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Note: Notes for Josephine May Niedzielko Baaske: She was apparently named after her father's mother, Jozefina.
Josephine was baptized at the age of seven days, on Christmas day of 1910. The location was the Polish-speaking St. Ann Catholic Church in Chicago. That church still exists today at the same location; 1840 S. Leavitt St.
A photo of Josephine's listing in the church baptismal registry book: <a href="https://goo.gl/photos/R4FuCgqXP7WZz4bh8">Photo</a>
That photo shows an incredible coincidence. Josephine was baptized on the same day, at the same church, immediately after a girl named Victoria who was the daughter of Michael Borowicz, who was the brother of a woman, Sophie Borowicz, who would marry Josephine's father Onufry Niedzielko five and a half years later.
Josephine and her sister Helen had two older half-brothers, Antoni "Anthony" Sperkowski and Boleslaw "Bernard" "Bennie" Sperkowski. The boys were the sisters' mother Rose's sons from her first marriage. The brothers' last names became Grygienc about 1930.
Josephine's mother Rose died in 1916 when Josephine was only five years old. Soon after Rose's death, Josephine's father Onufry Niedzielko married Sophie Borowicz, who became Josephine's stepmother.
At some point during the "Roaring 20s" Josephine started calling herself Alvira. Her sister Helen took on the name of Tilly. The sisters were flappers, and were supposedly considered to be "wild".
Josephine Niedzielko married Walter Baaske in 1936, after the couple had four children.
In February of 1937, "Josephine Niedzielko Baaske" filled out a Social Security number application. She wrote that her mother's first name was Rose. Rose's correct maiden name of Ratasiewicz was either misspelled or the handwriting was incorrectly interpreted by the government employee who transcribed the information from the application. Josephine wrote that her father's name was Onufry Niedzielko. Josephine wrote her date of birth as December 18, 1910. She was given a Social Security number of 357-07-7655.
Josephine lived to within two weeks of turning 96 years old.
The December 7, 2006 <i>Chicago Tribune</i> printed an obituary for Josephine:
Josephine M. "Alvira" Baaske, nee Niedzielko, of Woodridge, formerly of Oak Lawn. Beloved wife of the late Walter Baaske Sr.; loving mother of Walter Jr. (JoAnn), Donna (late LeRoy) Hosey, Ronald (late Phyllis), Larry (Peggy), Dave (Carol), William, James, Roger (Terry), Colleen Sundberg, Diane Granger, Bernadette Schranz and the late Geraldine (late Cliff) Kurtz and late Velerie (Ron) Des Laurier; grandmother of 54; great-grandmother of 93; great-great-grandmother of many. Visitation 3 to 9 p.m. Friday at Hallowell & James Funeral Home, 301-75th Street, Downers Grove. Prayers 9:15 a.m. Saturday from funeral home to St. Scholastica Church in Woodridge for Mass at 10 a.m. Interment Resurrection Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to your favorite charity. For info: 630-964-6500. - The December 9, 2006 <i>Tribune</i> printed a much longer story about Josephine's life:
<font size="4"><b>Josephine M. Baaske: 1910 - 2006</b></font>
<b>Matriarch presided over 200 relatives</b>
Josephine M. Baaske did her best to instill strong values in her children, including a healthy respect for the law. Family members said that kept them clear of trouble while growing up.
But on occasion the mother of 13 would take matters into her own hands, especially in defending those she loved and seeing that justice was served.
"I was 9 years old and had just gotten my first paper route," recalled her eldest son, Walter Baaske Jr. "Back then, customers paid you directly, and I'd collected about $4 or $5 that I'd stashed in my pocket.
"As I walked past a candy store, two teenage boys jumped me and took all my money. I ran home crying, but my mom took me back to the candy store, where the boys who had mugged me were still hanging out, and she demanded they give me back my money."
After a heated exchange, the teenagers handed over the money to Mrs. Baaske, who was just under 5 feet tall.
"I realized then just how proud I was of my mom," her son said. "She may have been small, but she was mighty."
Mrs. Baaske, 95, formerly of Oak Lawn, died Monday in Rest Haven West nursing home in Downers Grove of complications related to dementia.
Born to Polish immigrants and raised on the South Side, Mrs. Baaske was one of seven children. At 14, she worked full time at a bookbinding factory in Chicago. Several years later, she landed a better-paying job on the assembly line at Delco Battery, an automotive parts company in Chicago that was later bought by General Motors.
"It wasn't like she loved being a factory worker, but she looked at it as kind of like scrubbing a floor," her son said. "It was something that needed to be done, so you might as well do a good job."
In 1930, Mrs. Baaske married Walter Baaske Sr., who died in 1983. The couple made their home in Chicago before settling in Oak Lawn.
"It was a neighborhood of big families," her son recalled. "We had one family down the street with 15 kids and another a few doors over with 16. If a family had eight or less kids, we used to joke that their father was sickly."
Beginning in the early 1950s, Mrs. Baaske was an assembly line inspector for GM's Electro Motive in La Grange. She was a union steward with the United Auto Workers. She retired from GM at 65 after 46 years.
"When she retired they gave her a gold watch," said her daughter-in-law, JoAnn Baaske. "She really treasured that watch. She said it was the first gold thing she'd ever had."
In recent years, some of Mrs. Baaske's proudest moments were at holiday get-togethers, when she would preside as matriarch over a family of nearly 200 members.
"No house was ever big enough for our whole family," her son said with a laugh. "It would be standing room only, with kids running all over the place and creating utter chaos. But in the middle of it all would be our mom, surrounded by all her children and loving every minute of it."
She is also survived by six other sons, Ronald, Larry, Dave, William, James and Roger; four daughters, Donna Hosey, Colleen Sundberg, Diane Granger and Bernadette Schranz; 54 grandchildren; 93 great-grandchildren; and many great-great grandchildren.
Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Saturday in St. Scholastica Catholic Church, 7800 Janes Ave., Woodridge. -
Josephine's FindAGrave memorial includes a photo of her: <a href="https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/113810833/josephine-may-baaske">Memorial</a>
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