BioA: Bezak, Mr. & Mrs. Steven (Silver – 1965)  

Contact: Dinah Reinke

Email: dinah@wiclarkcountyhistory.org  

Surnames:  Bezak, Leffel, Krauss, Walley, Kluka, Radtke, Ewert, Gogola, Piencikowski, Golub, Golimowski, O’Connor, Sell, Henning, Prange, Kohls, Logan, Trampala

------ Source: Tribune-Phonograph (Abbotsford and Colby, Clark Co., Wis.) 05/20/1965

------ Bezak, Mr. & Mrs. Steven (Silver – 18 MAY 1965)

Mr. and Mrs. Steven Bezak of Abbotsford celebrated their silver wedding anniversary on Saturday, May 15.

The festivities began with a 6 o’clock dinner for 115 close relatives and friends at St. Bernard’s church hall.

Mr. and Mrs. Bezak then held open house at the city hall where approximately 400 guests joined them for dancing and social evening after which a buffet supper was served.

For the occasion the honored couple had with them their attendants of the marriage which took place at Milwaukee May 18, 1940, when the former Elsie Leffel became the bride of Steve Bezak.  They were Mrs. Henry Krauss and Melvin Leffel, both of Milwaukee, sister of the groom and brother of the bride.

A corsage of three gardenias, identical to the one worn by the bride at her wedding, was chosen for the anniversary celebration.

Guest honored with corsages were the two daughters, Mrs. Marianna Walley of Eau Claire and Miss Caroline Bezak of Abbotsford; Mr. Bezak’s mother, Mrs. Mary Bezak, and his god mother, Mrs. Mary Kluka, both of Milwaukee; Mrs. Bezak’s great aunt, Mrs. Clara Radtke of Stratford, and god mother, Mrs. Albert Ewert, and a boutonniere for Mr. Ewert, the god father.

Other guests were the seven Walley grand children of Eau Claire; Mr. Bezak’s two brothers and three sisters, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Bezak and Mr. and Mrs. John Bezak, and their families, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Krauss and family, Miss Mary Gogola, Mrs. Katherine Piencikowski, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Golub; a sister and two brothers of Mrs. Bezak, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Golimowski and Sandy, Melvin Leffel and Mardell and Mrs. Bernadette O’Connor, all of Milwaukee; and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Leffel, Wentworth, Mrs. Gust Ewert of Mosinee, Mrs. Erma Sell of Wausau, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Leffel of Marshfield, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Henning of Sheboygan, Mr. and Mrs. Carl Prange of Abbotsford, Mr. and Mrs. W. Kohls of Sheboygan and Mrs. Jessie Logan and Jerry Trampala, Milwaukee, were among the relatives and friends.

Also present were guests from Sheboygan Falls, Sheboygan, Schofield, Mosinee, Marshfield, Stratford, Edgar, March Rapids, Spencer, Unity, Curtiss, Colby, Dorchester, Waukesha, West Milwaukee, Mequon, Merrill, Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, La Crosse, Medford, Park Falls, Wentworth, Abbotsford, and vicinity.

Mr. and Mrs. Bezak lived in Milwaukee after their marriage until 1945 when they moved to Unity where Mr. Bezak had a shoe repair shop.  On Nov. 17, 1949, Mr. and Mrs. Bezak opened a shoe store in Abbotsford and in 1953 built an apartment over the store and on Dec. 1 of that year took up residence in Abbotsford.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Bezak are active in community affairs and Mr. Bezak is presently serving as the first mayor of the city of Abbotsford.