Frank Kosak and Elizabeth Dorothy (Betty) Jordan
in Cleveland, Ohio during 1930's and later. Welcome Cousins!
We will soon have a MyCuz,:::::.us/KosakJordan" rel="external">photo gallery, recipe page and similar setup here for all the cousins and their parents and offspring to share.
Their common but different beginnings
Most of the real detail of their history before getting married is in the Kosak Rogelj and Jordan Baznik family pages. A short synopsis is provided here to start.Frank
Frank was the fourth oldest in the Kosak family of six surviving children born in the 1900's. When he was about 5, his father passed away in an industrial accident. Shortly after his mother Anna remarried and had three daughters during the War years. But then the second husband, Jack Zele, also died in a similar industrial accident by 1925. Then, unfortunately, Anna herself died leaving the 9 children to fend for themselves in 1927. Luckily, the oldest, Joe Kosak, was already 27 and had started a "family"; business — the Kosak bar. As we see in the 1930 census, he is raising the kids as head of family.Frank's initial job was as a driver for the bar. He was one of the very few in the area at the time to have a car. He also drove delivery trucks. But Joe and the family did not approve of the recent immigrant and orphaned "Betty" as his wife. They felt he could do better. As a result, Frank was basically disowned by Joe, stripped of his job and car, and left to fend for himself. Only later, after the siblings would grow older and more independent, was Frank accepted back in. The bar Frank built in his basement on Nitra Avenue in Maple Heights and its collection of stoppers was a testament to this beginning during prohibition.
Betty
We have captured a detailed Betty's story on her own page for your review.Children
Frank and Betty were married in August 1931 and fairly quickly had four children. David Fancis in 1932, Elizabeth Ann (Betty) in 1933, Marjorie Marie (Marge) in 1936 and Daniel John (Dan) in 1941. This was the time of the Great Depression and they struggled to make a living. But, together with the support of the community, they did provide for their family and grew in prosperity of body and spirit.St. Lawrence and Maple Heights Slovenian Area
Both families came from eastern Slovenia with Betty being born there. Betty's sisters (sans Marija and Justi still in Slovenia) were settled in the new Maple Heights Village of Bedford Township. They were forming the tightnit Slovenian community there that later would build the Slovenian National Home. Both families, being large, were well involved in all the activities of the community at that time. Read Bob Kastellic, Betty's nephew, account of the MyCuz,:::::.us/source.php?sid=S80&ged=Kosak" rel="external">history of the national home.When Betty and Frank first married in 1931, they rented the upstairs unit of the home at the corner of Miller and Raymond; just behind what would become the Slovenian National Home later that decade. The home was owned by Betty's Aunt Anna Baznik Fortuna (wife of Ignac Baznik who was Frančiška Jordan's brother). "Teta Bazi" and her husband Ignac were who the Jordan girls were sent to in 1912 and 1923.
As the oldest child David reached school age, Betty and Frank decided to move to the Newburg area of Cleveland near the Saint Lawrence church. This so the kids could walk to and attend the Catholic school available at Saint Lawrence. This was the area where Ignac had lived and run his business; and so where the original Jordan girls were living. Frank and Betty remained living there until the late 1950's when they moved back to Maple Heights, but this time to Nitra Avenue. Saint Lawrence, the National Home in Maple Heights, along with Calvary Cemetery in between, were deeply ingrained in the memories of their grandkids that would come along starting in the mid 1950's.