Jan Varga and Maria Juhas

Jan Varga and Maria Juhas

My grandfather, Simon B. Wargo2 was one of four children of Jan Varga1, a farmer, and Maria Juhas. The children were:

  1. Anna Varga,2 who married John Zsiga. Their daughter Anna Zsiga [1904 - 1988] was born in Czechoslovakia. Anna married John Frantz [1898 - 1965] and had two sons, Robert3 and Richard Frantz3.

    Robert Frantz3 [1931 - 2003] married Lorene Bruening and had three children: Mary Frantz4, Edward Frantz4, and Steven Frantz.4 Robert J. Frantz died on 13 May, 2003 and was entombed in Holy Cross Cemetery.

    Richard Frantz3 married Angie Bucceri and had three children, Denise Frantz4, Lisa Frantz4 who married Eric Weltman, and Michael Frantz4.

  2. Marie Varga2 who lived in Europe.

  3. Frank Varga, Sr.2 who was born on March 27, 1888 Vargain Czechoslovakia. Frank married Anna Drabik, daughter of John Drabik, Sr. Frank and Anna had four children:

    1. Frank Varga, Jr.3 born on March 23, 1909

    2. John Varga3 [November 5, 1910 - December 14, 1934]

    3. Joseph M. Varga3 who lived with his wife Tillie in Florida. Joseph Varga died January 30, 2002.

    4. Steve Varga3 [August 11, 1914 - January 23, 1963]

    Anna Drabik Varga was a victim of the flu epidemic and died on December 20, 1918.

    Frank Varga, Sr married Mary Shimko [May 3, 1899 - December 2, 1973] on June 28, 1920. Frank and Mary had three children: Ethel Varga3, Andrew Varga3 and Arthur Varga3.

    Andrew Varga3 [December 28, 1926 - November 2, 1963] married Sally Carter. Andy and Sally had three children: Frederick Andrew4, Mary Beth4, and Charles Andrew4. When Andy died Sally remarried George Markusic and he adopted the children. Sally and George had another son George Markusic Jr.

  1. Jan and Marie's fourth child was Simon B. Varga2, born on October 21, 1890 in Poproc, Czechoslovakia. Simon arrived in New York on the ship "Slovakia" in 1906. He was sixteen years old and was ready to join his brother, Frank in Cleveland.

    Simon changed his name from his father's Varga spelling to Wargo to be sound more American, while his brother Frank kept the original Varga spelling. Simon didn't abandon his roots totally, however. My mother remembered her father teaching her to say "What's up?" in Hungarian, to the entertainment of her father's friends who would come over to their home to enjoy a game a cards.

    My grandfather, Simon, was a World War I veteran. In civilian life he was a first-class tool and dye maker. My mother remembered how he cleaned and polished his tools with care. I have a brass cannon that is a lamp base that he made.

    On May 4, 1922, Simon maried Julia Wilimczyk, the daughter of Joseph Wilimczyk and Mary Florek. My mother liked to remember how she could stand with her arm around her father's shoulders as she did in this picture. The picture is taken in the back yard of the duplex the family owned on Shaw Avenue in Lakewood on the West Side of Cleveland. Shaw Avenue was the only home my mother could remember except for a year that the family Simon Wargo and His Daughter, Genevieve lived in Mentor, a city East of Cleveland. My mother recalled that she was in seventh grade when her father became worried about the economic crisis of the Depression and moved his family to a farm. I don't think my mother liked living on the farm. She remembered taking care of the chickens and recalled that her brother Jim would shoot the chickens with a B-B gun. The family would sit down to a chicken dinner only to spit the B-B's out of the chicken meat.

    Simon evidently regained confidence that he could support the family in the city and moved back to Shaw Avenue. The home on Shaw was the second floor of the duplex. My mother said that it made her father nervous to have people walking over his head, so the first floor apartment was rented out. The family shared two bedrooms. Simon and Julia had the front bedroom and my mother slept in the other small bedroom. The back porch was enclosed and was called the "sun room." This was my Uncle Jim's room. The bathroom had a claw-foot bathtub, now very popular. Everything seems quaint now, from the manual juicer in the kitchen to the wringer washer in the cellar. Simon and the family lived on Shaw Avenue until his death on December 30, 1952.

    Julia continued to live on Shaw Avenue until she was no longer able to live independently. Julia died on June 21, 1998 at the age of 97. She was laid to rest with Simon in Holy Cross Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio.


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    Copyright � 2001 Nancy McAdams
    March 17, 2001
    Updated December 18, 2003

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