He was the eldest Polachek child and was able to read,write, and speak English. Relatively little is known about Uncle Wesley, my grandfather Frank's brother.
The reason I was waiting on this week's post was to get some information from Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Cleveland. Thank you to Linda & Jerry for helping me out. You might recall (here is a refresher if not) my recent post about Louis & Julia (Wesley's parents). For that reason, I'm sad to say - I've found Uncle Wesley. He was hiding in plain sight.
I knew he had been in an accident; however, I wasn't sure exactly where his remains ended up. To start, I do need to divulge a few facts. I've spent hours trying to figure out more about this accident. I was only able to get fragments out of Aunt Arlene such as "Wesley", "truck", "run over" and the rest of the family was useless. How/why was he hit? Was it truly an accident? Was the driver drunk? Was it just too dark out? I've tried to obtain the full accident report - I would like to at least know the name of the person that took his life - but it's been destroyed.
Id#: 0280392Name: Polachek, WesleyDate: Nov ? 1950Source: Cleveland Press; Cleveland Necrology File, Reel #064.Notes: Polachek, Wesley, beloved son of the late Louis and Eva, brother of Mrs. Mary Hasychak, Mike, Mrs. Katherine Ziccardi, Mrs. Martha Lynch, Steve, Frank the late Nick. Friends may call at the Lester J. Gallagher Faneral Home, 9615 Miles Ave. Funeral Saturday, Nov. 11, services at Holy Name Church at 9 a. m. |
At 1:15A on November 8, 1950, Wesley was walking home from work. Wesley worked as a bowling alley janitor. He was on Broadway about 100 feet south of Jones Rd when he was struck by a truck in Cleveland. This is approximately less than 1/4 mile from Holy Name Catholic Church (where my family attended services and his funeral was held). He was also nearly home - his home at the time of the accident was less than 1/2 mile away. Uncle Wesley almost made it home that night.
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| Autopsy Report |
Wesley was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Alexis, mostly due to head injuries. His remains were identified by his brother Mike.
From his death certificate I learned his SSN & applied for his paperwork. This revealed the middle name Charles.
Additionally, I learned he was interred at Calvary. But ... where was? where was he at?
Going back and forth with Calvary from the west coast is tedious to put it best. So when I found out where he was, I was shocked - as was my mother.
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| Wesley's Death Certificate |
At Calvary, we know where most of the family is. I've been to visit various family members multiple times. My mother can even pick out "Baby Lynch" (her Aunt Martha's) children's graves. (We think there are 6 or so.)
Before I reveal where Wesley is, I wanted to share what my mother said:
"My mom knew where everyone was. We went over there. Why didn't she say anything? She never talked about Uncle Wesley."
Turns out -
Wesley is buried double deep with Louis & Julia. In the 64 years since he died his name was never added to the grave marker (you can see the grave from my previous post). We've all been over there but never knew he was there. While trying to find him I even asked my cousins who came up blank. It's sad we were visiting a grave to remember Louis & Julia but we were unintentionally forgetting someone. The good news is, we can change that going forward.
I'd like to think this was not intentional, not the result of bad blood between the siblings. My best guess is that they were either " going to get around to it " or squabbled over who was paying, doing, organizing, etc what. Wesley was the first sibling that died that they had to deal with. Nick died while Louis, but not Julia, was still alive but the government took care of that. Louis had died by the time Wesley had - the burden was on the shoulders of the siblings.
Who knows the reasons, they have all passed away.
So to my extended family - the next time you stop by to visit Louis & Julia - lay some extra flowers for Uncle Wesley.
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