to the United States in 1930 and in 1938, married Istvan "Steve" Hack. Theresa Stosz Hack passed away Oct 2000 in Whiting, New Jersey.
She is the person who showed me the importance of remembering our past. I had visited her one summer when I was still in high school & she handed me some paper and a pencil and told me to write everything down that she shared with me about her family. Stories about her sister and parents, their lives in Segenthau, and immigrating to the U.S. When she was finished telling me her story she had me read it back to her. I had left out some of the negative things she had said and she wasn't happy about that. "No, no, you must remember everything - the good and the bad." There was no glossing over allowed. When she was done I had my first diagram of a family tree. If only all of our grandparents would be that insistent. I think of her often. She was my inspiration, and I loved her dearly.This post was created for the 17th edition of Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy: Women in Central and Eastern European Genealogy
4 comments:
What a great inheritance - not only to learn about your family but to have the importance of passing it down the generations underlined - "the good and the bad".
My maternal grandmother was Anna Rauner (nee Stosz). My grandfather was Josef Rauner. My mother was born in Dreispitz (Sagu), Romania, 1922 and immigrated to Canada in 1938 and then to NY, USA in 1946.
My paternal grandfather was Nicholaus Stoss(Nikolaus Stoß), son of Nickolaus Stoß and Agatha Egel of Sgenthau. He immigrated to Canada, where all his descendants now live. I'd love to find out more about the Stoß line from Sgenthau/Sagu.
My grandfather was Joseph Stoss. Married Anna Brusanovski. Both came to usa in 1930s from Seganthau. Mom was born there too, Helen Stoss.
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