Genevieve H. Zubek
Genevieve H. “Jean/Jeannie” (nee Falborski) Zubek
Birth: February 28, 1933
Departed: January 20, 2011
Mom was the youngest in a 1st generation USA/Chicago, IL from Poland family. They settled in the Brighton Park area of the near Southwest side of Chicago, and she attended St. Pancratius Church & Elementary School a few blocks away from the family’s home. Upon graduation from 8th grade, she was enrolled in St. Ann’s HS in the Pilsen area of the city, not far from where she lived for most of her married life (see later in this message).
She was financially unable to graduate and had to withdraw after only 2 years of school in order to go to work to help support her large family financially, as did the other siblings still living at home/who were unmarried at the time. Eventually, she met my father William J./Boleslaw J. “Bo” Zubek, a very handsome and intelligent slightly older (13 years ) man who had just finished a tour of duty in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theatre ON an actual ship (Hawaii and Alaska were two of the ports of call for his ship), and had taken up the career of a butcher.
They were married in 1953, and then opened up their own grocery store & butcher shop on S. Archer Ave. just West of Pulaski Road in Chicago. They had the store for several years, but ran into some financial difficulties and wound up having to give up the business, sadly. Since neither Dad nor Mom had finished HS (Dad only attended school through the 8th grade, but was he ‘sharp’ with mathematics, penmanship, and public speaking – Mom was the truly outgoing one of the two of them, and she operated the rest of the grocery store and cash register), when this sad closing happened, they both had to take ‘per hour’ jobs in either manufacturing (Mom) or freight/ distribution/warehousing (Dad) just to survive.
Mom, sadly, could not have children – and they both wanted one – so, in spite of heavy financial burden to do so, they agreed to try to adopt a child. From 1953 to 1962, when I was born and then subsequently adopted by Bo and Jeannie Zubek, they both just worked very, very hard to save every penny they could FOR that adoption to come about successfully, and even though they’re both now gone and I couldn’t miss them any more if I were actually ‘genetically’ related to them, I am SO proud to call myself their daughter, and hope that they are proudly looking down on me, as well as my husband and our two daughters, and asking God to protect us just as they did for so many years!
Love you and miss you ‘muchly’, Mom & Dad/Jean & Bo Zubek :’(
In loving memory (also) of both my dearest father, William J. ‘Bo’ Zubek – January 29, 1992 AND my sweet father-in-law, Emil K. Zeleznak, as well as all my and my husband’s dear departed family members and friends. You were loved in this lifetime – you are also deeply missed since you’ve passed into the next one :’( ?