(Photo above: Mary (Oravetz) White and Joe Oravetz)

You will notice that we are including more photographs this year. These are mostly random shots made at last year's reunion, but we plan to add historical photos in years to come. We welcome your stories and picture contributions. We apologize for all the family news that we did not include. You have to give it to us in order for it to appear here. We are trying to stick to a strict chronological order within the categories so as not to slight anyone. If we mess up, well, we're family. Next year we hope to feature the Herpak family, so we invite you to share any stories you may know of them.

1996 Attendance

At the 1996 reunion there were 84 attendees from 9 states. Not a record, but a very good turnout.

Florida: Frank and Barbara Rebar (Ormond Beach)

Texas: Joe and Barbara Oravetz and children Hayley, Nicholas and Alexandra (Coppell)

Virginia: Beverly Rebar (Virginia Beach); Nancy Rebar (Fairfax); and Tony Pasquale (Centreville)

Maryland: Linda Rebar (Baltimore); Jean Hogan (Baltimore); Ed and Mary Rebar (Bowie); Alan Rebar (Baltimore); and Jim and Carolyn Rebar (Columbia)

Michigan: Donna and Bill Breyer and sons Willie and Tim (Oxford); Patty Kus-Curson, son Jeff Curson , and other children Andy, Chris, and Cindy Kus (Lake Orion)

Pennsylvania: Patty and Tom Kirsch and sons Jesse and Tom (Barnesboro); Donna Sivy and Ethel Holligan (Turtle Creek); Bob White and sons Shawn and Matt (Glenshaw); Mary White (Canonsburg); Mike and Jean Kuzio and daughters Sharon and Lorie (Altoona); Sandy and Bill Harchak and children Melissa, Zachary and Mackenzie (Osceola Mills); Marlene and Dave Kohute and grandchildren Stephen and Jason Kohute (Ramey); Brian and Amanda Milliron (friends of the Kohutes); Elma and Tony Venerick (Clearfield); Sara and Paul Mohar (Harrisburg); Dave and Elsie Rebar (Whitney); Verna Kuzio (Bakerton); Betty Lechene and friend Mike Berzorsky (Bakerton); Tisha and Carl Gallaher and son Zachary (Burnside); John Kuzio (Barnesboro R.D.); David and Margie Wadding and son Joshua (Elizabeth Town); David Rebar, Jr. (Pittsburgh); Wayne Rebar and friend, Monica Mulcahey (Greensburg); and Dot and Andy Polenik (Clymer R.D.).

Louisiana: Les Falgout and daughters Jeanine and Leslie (New Orleans) (pictured at left)

New York: Alta and Paul Johnson (Niagara Falls); Rob and Amy Bungo and daughter Raylene (Niagara Falls); and Elva Shaffer (Niagara Falls)

Ohio: Bill and Mary Prusak and daughter Anne Marie (Parma)

Weddings/Anniversaries

David and Rebecca (Noble) Kohute were united in marriage on August 10, 1996. David is the son of Dave and Marlene (Rebar) Kohute, grandson of Joseph and Elisabeth (Swartz) Rebar, and great-grandson of Andrew and Katrine (Kozak) Rebar. He and Rebecca now reside in Cresson, PA.

Sharon Leigh Kuzio and Michael Berkheimer were married October 19, 1996 at St. Rose of Lima RC Church in Altoona, PA. Sharon is the daughter of Mike and Jean (Parrish) Kuzio, granddaughter of Mike and Veronica (Oravetz) Kuzio, and great-granddaughter of Joseph and Mary (Lelak) Oravetz.

George David Kohute and Lynne Elisabeth Milliron were joined in marriage on May 31, 1997 at Assembly of God Church, Philipsburg, PA. George is also the son of Dave and Marlene (Rebar) Kohute. He and Lynne now reside in West Decatur, PA.

Paula Ann Burkholtz and Jeffrey Rupert were united in marriage on June 7, 1997 at St. Jacob's Presbyterian Church in Shelocta, PA. Paula is the great-granddaughter of Joseph and Margaret (Lelak) Kovachik.

Earl ("Tony") and Elma (Rebar) Venerick of Clearfield, PA, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on January 22, 1997. Congratulations to a wonderful couple. Their children, Shelley Cunningham and Earl Venerick, hosted a party for the occasion on May 17, 1997 in Shelley's home. Elma is the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Swartz) Rebar.

Births

Jacob Aider Hoffman arrived on June 9, 1997. He is the son of Brian and Thelma Hoffman, Mechanicsburg, PA, grandson of Martha Miller, great-grandson of Mary (Rebar) Petcavage, and great-great-grandson of Joseph and Elizabeth (Swartz) Rebar. Jacob joins an older sister, Emily.

Philip Andrew Bungo was born July 15, 1997, to Rob and Amy (Sortore) Bungo. Philip is the grandson of Alta (Bloom) Bungo Johnson and the late Robert Bungo, and great-grandson of Anna (Rebar) and Singleton Bloom.

Graduations

Alan E. Rebar, son of Edward and Mary (Molnarko) Rebar, graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), with a M.A. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). In the near future, Alan will be an ESOL teacher in the public school system in Baltimore or another jurisdiction in Maryland. He plans to teach English as a foreign language in far away lands during his summer vacations.

Alan, grandson of John and Margaret (Oravetz) Rebar, was an SAT finalist and Maryland Distinguished Scholar. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in American History from the University of Maryland, College Park. He is about to launch two pulp detective magazines and a corresponding Web site on the Internet, and is presently reachable at: arebar1@gl.umbc.edu via email. 

Matthew Kuzio, son of John and Betty (Bell) Kuzio, graduated from Northern Cambria High School on June 2, 1997. Matthew is the grandson of Michael and Veronica (Oravetz) Kuzio. 

Betina Dee Rebar graduated from Clearfield H.S. on June 6, 1997. Betina is the daughter of David and Bunni Rebar, granddaughter of Mary (Rebar) Petcavage, and great-granddaughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Swartz) Rebar. Her future plans are to enter the U.S. Military.

Obituaries

Ann Ward, daughter of George and Anna (Chatnick) Rebar, died of cancer on October 9, 1996. Ann is survived by her husband, Tom, and children Terry, Debbie, and Tommie, and five grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her two sons, Doug and Steve.

General News

Paul Johnson, husband of Alta (Bloom) Bungo Johnson, suffered a mild stroke last Winter while in Florida. Alta sent word via her daughter, Shirley (Bungo) Darin, that Paul's condition is not serious, and they hope to join us again soon at a family reunion. Alta is the daughter of Singleton L. and Anna (Rebar) Bloom.

Elmer Rebar of Erie, PA, son of the late Joseph and Elizabeth (Swartz) Rebar is currently very ill.

In early June, Joe and Barbara (Upton) Oravetz and family moved to Stavanger, Norway. Joe is a Geophysical Advisor for Mobil Exploration Norway, Inc., doing exploration-related jobs (mapping, interpreting and acquiring seismic data, integrating wells, etc.). He has three areas of responsibility in the Barents Sea in the north near Russia, working with other Mobil groups from England, Germany, and the U.S., as well as with various Norwegian companies and government agencies. Joe is the son of Rudolph and Veronica (Keblesh) Oravetz, and grandson of Joseph and Mary (Lelak) Oravetz. Joe and Barb were able to be at last year's reunion to get re-acquainted with family and show off their three children, Hayley, Nicolas, and Alexandra. They report that they are greatly enjoying life in the far north of Europe.

Jean Fleshman, older daughter of Duane and Kathrine (Rebar) Fleshman, will be attending Graduate School at the University of New England, Biddeford, Maine, beginning with the Fall semester. Jean will be working toward a Master's degree in social work, concentrating in the areas of spousal abuse and juvenile delinquents. Her younger sister, Karen, is attending Graduate School at the University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore, working toward a Master's degree in Genetic Counseling. Karen has completed her first year of studies and is working as a summer intern in a York, Pennsylvania, hospital. She and Mike Stebner, from New Jersey, plan to tie the knot next July. Congratulations to both Jean and Karen, and good luck to them in their studies.

Stephen Kohute Jr., son of Stephen Kohute and grandson of David and Marlene (Rebar) Kohute, received the Presidential Award from his 6th grade class.

Melissa Harchak, daughter of Bill and Sandy Harchak (Osceola Mills) and granddaughter of David and Marlene (Rebar) Kohute, received the Higher Medal of learning from her 2nd grade class. She also received various other Honor student awards.

Frank Rebar, though retired from NASA for several years, recently had two of his projects in the Space Shuttle cargo bay at the same time. Frank was Chief Engineer for the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope. The GHRS was replaced in February this year by Shuttle astronauts with another of Frank's projects (he was Technical Officer), the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), which can gather data 30 times faster than the device it replaced. At one point during the swap, both of units were in the Shuttle cargo bay, side-by-side! Our family is very proud of Frank and of his many accomplishments while at NASA. 

Carolyn (Young) Rebar (at left with Marlene (Rebar) Kohute) teaches piano lessons part-time. Her students presented a recital in May and two of her students received high honors in Spring high school competition this year.

Jim Rebar is a volunteer at the Family History Center of the LDS Church (Mormon) in Columbia, MD, where he assists people with their research and actively pursues a greater understanding of family history research methodology.

Family History

The Carpatho-Rusyns

(The following article is Copyrighted by the Carpatho-Rusyn Society, 125 Westland Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15217)

The Carpatho-Rusyns are a small East Slavic ethnic group indigenous to the Carpathian Mountain Region of Eastern Europe. Because their homeland roughly spans the western part of the Carpathian Mountain range, that homeland currently falls within the bo rders of several East European nations.

Most of the territory of the Carpatho-Rusyns was, for much of their history, entirely within the borders of Hungary. When the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dissolved at the close of World War I, the majority of Carpatho-Rusyn territory became an autonomous part of Czechoslovakia, making Rusyns one of the three founding peoples of Czechoslovakia (along with Czechs and Slovaks). The Rusyns of Austrian Galicia were incorporated into the new Polish state, with minorities of Rusyns living in northern Romania, the new Yugoslavia and the smaller Hungary.

By the close of World War II, the Rusyn territories had been again divided, this time with the largest Rusyn territory, Transcarpathia, invaded by Soviet troops and incorporated as an oblast in the Ukrainian SSR. The Lemko Rusyns of Poland were forcibly relocated by the communist Polish government to western Poland and their properties occupied by Poles. In Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Soviet Ukraine, the official government Policy became one of ethnocide, in which Carpatho-Rusyns were not permitted to exist as a group but recognized only by these communist governments as Ukrainians.

With the fall of communism in the late 1980s, Carpatho-Rusyns have experienced a renaissance of their language and culture. Today, the Carpatho-Rusyns are recognized by the Czech, Slovak, Polish, Hungarian and Yugoslav governments as a distinct people. These Carpatho-Rusyns have begun to publish books, periodicals and other materials in their native language, have begun codifying that language, are conducting theatrical performances in these dialects and sponsor their own performing ensembles.

On Dec. 1, 1991, the Carpatho-Rusyns of Transcarpathia in now-independent Ukraine voted overwhelmingly for autonomy within the new Ukrainian state.

Today, Carpatho-Rusyn territory falls within the borders of Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, Hungary and Rumania, with large immigrant populations of Carpatho-Rusyns in Srem, Croatia; Vojvodina, (Serbia) Yugoslavia; Canada and the United States.

About 700,000 Americans are of Carpatho-Rusyn descent, with the largest concentration of these people (about 50,000) in western Pennsylvania. Other large Carpatho-Rusyn American settlements include New York City/north New Jersey; Connecticut; Cleveland, Ohio area; greater Chicago; and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (PA).

You can find out more about Carpatho-Rusyn heritage by writing to the Carpatho-Rusyn Society, 125 Westland Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15217, (412) 625-9149.

The Search for my Rusyn Roots
by
Michael Kuzio

At this time I enlisted the help of Jim Rebar. He explained some of the documents that were available and where they may be found. I started my search at the church where my grandfather, Frank Kuzio, is buried. Here I was able to obtain his date of death and the name of the funeral home who handled the funeral. I contacted them and explained that I was doing research on my grandfather. They gave me the information which they had on file and sent me a form to send for a copy of his death certificate. I did this and received some additional information not on file at the funeral home.

I then took my search to the Cambria County Courthouse Court of Common Pleas, where I was able to obtain copies of Declarations of Intention to become US citizens. This document tells where the ancestor came from, the name of the ship, port of departure, date of arrival, spouses and children's names, marriage place and date and other miscellaneous information. I learned that Frank Kuzio arrived in this country on board the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse on September 6, 1904. My grandmother, Catherine (Melnyk) Kuzio, arrived in the U.S. in 1907 on board the SS Guilia. They probably came from the same village in what is now southeast Poland.

My next stop was the Family History Center at a local Church of the Latter Day Saints. The Family History Center is equipped with a computer that can find information on individuals or locate microfilms containing information on individuals. I drew nothing but blanks when I searched for individuals in my family tree. This was expected, but I had to give it a try. You can't leave any stones unturned. I was able to locate microfilms of Passenger Ship records for both of my grandparents' ships. The ship Passenger Records duplicate some of the information listed on the "declaration", but they also give additional information such as who paid their passage, where they were going, with whom they would be staying and how much money they were carrying. I was able to locate my grandmother's name within minutes. I have gone through the records of SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse many times and have not been able to locate the name of my grandfather.

There are many other sources that one can check for information. The court house has a record of marriage license applications that are indexed for both the male and the female. Other good sources of information include local newspapers (obituaries), Social Security and Military records. If you have access to a computer, the Internet has many sites devoted to genealogy. You don't have to own a computer. Your local library probably has a dozen of them with Internet access.

I can almost guarantee that your endeavors will not take you in a straight line. Most of the time you will be traveling sideways and sometimes even backwards, but this is the fun and fascination of genealogy. The side trips are well worth the effort and do serve as a means to verify existing information. If this is something you have been wanting to do; don't delay! It's painless and a lot of fun.

If I can be of assistance, please feel free to contact me: Michael Kuzio, 5024 Beale Avenue, Altoona, PA 16601, 814-942-4920, email: electron@penn.com.

(Editor's note: Mike's story will continue next year, after he's had more time to research. I know more than he's telling here, and it's a fascinating story.)

The Rebar Family of
Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
by
Jim Rebar

My mother's and father's ancestors lived very close to one another in the tiny country of Slovakia, but they did not know each other. Their backgrounds were very, very different, with ore miners on my mother's side of the family, and farmers on the Rebar side. The Rebar name was originally spelled Ribár, presumably having some connection with fishing (rybár is the Slovak word for 'fisherman'), although the family were all farmers. My mother's ancestors were laborers in the Royal mines in the mountainous region just to the west of the area where my father's ancestors tilled the soil. However, it was mining and not farming that ultimately brought my mother and father together in the United States (see last year's Family Portrait for the complete story).

Present-day Slovakia is a very mountainous country. In Eastern Slovakia, near the city of Kosice, the arable land is limited to the valley floor that begins some miles north of the city and gradually widens out south of the city as it nears the Hungarian border. The principal streams in the valley are the Hornád, the Torysa, and the Olsava. The Torysa and Olsava flow into the Hornád near the village of Nizná Mysl'a, and that river continues on south well into Hungary. The land is agriculturally rich; hot summer temperatures are ideal for growing grains; and the angle of the sun on the rolling hills just to the north of the flat land is perfect for growing grapes. Working in these fields was the only life that the Ribárs had known for centuries. They belonged to the class of farmers known as 'cotters' (Hungarian: zsellér, often seen in church records in its Latin form, inquilinus).

The Ribárs probably did not migrate to this area until the 1700s, but future research could prove me wrong about that. What is known about the population of the area is this: after the defeat of the Turks in the late 1600s, the land that they had occupied for 150 years was given back to the landowners, who colonized it with large numbers of artisans and peasants from all over Europe, especially Germans, Serbs, Croatians, and Slovaks. In the first group to arrive in the Nizná Mysl'a area to take advantage of the offers of land were the Germans, who acquired the better parcels of land, and who belonged to the uppermost class of farmers. Technically, only this class of farmer was called 'farmer' (Hungarian telkés, Latin colonus). To this class belonged the Herpáks, who were German ancestors of the Herpaks and Prusaks in our family. Any farmer who was not a telkés was, by definition, a zsellér. Andrej Ribár, my grandfather, was a zsellér, and therefore had a later arrival to the area. What little land a zsellér owned was of a lower quality than the land belonging to a telkés.

Land in Slovakia was passed down to successive generations and was divided into smaller and smaller plots, until by the year 1900, half the landowners in Hungary, of which Slovakia was a part, were scratching out a living from plots too small to meet basic needs. In spite of frequent outbreaks of cholera, smallpox, dyptheria, and typhus, a high infant mortality, and a very high death rate from tuberculosis, the population still remained too high for the ability of the land to sustain it. Andrej Rebar and his wife, Katalin Kozak, emigrated to the United States, like thousands of other Slovak families, for purely economic reasons. The rich coal fields that lay under Pennsylvania simply offered more of an opportunity to get ahead.

For reasons still unclear to me, Andrej Ribár's family who were the first to arrive in the United States chose Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, as their destination. Clearfield County was settled in the early 1800s by farmers and loggers, and legend has it that it got its name from the cleared fields that were already there when the first European settlers arrived. In the latter part of the 19th century, as the virgin timber was all but gone, victim to the logger's saw, the industrial revolution was already in high gear in the nearby cities of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and the furnaces needed high-grade coal and coke to produce the steel. The problem lay in a chronic shortage of manpower in the rural areas that produced the coal, so the big coal companies and the steamship lines found a perfect marriage -- the steamship companies made their sweeps through Europe, already overcrowded and disease-ridden, offering passage to the New World and jobs; the passage was paid for by the coal barons and America's newest immigrants were able to pay for the tickets with their labor in a very short time, and even save money to send for their loved ones. Many of the newcomers never intended to stay, and they made frequent trips back home, finally using their new-found wealth to buy property in the Old Country. Many more, however, opted to stay in the United States, where the opportunities for personal growth were not restricted by the centuries of feudal rules and regulations that had kept most of these people as the poorest of the poor.

How did Andrej Ribár, descendant of a very long line of poor farmers, end up in Ramey, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, in the Spring of 1892? He had no experience in the coal mines, but he knew a good deal when he saw one, and in this deal he saw his one chance to own more than a sliver of land. He had married Katalin Kozák in Nizná Mysl'a, Slovakia, in October 1891, in the beautiful Catholic Church that overlooks the valley south of Kosice. Katalin's half-brother, George Kozák, had been living in America since 1889, and he was eager for his wife, Anna Maria (Barnic), and two children to join him. But it was not wise for a woman to travel alone with small children, and so Andrej said his good-byes to his new bride and boarded the train in Kosice with George's wife and children. Andrej would not see Katalin again for four years. We do not know why she did not travel with him, but it's likely that they lacked the money for another ticket, or Andrej simply wanted to get established before sending for his bride.

Andrej's early years in America are somewhat a mystery. In all likelihood he stayed with George and Anna in Ramey while he saved the money to send for Katalin. It was not until 1896 that Katalin was finally able to join Andrej in America, and they settled into a small-town routine in Ramey. They began their family immediately, eventually having seven children. During these years the family name underwent numerous permutations before eventually becoming 'Rebar'. There are records which give the spelling as 'Ribar', 'Rybar', and even 'Reeber' (which is on my father's birth record). Oddly enough, even though the spelling in every case in the Nizná Mysl'a Roman Catholic parish records for the 19^th century is Ribár, the only variant of the name I was able to find in Slovak telephone books in 1995 was Rybar!

Andrej's ancestors had worked the fields as farm laborers for centuries, and Andrej was not well-disposed to working in the coal mines. His health also began to deteriorate from the cold and damp in the mines, and he developed tuberculosis. On August 1, 1907, Andrej purchased a 128-acre farm for $520.00 cash and a promise to pay another $520.00 within three years. The seller retained mineral rights to all the coal underlying the farm except for the five acres the farmhouse and buildings were situated on. The deed was written such that the seller could not be held liable for any destruction to the land or water resulting from the mining of the coal there, including any damage from deposit of the coal waste on the property. I have only seen the property twice in my life; it appears to be nice, flat bottom land, but my father said that it kept the family in virtual poverty the entire time they lived there, which was only about 12 years.

Both Andrej and Katalin died in 1921, he from pulmonary tuberculosis and complications from miner's asthma, she from acute nephritis. Katalin died in August, and upon her death, Andrej went to live with his daughter, Anna, taking his two youngest children, George and Catherine, with him. On the evening of November 14^th, a Monday, he bid good-night to his daughter and went to sleep on the couch, taking young George with him. During the early morning hours of November 15^th, Andrej passed away quietly in his sleep.

Pictured at left are Dot Polenik and Jim Rebar during their trip to Slovakia in 1995. Behind them is the valley south of Nizná Mysl'a; photo taken from Nizná Mysl'a Roman Catholic church where many Rebar ancestors were married.

Well, that's it for another year and another newsletter. Please remember to drop us a line next year when you get the reunion invitation, and let us know of any special events that have occurred in your family. We want everyone to feel like they're a part of the family, and we do this by sharing your information with others. You can play a big role in this endeavor.

Dorothy Rebar Polenik and Jim Rebar