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Note: Published : June 23, 1988, Thursday; Page C-13 (72 in.) Section : NEWS Column : OBITUARIES Text: ANTHONY WILK, 78, of Lodi, formerly of New York City, died Wednesday. He worked at the Cherry Hill Bar, Elmwood Park, for eight years. Before retiring 15 years ago, he owned Wilk's Construction Co., Lodi, for 20 years. He was a former parishioner of St. Joseph's R.C. Church, Lodi. Surviving are a son, Anthony of Chevy Chase, Md.; a daughter, Margherite Faiello of Wanaque; two brothers, Lud of Oakland and Thomas of the Bronx; five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. His wife, Josephine Toscano Wilk, is deceased. Services will be Friday at 9 a.m. at the D'Agostino Funeral Home, Wanaque, with burial in Pompton Reformed Cemetery, Pompton Lakes. Visiting is tonight from 7 to 9. Article # : 2038062 Notice : Copyright 1988 Bergen Record Corp Family History according to Cousin Trish:
The Wilk family resided in Harlem, New York (before Harlem became a predominately black city). Speaking of Harlem...Our grandfather, Anthony Thomas Wilk, was a prejudice man (which I cannot personally fault him for) because it stems from his childhood experiences, growing up in this city. There is one story that I can use as an example: Supposedly, black people (who I also don't fault for their prejudices) were deliberately doing things to chase the whites out of Harlem. On one particular evening, as the family sat down to enjoy dinner, a brick came crashing through the kitchen window, landing on the dinner table. Another story relating to experiences with the black people (though I am not certain if this was in retaliation for the brick, or an entirely different incident) is that our grandfather had gone running after some black man with his .32 caliber gun in hand, and took a shot at him. Rumor has it, that the bullet actually bounced off the guy's head! Grandpa was so angry that he grabbed a wine bottle within his reach and ran after the guy, smashing it over his head before the guy dropped. (This is why Grandpa always commented on their hard heads.)
Again, I have no idea whether or not this story is in connection with the above...Grandpa supposedly cut off some black guys ear.
Grandpa used to raise, train, and race pigeons. He has first and second place trophies for races won in competitions. They used to start the pigeons off in places like Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and the pigeon that got home to the coup first, was the winner. I guess Grandpa was always blown away because no matter where they released the birds, the pigeons would beat their owners home. Grandpa was known to have a very steady hand, and on occasion, had done surgery on these little birds, removing tumors, etc.
Grandpa is what you and I would categorize as a "gangster" of the Roaring 20 and 30's. God only knows half the trouble he got into, but I do know that he was dealing with shady associates such as the Bonanno Family (Joe Bonanno, to be precise) among some other infamous mobsters of his generation. It's been rumored that he even knew Al Capone, among others.
Grandpa and a group of thugs did "Hit" a casino, which insane as it sounds, was known to be mafia owned before they ever did the deed! It is my understanding that they shot the place up and robbed it. Word got back to the mafia, just who was responsible and in retaliation; they put a contract out on Grandpa's life. Now, as you and I both know, when the mafia puts a contract on your life, you are dead. There are no negotiations! I heard that Grandpa was in hiding for two years. For some reason or another, the contract on Grandpa's life was dropped (And I'm sure it wasn't because they just couldn't find him, or got tired of trying to find him). Though I must also add, that not even Grandma knew where the hell he was hiding. In any event, my suspicion is that Grandpa must've had to do quite a serious "Favor" for them to just squelch the c
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