1. Frank Zawada
Frank Zawada worked in the Calumet & Hecla Copper Mines in Calumet, MI with his brother, Jacob and his son, Joseph.
Frank had emigrated from Wongrowic, Poland via embarking on a ship in Antwerp, Belgium in 1892.
He married Victoria Szatkowski in Calumet, MI. Victoria had emigrated from Poland in 1881.
Frank lost his leg in a copper mining accident around 1895. Frank applied for U.S. citizenship in 1914.
Frank's son Joe came downstate Michigan after the Copper Mining strike in 1913, and changed his last name to Wades. Frank and the rest of the family eventually joined Joe downstate, with most of the family changing their last name to Wade. Frank and Victoria never changed their last name, but upon their deaths, their kids buried them with the last name of Wade.
Victoria Szatkowski emigrated from Poland in 1881, and married Frank Zawada in Calumet, MI in 1896. Her parents, some aunts, uncles and cousins also lived in Calumet, MI.
Victoria came downstate with her husband and children after 1920, as the economy in Calumet, MI had gotten so bad after the copper mines closed.
3. Joseph Daniel Wades (Zawada)
Joe Zawada worked in the Calumet & Hecla Copper Mines in Calumet, MI with his father, Frank, and his uncle, Jacob.
Joe came downstate Michigan after the Copper Mining strike in 1913, and changed his last name to Wades. Joe found work on a railroad. He then worked to bring his entire immediate family downstate. His father worked for the city of Detroit, and Joe ended up working for the Department of Defense, as a procurement agent for Sherman tanks.
Joe was married late in life to Isabel Beatrice Milne at the age of 38, and he became a father by age 45. He found 1 1/2 acres of property in Livonia, MI with a home and an orchard, and that is where his family settled. Joe loved tending to his orchard, and catching the occasional pheasant in a hunt.
Wild horses and deer often ran through the property and the adjoining wetlands forest.
Two years into his retirement, Joe suffered a fatal heart attack. One September afternoon at home, Joe was in the kitchen when the heart attack began. Joe grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled instructions to his wife Isabel on where to find the storm windows, and then he fell under the kitchen table and died.
Joe was a harsh man in life, and often spoke or acted out violently against his wife and children. His son Jerry recalls his father as having "hands the size of Sherman tanks", which he would use "to put you through a wall" if he and his brother caused their father any trouble. It is rumoured that Joe hung with members of the Purple Gang, but I have not been able to verify this yet.
Isabel Beatrice Milne comes from a very interesting family. Her father helped Henry Ford in the formative years, and owned a 12-car garage in Detroit. Her uncle, grandfather, 3 great uncles, and great grandfather were all sea captains or marine engineers on the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River, and the Atlantic Ocean going back to Scotland, where her family originated.
Isabel attended the Edna Chaffee-Noble School for Expression, and during her life was a model, teacher, social worker, dancer, and marionette artist.
Isabel was married late in life at the age of 32 to Joe (Zawada) Wades, and had her first child at age 40. She had her 2nd and last child at age 42, and after her husband and passed away in 1967, she moved to Tuscon, Arizona. In 1981 she moved back to Michigan, and she passed away in 1985 at the age of 82.
It is rumoured that all of the daughters of Frank Zawada Sr lied about their actual birth years to appear younger, and it has been proven that even their birth certificates contain false information.
Joe used to carry a piece of paper in his wallet with his sisters' actual birth dates and years, and every year on their birthdays, he would send his sisters a birthday card with their correct age noted!
It is rumoured that all of the daughters of Frank Zawada Sr lied about their actual birth years to appear younger, and it has been proven that even their birth certificates contain false information.
Joe used to carry a piece of paper in his wallet with his sisters' actual birth dates and years, and every year on their birthdays, he would send his sisters a birthday card with their correct age noted!Clarice was involved in an auto accident with her mother, her boyfriend and possibly her sister Jean. Everyone was hurt in the accident, but her boyfriend, who was the driver, was killed in the accident.
Clarice never married as a result of this experience.
It is rumoured that all of the daughters of Frank Zawada Sr lied about their actual birth years to appear younger, and it has been proven that even their birth certificates contain false information.
Joe used to carry a piece of paper in his wallet with his sisters' actual birth dates and years, and every year on their birthdays, he would send his sisters a birthday card with their correct age noted!Jean was involved in an auto accident, and afterwards the family said "she was never right in the head again". This was before 1930, and the family didn't know how to handle this drastic change in Jean, so they shunned her, as was quite common in those days, tragic as it sounds. It is not known what happened to Jean after that.
It is rumoured that all of the daughters of Frank Zawada Sr lied about their actual birth years to appear younger, and it has been proven that even their birth certificates contain false information.
Joe used to carry a piece of paper in his wallet with his sisters' actual birth dates and years, and every year on their birthdays, he would send his sisters a birthday card with their correct age noted!
8. Kay (Katherine) Wade (Zawada)
It is rumoured that all of the daughters of Frank Zawada Sr lied about their actual birth years to appear younger, and it has been proven that even their birth certificates contain false information.
Joe used to carry a piece of paper in his wallet with his sisters' actual birth dates and years, and every year on their birthdays, he would send his sisters a birthday card with their correct age noted!
It is rumoured that all of the daughters of Frank Zawada Sr lied about their actual birth years to appear younger, and it has been proven that even their birth certificates contain false information.
Joe used to carry a piece of paper in his wallet with his sisters' actual birth dates and years, and every year on their birthdays, he would send his sisters a birthday card with their correct age noted!