| + | 57 | i. | Dr. Louis J.4 Beltz. | |
| + | 58 | ii. | Dr. Jennifer Lynn Beltz. |
| 59 | i. | Ronald Alan4 Ranier. He married Amy Kathleen Bennett. |
|
Notes for Ronald Alan Ranier: Ron's Trip To Poland 2001: Letters to myself and Mark Kustwan Libby, Well, we found family on both the Wotus and Kustwan side. Here is the story and the way that I like to tell it is from the expressions of my mother. We took an overnight train from Prague to Krakow which was quite interesting. We had two sleeper cars - one for (aunt) Vi and (uncle) Walt and one for my mother (Mary Jane) my wife (Amy) and Myself. After passing through the checkpoint at approx 4:00 am where both the military checked passports my mother did not sleep. In fact, I watched as she sat at the window every once in while she would wisper something such as "...mom - dad I coming to where you grew up..." In here eyes I could see the excitement of a child trying to take in everything at Disney World their first time. Exhausted we got from the train station to our hotel in downtown Krakow at the heart of the old city. We had a driver and tour guide for two days Day 1: Our tour guide a professor at the University of Krakow was used to giving tours of Kakow and the general area. When she heard that a day in the town of Bialka and another day in the town of Sromowce -- she was surprised and intrigued. I don't know if someone was watching from above but our guide was familiar with both cities from her trips. As we were entering the town of Bialka we stopped for a group photo at the sign entering the city -- and then a photo of my mother and I -- at that point she could not hold back any longer and as we stood there she started to tear up. We stopped at the city graveyard and just started to wonder around and then all of a sudden we found the grave of Jozef Kustwan - my great uncle. Our guide noticed how the graves were in excellent condition meaning that someone was taking care of them. We went to a house where our guide stayed on her holidays in Bialka. We were introduced and phone calls were made -- all of a sudden a lady in her 40s , Hanna and her daughter came in -- she was a cousin. I have to admit I was a doubting Thomas at first. Then Hanna's Grandfather Walter came in -- When everyone looked at him and then looked at my mother and Vi there was not a dry eye in the room. The face and the eyes were exactly the same. My mother listened to the Polish being spoke and translated in such a way they you would think that she understood Polish. At that point, I felt that my job was complete - I fulfilled what I wanted to do..... Day 2: With the success of day 1 we had a difficult time in not wanting to be over anxious of what would would or would not find in Sromowce. As we once again took a group phot and then the one of my mother and I she again started to get tears in her eyes. All we had was an address of a bed and breakfast that was run by a Wotus. Our guild went door to door to find the street and the house. We knocked on the door and a gentleman by the name of Walter Wotus came out. Amazed he was speechless and himself started to tear up -- he looked like (uncles) John and Andy. In a matter of minutes we found out that the ORIGINAL Wotus family house was still standing and in the family. A minute later we were there. The wife of Koba(Jacob) was still alive. Mom and Aunt Vi had the chance to meet one of their Aunts which I can not explain the emotions. We spent the afternoon having coffee with them and once again, mom was holding on to every word. Again -- was someone watching over us. Take this how you want -- But for some reason the entire time that I was in Poland I felt this strange sense of security and warmness that I cannot explain - it was like that more people in our group then just the five of us. Ron's letter to Mark: Mark, The trip to Poland was wonderful. I cannot express in words the emotion. At times I even felt as if I was having an out of body experience watching from above. I do not know if it was fate, luck or divine intervention. I start from the beginning: We started our trip in Prague, to see that city since it has opened up to the west. From Prague we took an overnight train to Krakow, which was quite interesting. We left the train station at 10:00 pm to arrive in Krakow at 6:30 am. About 3:00 am we entered Poland. I remember this b/c of the Passport checks. From that point on I began to realize really what the significance of this trip. From the time we had our passports checked my mother watched out the window trying to absorb everything. As I got down from my bunk to sit with her all she kept saying was something like -- Mom I coming to see where you were born... When I said divine intervention I was not kidding. When we met our tour guide at our hotel in Krakow and explained that we wanted to go to Bialka. To our luck Bialka is where she spends her winter vacations -- interesting. When we arrived in Bialka we stopped at the sign of the city to have a photo taken...My mother's eyes began to fill up with tears. About a mile down the road we stopped at the cemetery to see what we could find. As we were walking around we found the grave of Jozef Kustwan which would be my mothers uncle. Our tour guide went to the church for candles for mom and Aunt Vi to light at the grave. We continued to walk around the graveyard and found more gravesites. Our tour guide suggested that we stop at the house where we she would stay on vacation to see if anyone still lived in the town...After being there about 15 minutes people started coming in....who were our cousins. I was amazed yet sadly I have to admit a little skeptical. But then, an older gentleman in his 70s by the name of Walter Kustwan came in from the fields because someone went to get him to tell him that families form the US arrived. When he walked through the door and looked at mom and Aunt Vi the three of them burst into tears. The face and moreover the eyes was all the proof needed. It was like looking into a mirror. The features where similar -- but the blue eyes could not lie -- they where the same. We spent the next evening at their house for dinner. The property is still in the family, but the original house is no longer standing. The original church is there and a newer one across the street. I have a new website with the photos but I have not put it out there yet. We also went to Sromowce Wyzne to find my grandfather's family. Which once again, we were able to do. The interesting thing is that the house in which my grandfather lived in is still the family home. My Grandfather Jozef had a younger brother, Jacob that was born after he left for the US. Jacob's wife was still alive in her 90s. So mom and Aunt Vi had a chance to meet their Aunt. But it was the same thing for my mother -- another dream fulfilled. I hope that you can understand what I wrote. Sometimes I don't understand it. I guess that I keep looking at it through the eyes of my mother and what it meant for her. I am still working on the family tree -- but now I want more then just names, dates and places. It seems that there is so much more then recording who is related to who and how.... I do continue to try to capture that information, but I am adding more. A neat fact.... The Kustwan's city of Bialka is about 10 miles from the Wotus's city of Sromowce Wyzne. |
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