• General Notes

  Godparents - Joannes Nowotny and Catarina Bijanowski
  Name listed as Joannem Stasik. Parents listed as Valentius Stasik and Susanna Stasik
  
  John was born 4 June, 1904 in the coal mining patch town of Trauger, Pennsylvania. He was the 1st child of Valent and Susanna Stasik, although Susanna had two sons from a previous marriage.
  John went to school through the 8th grade, then went to work in the A.C. Frick Mine, initially driving mules and digging coal.
  As a youth he enjoyed playing baseball, and was reputed to be quite good. He also learned to play the tuba.
  In 1930 John married Anna Kostelnik, who was from another coal mine patch town called Dorothy. Anna had been a housekeeper and servant for a wealthy family in Latrobe, the Downings, who owned a bank. For their wedding the Downings permitted Tommy Hantz, a friend, to drive their car to escort the newlyweds.
  After his marriage he moved to Dorothy and started working in Latrobe for the American Locomotive Company, in the springs shop. He would start to work very early in the morning, walking the 2 miles into town each day, crossing the trestle at St Vincents school as a shortcut.
  John would often help at his wife’s family grocery store. During the busy season he would kill the chickens and dress them for the Kostelnik store. John never learned to drive a car or truck, although he could drive a tractor. He also was an active member of St Vincent church social clubs, participating in bingo games, card parties and picnics at ‘The Grove’.
  John and Anna had three children, Cornelius, Lucinda and Virginia. John and Anna rarely got upset over anything. They were very calm, quiet people; the family was always very secretive and didn’t want anyone to know what they had.
  John continued working at American Locomotive until he had a stroke in the mid 1960s and retired. John passed away in January, 1976, and is buried in the St Vincent Cemetery, next to his wife of 46 years.
  

Details of John's family with Anna Kostelnik