Johnstown Hero - Edward Hanzel - WW II

JOHNSTOWN HERO - Pfc. Edward Hanzel - sent in by daughter Georganne Yurasko - this post is a pure pleasure to write - I've known the Hanzel Family all my life - besides being related - we lived on the same street. Ed and wife Kitty (McGinty) were a fixture down at the Catholic War Vets in Cambria City - where I was a bartender. Ed was an officer, Kitty worked the kitchen and I worked the bar - listening to all the old vets talk about the war.

Pfc. Edward Hanzel of Sbor 30, Johnstown, Pa., is the first member of the SKS Assembly to be acclaimed a hero in this second World War. Brother Hanzel was with a rifle company somewhere in the Pacific which was credited with killing 100 Japs in two days of fighting. In the same hellfire engagement, Hanzel crawled forward to a wounded sergeant's side without of his personal safety and pulled the wounded leader back yards to a place of relative security.

V-MAIL Letter - Ed to his sister Anna - dated August 19, 1944

Dear Sis,

I received your letter and was very glad to hear from you. At the present I am in the best of health and hopes this letter finds you the same.

I see by your letter your doing all right for yourself. By the time you get this letter you will be going to school. So let me know what your taking in your senioe year. Are you taking a Commericial course same as Rosemary.

I had a letter from Rosemary and she told me she is a stenograpgher. I also had a letter from Johnny Har? you heard from any of them lately.

Well I'll have to close for now kindest regards to all. By the way I saw a movie the other night. About a doctor I enjoyed it very much even though it was a old picture. 

Write soon

Your brother

"Eddie"

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Meet the Spishak Family - Chestnut Street - Cambria City - from around 1913. 

Top Row: Joseph, Anna (Hanzel) Ed's mother, Suzanne (Sister Lullus) and John

Bottom Row: Stephen, Helen (Vrabel), Anna (Bosa), Thomas and Mary (Kitsko).

Bucky's Roof - Morrellville

This is my Aunt Dorothy (Hanzel) Kinnel sitting on the roof of Bucky's Bar at the corner of Fairfield Avenue and D Street in Morrellville. Dorothy was one of my grandmother's sisters and one of the kindest people I ever knew - always a smile and a laugh...
This was taken in the late 1940's when my mother and her family lived in one of the upstairs apartments - that was always full of bugs - they'd turn the lights on and all the little creatures would go running for cover.

Slovak Educational Club - 1950's

Vintage Repeat - This is the old S.E.S Club on Virginia Avenue. My Uncle Mike Toth is the guy sitting second from the right with his hand on his chin.  I have no idea who the others are. The only times I ever went in there was at Christmas. For all of you of a certain age - remember the bag of goodies we'd all get during the holidays - an apple or orange, popcorn ball and Mallo Cups.
What I love the most about this picture is the bar itself - the old bartender in me appreciates just how hard that poor barmaid dressed to kill really did have it - even though it pains me to say it - I still miss tending bar at times and then the feeling goes away....click on the picture to enlarge it.

Iron Street - 1917

This is a picture of my Aunt Marge (Margaret (Hanzel) Toth from 1917. She is the little one - second from right and is still going strong at 97 years of age - her birthday was yesterday. The boy on the right is my Uncle Joseph Hanzel. I have no idea who the girl with the glasses is. But the girl with black hair with her arm around my aunt is her Aunt Sue (Stofko) Stevens who was only a couple of years older than Margaret. Aunt Marge has survived Pallitive Care twice and as far as I know - is the longest living member of my family ever.

Downtown Johnstown - 1940's

Vintage Repeat - My grandmother's sister - Dorothy (Hanzel) Kinnel walking around downtown Johnstown in the late 1940's.

St. Francis Church - May Day

My cousin (first on the right) - May Day Procession at St. Francis Church in Morrellville I don't know the exact year.

Writing Home - World War Two

That is Frank Hanzel from Morrellville - my grandmothers brother on the right - writing a letter home.

Dreams of the Past

Woke up dreaming about my great-grandmother Mary (Stofko) Hanzel 1894-1978. She was making homemade noodles in her kitchen for chicken soup. For at least that last two weeks - I wake up everyday dreaming about old pictures and it's getting more exhausting than anything else (but I did enjoy my dream about walking thru old downtown Johnstown). You'd think it would be great - but it's driving me nuts now....I guess it's one of the hazards of doing a site like this.

Hanzel - Stofko Family - Johnstown

Let me introduce you to my Hanzel Family from 94 Barron Avenue - this from around 1928. From left to right: Mary (Hanzel) Bobko, mother Mary (Stofko) Hanzel holding Dorothy (Hanzel) Kinnel, Margaret (Hanzel) Toth standing next to father Joseph Hanzel (Muranska Huta, Slovakia). The three kids in front, Frank Hanzel, my grandmother Helen (Hanzel) Lenz and Clara (Hanzel) Pynkala. Missing from this picture is their brother Joe who was the one taking the photo. The building behind them is still standing. It used to house a dry cleaner on Fairfield Avenue.

This next picture is a wonderful photo of my Stofko great-grandparentsparents:

This is John Stofko (1868-1945) from Brezovcia, Slovakia and his second wife Mary D'Zembak also from Brezovcia, Slovakia. This photo dates to around 1930 in Minersville. John, his brother Andrew and sister Anna came over to Johnstown in 1885 and settled in the Minersville section of the city along Connelly Avenue - the area near what is now the Minersville Bridge. Working in the mill - he somehow survived the 1889 Flood - which living by the Conemaugh River probably saved him and first wife Susanna Timchak. They would have seen just how quickly things can go from bad to worse - since they saw the damages from an earlier flood (1887). I know living by a crick - you pay more attention to the weather - than a normal person does.

This is the young Stofko clan taken around 1910 in the backyard of their home along Iron Street. From left to right: Sue (Stofko) Stevens, Margaret (Stofko) Patrick, John, Stephen, Mary (Stofko) Hanzel, Andrew and Joseph. My great-grandmother Mary Hanzel lost her own mother in 1896 when she was only 2 years old. Her mother Susanna Timchak died as a result of childbirth complications. It is her mtDNA that I and many of my cousins share. Since I put the results in a data base. I have talked to two people in the last year - that have the same exact mtDNA. Pretty cool! Their house is still there - you can see it directly from the Giant Eagle parking lot.

Fr. Louis Hanzel

Fr. Louis Hanzel - one of the Hanzel cousins - his family had a farm on Linkville Road.

Cambria City Kids - 1916

This is another photograph of Cambria City kids taken around 1916. And the reason I say '16 is that that I know the little girl on the right hand side -  standing with a bow on top of her head. I believe that she is my Aunt Mary (Hanzel) Bobko. I have similar picture of her in the same outfit. And I don't half wonder that maybe some of the other children might have been from McConaughy Street - where my Hanzel family used to live.

Bucknell Hotel - Morrellville

 

My Aunt Dorothy (Hanzel) Kinnel sitting on the roof of the old Bucknell Hotel corner of Fairfield and D - 1940's. My grandparents lived there for a time right after my mother was born. My mother used to say that the place had the biggest roaches and silverfish.

Stackhouse Street - Morrellville

For some reason this week - I keep dreaming about this house - the old Hanzel Homestead on Stackhouse Street in Morrellville. That is my g-grandmother Mary (Stofko) Hanzel sitting on the porch. Judging from the picture - she must not have known this was being taken. She hated getting her picture taken.

Morrellville Gal

My mother Gail (Lenz) Cacicia standing in front of the Hanzel homestead on Stackhouse Street. Virginia Avenue is in the background. This was one of her favorite outfits - she's dressed for Easter. I can actually remember her wearing this from the hat to the gloves - for Easter Sunday Mass at St. Francis - in Latin - right before things changed over to all English - but we could never figure out exactly what year this was.

Happy Birthday

 

My grandmother on the left - Helen (HanzeL) Lenz - would have turned 90 today. The youngster in the bunch is my cousin Marie (Toth) Edmiston - one of the funniest people I know. Next to her is her mother - Marge (Hanzel) Toth - still around at 96 and Clara (Hanzel) Pynkala - who is also still going strong. I think that is the back of my head - for some reason my hair was less curly growing up. And that is our old Plymouth Station Wagon - the best car ever! We used to fight who would sit backwards in the seat by the hatch.

First Communion - St. Stephens - 1930's

 

This is my Aunt Kathleen (Hanzel) Vilkofsky - the youngest of all the Hanzel girls - making her First Holy Communion at St. Stephen's Church in the late 1930's. She was one of those pleasant kind of people if you know what I mean - you liked being around her - alot of members of my family are like that - we are all funny people - some may say - funny in the head - but we don't care. If you're around us during a family get together - you will have a good time and you will eat like a pig - because that's the kind of people we are.

Happy Birthday - 1960's

Happy Birthday wishes go to my sister Kelly (Cacicia) Edwards - she is the one in middle balling about something I must have done - you can tell by the look on her face - she still looks at me that way or maybe she's mad we're wearing the same color top! It couldn't have been our brother Bob - since he is sitting there looking like a little angel. We are on the back stoop at our great-grandmothers house on Stackhouse Street - the Hanzel Homestead - where we spent many happy holidays.

The Hanzel Clan - Stackhouse Street - 1930's

I just love this picture of the three Hanzel girls. In the back standing at the doorway is my Aunt Marge (Hanzel) Toth. Still going strong at 96 years of age. She's so tough - that she has survived Pallitive Care - not once - but twice! I think the boy is Bobby Patrick - but I could be wrong about that. On the left is my Aunt Dorothy (Hanzel) Kinnel - one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet.  I'm not sure who is the little baby is. On the right is my Aunt Kathleen - who always had a smile on her face and enjoyed laughing and joking around and loved a good Coney Island hotdog.

Glider Time - Pynkala Family

Can't let today go by - without wishing my cousin Mary Ann (Pynkala) Brilhart - A Very Happy Birthday - she is the little girl with the Shirley Temple locks. Along with her - is her mother Clara (Hanzel) Pynkala and her brothers - Butch and Tom. This picture was taken at the Hanzel Homestead on Stackhouse Street and that glider saw millions of back and forth miles. Mary Ann is one of the nicest people you could ever hope to know - if not one of the busiest - she never sits still. Wish I had all her energy!

Torrance TB Hospital - about 1928

Torrance was first built for TB patients - and my great-grandfather was a patient there around 1928 - he's the last one on the right - first row - Joseph Hanzel (1886 - 1930). He later died of the disease in 1930 - he was told on a sales trip for MetLife to get his affairs in order and he died at his Stackhouse Avenue home in Morrellville. Surrounded by his wife and children - he was laid out at the house - even embalmed in their claw foot tub.