Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Kulinski, Stokosa, Gajda, Semeniuk, Stoklosa, Brecht
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 8/16/2017
Kulinski Travels (Visits Ancestral Home - 2017)
Kulinski Travels to Visit Ancestral Home of Longtime Friend
Joe Stokosa
By Valorie Brecht
Chris Kulinski says one man who impacted his life in a positive way was no “ordinary Joe.”
Kulinski recently embarked on a tour to Poland to visit the family estate of the grandfather of Joe Stokosa, a man who had a great impact on Kulinski as a young man. The story begins when Kulinski’s family immigrated to the United States following World War II.
After a 10-year paper trail process, Kulinski’s family was finally able to legally settle in Wisconsin. They moved to a 60-acre farm, two miles south of Lublin. Two days after the family was situated, Kulinski’s father took a job at the Winger Dairy.
Kulinski recalls, “Initially, [my dad] got paid half of what the others were getting, but he did not complain. He just got on his bike and pedaled back and forth to work from the farm.”
Kulinski’s parents also received a “very used” 1948 Ford Coupe from a neighbor. “You could see the gravel road through the floorboards, and it had constant breakdowns,” Kulinski said.
Needless to say, life was tough for Kulinski’s family as immigrants trying to make it in America. Kulinski said, “It was difficult for my parents to feed the family – let alone fix the car. There was no welfare then, no grief counselors, no psychologists, no interpreters, and no documents written in any of the seven languages my mother and father understood. We did not know any English!”
However, Kulinski said, “There were people in the community that spoke good Polish back then, and that helped in the transition, Joe Stokosa was one of those people.”
Joe/Joseph (“Jozef” in Polish) Stokosa had always wanted to own a garage. He and his wife, Shirley, became proprietors of the Lublin Garage, buying it from Ed Gajda, when Gajda decided to get out of the business. Stokosa kept busy as he also farmed in the Lublin area.
Stokosa received his mechanics training in the military working in the motor pool during the Korean War. “He proudly served his country, just as he dedicated his service to the community and anyone in need,” said Kulinski.
“I remember the first time I met Joe Stokosa,” Kulinski recalled. “He had put tin panels on the floor of the car so our feet would not fall through. Mom cut out heavy cardboard boxes to make our floor mats. We improvised! Joe fixed that vehicle many time; he knew that we had no money but would always say, ‘Pay me when you can.’”
One day, Kulinski over-heard Stokosa tell his father in Polish that the car was a piece of junk, and couldn’t be repaired any more. In 1963, Stokosa helped the family find a 1953 Chevy Deluxe Sedan. “We had that car into the 70s,” Kulinski said.
But helping out the Kulinski family was just one example of Stokosa’s generous spirit. “Joe helped many people,” Kulinski said. “Being a workaholic, it was a rarity for him to take a day off. He was a true mechanic. He would take apart things and fix them no matter what it was or what condition it was in.”
Kulinski continued, “When called after hours, Joe would go out – even in the middle of the night – to help people in distress. In freezing cold, or scorching heat, he was always on call. Through the years, he pulled many an inebriated resident out of the tullies after a night of celebratory chauffeuring, and saved them from receiving a driving award from the authorities. You wouldn’t dare do that today!”
Kulinski said Stokosa could always be counted on, whether he was “plowing snow in the winter, or driving 50 miles to retrieve a broken-down vehicle.” Stokosa made time for the people in his community.
In summary, Kulinski said, “Joe was so much more than just an ‘automotive service specialist’; he was a friend and confidant. He could use common sense and reason. He understood many topics better than some people with a Master’s degree that I have met. Nothing got by Joe; he understood!”
In 2015, Stokosa passed away due to an aggressive form of cancer, following the Lublin centennial at the end of July.
Throughout the years, Kulinski and Stokosa had many conversations about Stokosa’s background. They talked about where in Poland Stokosa’s parents came from and the history of his surname.
The name used to be Stoklosa, but the letter “l” was eliminated. In Polish, “sto” means 100 and “klosa” means head of grain. Thus, “Stoklosa” means a bountiful head of grain (wheat) having 100 seeds.
Kulinski researched Stokosa’s family roots for some time, and was able to locate their ancestral village southeast of Krakow (Cracow). Kulinski recalled, “Joe told me that his Grandpa Jozef was adopted and raised by in-laws. That was all he knew.”
Kulinski said he finally connected the dots after deciphering the correct spelling of the family name and determining the location of the small village Skrzedlna. He then contacted a friend of his, named Piotr (“Peter”) Semeniuk, and the former chief of staff for the city of Lublin, Poland.
Semeniuk contacted the village officials, who in turn located an elderly man named Stoklosa in his 90s. This man remembered talk of Jozef Sr., having left for America as well as some other family survivors leaving for France.
Semeniuk was then able to fill the missing pieces for Kulinski, saying that many people, including some of Jozef’s family members, were killed during the insurrection of 1863 against their occupiers/oppressors.
Mr. Stokosa currently lives in a house next to the train tracks on the property owned by the Stokosa’s for over 300 years. “I am certain that I found Joe’s cousin,” Kulinski said. In 2015, Joe Stokosa turned 83, and his cousin was 88 at that time.
Kulinski departed Aug. 7, on a tour that will bring this story full circle for him. The Eastern European cultural Society honoring history, heritage and culture sponsored a two-week tour to Poland, and Lithuania with 35 people participating. The tour follows the historical parameters of the second dynast of Poland (the Jagiellonian Dynasty) and the Polish Lithuanian Union. This tour is in special honor of the 700-year anniversary of Lublin, Poland’s incorporation (1317 to 2017).
Prior to embarking on this exciting journey, Kulinski said, “On behalf of my respect for Joe Stokosa (Stoklosa) and his wife, Shirley, and their children, Janice, Michael, and David, I will fulfill Joe’s quest for ‘the rest of the story’ with a stop at Wola Skrzydlanska #9, Skrzydlna, Poland, Joe will be with us in spirit on that day when in his honor we visit the family estate of his grandfather.
