Joe Kaminski was a first cousin of Helen Kaminski, Steve Fedak's uncle
While still a boy, in the old country, Joe Kaminski's mother died. He was not able to get along with his father's new wife. He came to live with Grandma Helen Kaminski's family. Even as a boy, he was a very clever mechanic. He had a knack for repairing watches. He always seemed to have money and he often gave money to his aunt. Grandma's father, Joe's uncle had his own blacksmith business. Joe, along with his first cousin, Mike Kaminski learned the blacksmith trade from John Kaminski, the father and uncle.
Joe Kaminski was only 4ft, 11 inches tall. As a young man in Europe, Joe joined an elite unit of the Austro-Hungarian Empire calvary, the Uhlans. There, he probably learned to be the very meticulous dresser he was known to be, his entire life in the United States. His shoes were always polished to a mirror finish and his suits were perfect. He always wore a pocket watch with fob, attached to his vest.
In the early 1930's, living near Cleveland, Ohio, Cousin Joe and his wife bought or probably rented a farm. Joe had decided that he wanted to be a farmer. One Easter vacation Joe invited Cousin Walter Kaminski and Dad to stay with him. Dad and his first cousin, Walter Kaminski, brother of Helen and Johnny Kaminski took the streetcar from the east side to Lyndale railroad yard. They actually walked through the yard until they found where cousin Joe was working. They went on to the farm together. Dad remembers that a neighbor brought over equipment for planting. The teen-age boys cut the seed potatoes and rode the equipment and dropped the seed potatoes into the furrow. Another time during their stay, Walter was cutting grass with a sickle and cut his hand pretty badly. For some reason, Cousin Joe and his wife blamed Dad for the accident. Dad was really angry over being blamed and said he'd never come back to the farm . . .and he never did. The farm only lasted a few years
After Joe's first wife died, in 1948, Joe stayed with his cousin, Bertha and her husband, Dymetro Szmagala. He would often come home drunk, pull his car into the garage and fall asleep in the car. The neighbors saw this and started talking about him. This upset Bertha, and she kicked cousin Joe out. He then went to stay with his cousin, Helen Fedyk and her family on East 173rd street. Grandma Helen had a standing order with a liquor store to have two cases of beer a week delivered for cousin Joe. He kept his car in Grandpa Joe's brick garage. A few times, he let Dad back the car out of the garage, then he would give Dad a ride to his job at White Motors. Then, one day, he said that Dad had broke something on the car and couldn't back it out of the garage any more. Dad is sure he never hurt the car in any way. Joe got in a large number of auto accidents, usually related to the large amount of alcohol he drank, on a regular basis. One time he totaled one of his cars, hitting a post in the middle of the street that was there to protect passengers getting on the streetcar. He loved to argue with Dad's uncles Mike and Metro. When he got them all upset, he would tell them that they "...were full of shit," and laugh. Grandpa Joe Fedyk always laughed at the very sound of Joe Kaminski's name because he was so funny.
One time, Uncle Joe was in the hospital. Mom and Dad visited him. Joe wouldn't do anything the nurses said. He was jumping around the room like he was in perfect health. He was swearing at the nurses in Polish and Ukrainian. Mom tried to settle him down and get him to do what he was supposed to do without any success, Dad, knowing Uncle Joe, stood back and said nothing.
Joe never had any children. His first wife died fairly young, of cancer. Dad remembers that she was very fat. She and Joe would come over to Grandma Helen and Grandpa Joe's house for dinner. Shortly after dinner, she would fall asleep in a chair in the living room. In his later years, Joe remarried. The second marriage changed his life. Although he still lived to drink, he was more moderate and controlled. I remember him as an older man, always dressed to the hilt, with a suit and vest. I remember his very bushy mustache and the fact that he was very short. As a teenager, I could see that he was a character. I remember his wife giving him heck and him laughing. He bought an Opal GT sports type car with stick shift as a seventy year old man. He wife said he couldn't shift gears with a darn and he was an old fool. She said his driving would be the death of them, yet. He just laughed. Cousin Joe Kaminski and his first wife are buried in the St. Peter and Paul Cemetery in the northeastern corner of the original, main plot, very near to the road and very near to the WW2 monument. A large bush or tree is planted in front of their stone.
Joe Kaminski was only 4ft, 11 inches tall. As a young man in Europe, Joe joined an elite unit of the Austro-Hungarian Empire calvary, the Uhlans. There, he probably learned to be the very meticulous dresser he was known to be, his entire life in the United States. His shoes were always polished to a mirror finish and his suits were perfect. He always wore a pocket watch with fob, attached to his vest.
In the early 1930's, living near Cleveland, Ohio, Cousin Joe and his wife bought or probably rented a farm. Joe had decided that he wanted to be a farmer. One Easter vacation Joe invited Cousin Walter Kaminski and Dad to stay with him. Dad and his first cousin, Walter Kaminski, brother of Helen and Johnny Kaminski took the streetcar from the east side to Lyndale railroad yard. They actually walked through the yard until they found where cousin Joe was working. They went on to the farm together. Dad remembers that a neighbor brought over equipment for planting. The teen-age boys cut the seed potatoes and rode the equipment and dropped the seed potatoes into the furrow. Another time during their stay, Walter was cutting grass with a sickle and cut his hand pretty badly. For some reason, Cousin Joe and his wife blamed Dad for the accident. Dad was really angry over being blamed and said he'd never come back to the farm . . .and he never did. The farm only lasted a few years
After Joe's first wife died, in 1948, Joe stayed with his cousin, Bertha and her husband, Dymetro Szmagala. He would often come home drunk, pull his car into the garage and fall asleep in the car. The neighbors saw this and started talking about him. This upset Bertha, and she kicked cousin Joe out. He then went to stay with his cousin, Helen Fedyk and her family on East 173rd street. Grandma Helen had a standing order with a liquor store to have two cases of beer a week delivered for cousin Joe. He kept his car in Grandpa Joe's brick garage. A few times, he let Dad back the car out of the garage, then he would give Dad a ride to his job at White Motors. Then, one day, he said that Dad had broke something on the car and couldn't back it out of the garage any more. Dad is sure he never hurt the car in any way. Joe got in a large number of auto accidents, usually related to the large amount of alcohol he drank, on a regular basis. One time he totaled one of his cars, hitting a post in the middle of the street that was there to protect passengers getting on the streetcar. He loved to argue with Dad's uncles Mike and Metro. When he got them all upset, he would tell them that they "...were full of shit," and laugh. Grandpa Joe Fedyk always laughed at the very sound of Joe Kaminski's name because he was so funny.
One time, Uncle Joe was in the hospital. Mom and Dad visited him. Joe wouldn't do anything the nurses said. He was jumping around the room like he was in perfect health. He was swearing at the nurses in Polish and Ukrainian. Mom tried to settle him down and get him to do what he was supposed to do without any success, Dad, knowing Uncle Joe, stood back and said nothing.
Joe never had any children. His first wife died fairly young, of cancer. Dad remembers that she was very fat. She and Joe would come over to Grandma Helen and Grandpa Joe's house for dinner. Shortly after dinner, she would fall asleep in a chair in the living room. In his later years, Joe remarried. The second marriage changed his life. Although he still lived to drink, he was more moderate and controlled. I remember him as an older man, always dressed to the hilt, with a suit and vest. I remember his very bushy mustache and the fact that he was very short. As a teenager, I could see that he was a character. I remember his wife giving him heck and him laughing. He bought an Opal GT sports type car with stick shift as a seventy year old man. He wife said he couldn't shift gears with a darn and he was an old fool. She said his driving would be the death of them, yet. He just laughed. Cousin Joe Kaminski and his first wife are buried in the St. Peter and Paul Cemetery in the northeastern corner of the original, main plot, very near to the road and very near to the WW2 monument. A large bush or tree is planted in front of their stone.
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