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Andrew Gresiak, John's father, was born in Buffington, PA on November 22, 1917. The original family name was Grzesiak, but Andy changed his last name to Gresiak, supposedly to make it easier to spell and pronounce. To my knowledge, he was the only one in the family who did that. He grew up in Fayette County, PA in the southwestern part of the state in a place called Tower Hill I. He had 3 brothers, Michael, Lewis and Joseph, and a sister, Ann. As a young man, he moved to Youngstown, OH and was employed by Truscon Division of Republic Steel Corp. for 30 years. This is where he met John's mother, Rosaline Tucciarone (she worked in the office). They were married on October 22, 1949. He later went on to work for Consolidated Freightways in Richfield, OH, retiring in 1983 after 15 years. He was a Marine Veteran of World War II. In his spare time, Andrew enjoyed golfing, watching sports on TV and helping his father-in-law (see William Tucciarone, below) on "the farm". Andrew died on January 8, 1992.
Rosaline Tucciarone, John's mother, was born in Coalburg, Hubbard Township, OH on May 17, 1924. (See below to read more about the Tucciarone family) (Requires Abobe Acrobat Reader, free from Adobe). She had two brothers, Andew (Buster) and John (Jack). Except for brief work-related jaunts to Florida, she spent her life in Hubbard, attending Saint Patrick's Elementary School and Hubbard High School. While she originally worked at Truscon, much her working life was spent as an executive secretary to Monty Freidkin and his family, who owned and operated Benada (later Easco) Aluminum in Girard, OH and then Freidkin Industries, a holding company for a variety of ventures, and, most recently, FI Management in Boca Raton Florida. Now in her 70s, Rosaline still occasionally does some work for the Freidkins in Florida and spends the rest of her time in Hubbard working part-time for a jewelry store and doing volunteer work for the Hubbard Alumni Asssociation. Rosaline is still an avid golfer, as long as the weather is nice, and also enjoys spending time with friends and family, and otherwise keeping busy. ("If you don't use it, you'll lose it", she says.)
Jacob Grzesiak, John's paternal grandfather, was born in Poland in the late 1800's and came to live in the U.S. He married Marcia Ann Karpinski. They lived in Tower Hill I, Fayette County PA. Jacob died before John was born. In fact, he died when John's father was very young. There is no further information on the Grzesiak line at this time.
Marcia Ann Karpinski, John's paternal grandmother, was born in Poland (exact location unknown), but possibly in Marcewo, on January 10, 1881. After her first husband, Jacob died, she remarried. Her second husband's name was Charles or Stanley Karasiewicz. According to the 1930 census, Marcia and Charles were already married at that time, and Andrew was 13 years old. Also according to that census, Charles was listed as being from Germany (perhaps a part of Poland that was controlled by Germany at that time). Andrew and has siblings retained the Grzesiak surname. I know of one stepbrother whose name was Bernard or Bernie, but I do not know when he was born (he was not listed in the 1930 census). Some descendents of the Karasiewicz's changed their names to Kasovich and some eventually changed theirs to Kass or Kaz. Marcia Ann Karpinski Grzesiak Karasiewicz died on April 21, 1967 and is buried at the Church of the Madonna Cemetery in Cardale PA. Marcia's parents were Thomas Karpinski and Castoucius (last name unknown). She had a brother, John, who was born on June 16, 1870 and died in 1951 at Somerset State Hospital, Somerset, PA.
William Tucciarone ("Papa"), John's maternal grandfather, was born in Sharon, PA on February 12, 1901. In 1903, William and his parents moved to Coalburg, OH (just a few miles over the state line). Coalburg is part of Hubbard Township. After several months, they moved into Hubbard. In 1913, they moved back to Coalburg where William spent much of the remainder of his life. He married Mary Carano on November 28,1922. They lived in Coalburg with William's parents. The location was known as "the farm" as it was a large property where a large variety of crops and fruits were grown. William worked for the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad. William died February 16,1998.
Mary Carano, John's maternal grandmother, was born on June 20, 1901. She and William Tucciarone were married on November 29, 1922.Presumably, she was born and they were married in or near Hubbard, OH, but I have not certified this. William and Mary lived with his parents, Andrew and Rose Tucciarone, on "the farm", on North Bellwick Rd in Coalburg, Hubbard Township. Mary was a loving and devoted wife, mother and grandmother throughout her life. Mary died on December 10, 1981.
Andrew (Andrea in Italy) Tucciarone, father of William Tucciarone, was born on April 4, 1874 in Tofu, Provincia de Caserta, Italy. In the town of Tofu there is a street, a bridge and a building bearing the name "Tucciarone".On May 22,1896, Andrew left Italy from the port of Naples on the S.S. Algeria and arrived in New York City on June 8, 1896. He lived in New York for some time before moving to Sharon, PA (just across the state line from Hubbard, OH.) to "get away from the big city". This is where he met Rosaline Scarpine. They were maried on August 8, 1899 at Sacred Heart Church in Sharon, PA. Their first home was at 40 Hickory St. in Sharon. Andrew died on December 3, 1946.
Rosaline Scarpine was born December 3, 1882 in Colobraro, Provincia di Potenza, Basilicata, Italy. She left Italy from the port of Naples on February 24, 1899 on he S.S. Victoria, arriving in New York on March 17, 1899.She was met my her aunt, Philomena Cuifo, of Sharon, PA, who had sent for her to come to America. This is how Rosaline ended up in Sharon and met Andrew. Rosaline died on August 20, 1978.
Andrew's parents were Biagio Tucciarone and Theresa Paparella. His grandparents were Guiseppi Tucciarone and Maria Antonia Piembia. This is as far back as the Tucciarone family has been traced at this time.
Rosaline Scarpine's parents were Nicholas and Philomena Ross Scarpine. Nicholas was the son of Joseph and Rosaline (last name unknown) Scarpine. This is as far back as the Scarpine family has been traced at this time. Philomena Ross Scarpine was the daughter of Frank and Theresa (last name unknown) Ross.
Gary Enoch Bartholomew, Wynne's father, was born on July 26, 1931 in Orangeville, PA. Gary made a career with the Army, serving at locations in the U.S and overseas, including Germany, Turkey, Iceland and Korea. After retiring from the Army, Gary worked for some time at Erie Scientific, now Murata Electronics, in State College, PA. On March 18, 1956, Gary married Jo Ann Beeman. They had four girls, also known as the "Fearsome Foursome". Gary was an avid fisherman and bowler and enjoyed watching all sports. Gary died on January 31, 2002.
SPECIAL THANKS TO: John's Mom, Rosaline Tucciarone Gresiak, for providing what information she could about both sides of the family. John's Great-Aunts, Lena Tucciarone Ackerman and Anna Mae Tucciarone Tomillo for their extensive research on the Tucciarone line. Sandra Everson, a descendant of John Karpinski, for the information on John, Thomas and Castoucius Karpinski. Anna Karpinski, for the information on Marcewo, Poland.
Here are some of my favorite websites:
Our Family Tree (http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/g/r/e/John-A-Gresiak/tree1.html?Welcome=1029193795)
The Andrew Tucciarone Family (Adobe Acrobat Reader needed) (http://www.beyond-books.org/HPL_Pages/docs/PDF/THEANDREWTUCCIARONEFAMILY.pdf)