Haloupek

Please look at the unidentified photos here and here and here.

Frank Louis CHALOUPEK was born in Belle Plaine, Iowa, 25 Mar 1881. His ancestors are on the CHALOUPEK page. He would have been 5 years old when the Jumbo Well made Belle Plaine world famous, for about 15 minutes! (See the Geography page.) Here is a page for Frank Haloupek, which has some overlap with this one, and some more information.

His father was also Frank Louis CHALOUPEK, and there were at least two other Frank CHALOUPEKs and also some Frank KALOUPEKs in and around Belle Plaine. When he reached adulthood, he had his name changed to HALOUPEK, so that he could get his mail! His brother Albert also changed to HALOUPEK.

Frank Louis HALOUPEK (1881-1965)

Frank Haloupek ran for County Treasurer in Benton County, 1912, and was a convention delegate in 1914, on the Socialist Ticket. It seems odd for a socialist to be Treasurer, or want to be! A sample ballot appeared in the Vinton Eagle. In 1912, there were five parties with candidates registered in Benton County: Democratic, Republican, Prohibition, Progressive and Socialist.

Frank married Kathryn Bess "Katie" SEVCIK on 3 Jun 1908, in Belle Plaine. One of the guests listed is Emma HALOUPEK. That would be Frank's sister, so apparently, she also changed her name to HALOUPEK. Until she got married, in 1914. Also in attendance were Kathryn's sister Mary, and her husband Joseph HADIMA, and his parents, James and Rosa HADIMA, and Kathryn's sister Edna.

Frank and Katie (SEVCIK) Haloupek, with their first child, Donald.

Katie SEVCIK was born 25 Sep 1885, somewhere in Tama County, Iowa. Her family had recently immigrated from Zalazany, Bohemia. Her older sister Fannie was born in 1880, in Bohemia, so they must have come over between 1880 and 1885. The story of Katie's ancestors is on the SEVCIK page. Here is a special page for Katie Sevcik.

Frank and Katie had 6 children:

Donald Albert (22 Jan 1911 - 26 Nov 1991)

Dorothry Marie (2 Oct 1914 - 26 May 1998)

George Joseph (31 Dec 1916 - 4 Oct 1997)

Walter Orville (18 May 1921 - 1 Oct 1944)

Jack Louis (10 Apr 1924 - 3 Feb 1994)

William Franklin (26 May 1928 - 15 Dec 1987)

All 5 sons served in the military, and most of them worked for the C&NW railroad at one time or another, as did their father, grandfather, and Uncle Albert. Pretty much all my other relatives were farmers, but the HALOUPEKs were railroaders.

[I moved the big family photo to the CHALOUPEK page, after I found out how many CHALOUPEKs were in it.]

Don, the oldest, was quite an athlete. He played center for a pro football team in Des Moines, Iowa, for one year.

Don HALOUPEK

Don received Bachelor's degrees in both math and coaching from Cornell College, in Mt. Vernon, IA. He was inducted into the Cornell Colege Hall of Fame, and also named to the Cornell Rams All Century Football Team. He was manager at Henry Lumber Company, supervising 12 employees, until WWII.

Don's timeline:

• • 22 Jan 1911 born in BP

  • 1937 married Helen F. BAKER

  • 1942 wife Helen BAKER died

  • 15 Oct 1942 joined the US Marines, at age 31, in the 17th A.A.A. Battalion

  • 20 Aug 1943 qualified as an Electrician's Mate at the US Naval Training Station in Newport, RI

  • 7 Mar 1944 qualified as a Radar Technician at Camp Lejune, in New River, NC

  • 27 Mar 1944 married Geneveive "Gene" MILLS, in Wilmington, NC

  • 19 Feb 1946 honorably discharged with the rank of Staff Sergeant

  • 26 Nov 1991 died in Cedar Rapids, IA

Don had no children from either marriage. His first wife, Helen F. BAKER (1912-1942), was the daughter of Albert Means Baker and Katharina "Katharine" (Dolak) (Wansor) Baker.

Helen may have been married before or after her marriage to Don. She died young, and Don's mother paid for the burial. The receipt for the cemetery plot lists the cause of death as "tubercular brain tumor."

Geneveive MILLS (21 Aug 1908 - 29 Dec 2000) was Don's 2nd wife. I've traced her lineage back to colonial times, in Hartford, Connecticut, and then into England, back as far as the 16th Century.

Don and Gene lived in Cedar Rapids, IA, where Don worked as a car inspector for the C&NW Railroad.

Dorothy married Guy H. MCCAUSLAND (21 Nov 1917 - ?). Guy's maternal line goes back to the BAXTERs of Pennsylvania in the 19th century, and the TRAVIS family of New York, late 18th/early 19th Century.

Ilai and Maria (SWEET) BAXTER, gg-grandparents of Guy MCCAUSLAND.

Dorothy and Guy had a son, Jack Alan MCCAUSLAND (4 Jul 1949 - 10 Feb 1985).

Dorothy Marie (HALOUPEK) MCCAUSLAND, and her son Jack MCCAUSLAND.

George married Dorothy Mae DITZLER (20 Mar 1921 - May 1993). They lived in Blairstown, IA, and had no children. George was in charge of marketing at a grocery store in Blairstown.

George served in the US Army during WWII. He was a 1st Lt. in the 34th Infantry Division, in Italy. He earned a Combat Infantry Badge and a Bronze Star.

Walter was also a great athlete. He wrestled in the heavyweight class at Cornell, and went to the NCAA Championships in 1941 and 1942. The second time he was pinned at 8:31 by Shuford SWIFT, Navy. Shortly thereafter, Walt was in the Navy! I don't know if he ever met up with Shuford SWIFT again. SWIFT became the Captain of a US Navy Destroyer.

Walt made first all-conference team in the Midwest Conference, 1942. He joined his brother Don in the Cornell College Sports Hall of Fame.

According to family lore, Walt was drafted by the Washington Redskins football team, but only played one exhibition game before going to fight in WWII, with the US Navy.

Tragically, Walter Orville HALOUPEK was lost at sea in 1944 when his submarine, the USS Harder II, was destroyed. The Harder had a heroic campaign, having sunk more than 20 Japanese warships.

Jack married Lois Maxine POSEKANY (21 Dec 1927 - 6 Oct 2009). Lois had grown up on a farm between Chelsea and Belle Plaine. They adopted 3 kids, and moved to Illinois, and then Springfield, MO.

Jack HALOUPEK in Army boot camp, around 1942. Never having skied before, he joined the 10th Mountain Division, otherwise known as the ski troops. He spent the war in northern Italy, earning three Battle Stars, a Bronze Star, and an Expert Infantryman's Badge. After the war, he never wanted to ski again! He was a Tech Sergeant.

William married Arlene JACOBI, and they lived in Marshalltown, Iowa. He served in the Army during the Korean War. Worked for C&GW Railroad until an injury forced his retirement. Worked for Security Bank for 10 years.

Bill loved to grill on his back porch. He had colon cancer, and died much too young, at age 59.

I've traced Arlene JACOBI's paternal line back to Henirich JACOBI, who died in Brilon, Germany, 16 Oct 1590, and her maternal line goes to the ELENBAAS and QUIST families in Zeeland, Netherlands, in the 16th Century.

The HALOUPEK family name is in danger of extinction. Brothers Frank and Albert changed from CHALOUPEK to HALOUPEK, so their descendants are probably the only HALOUPEKs anywhere. Albert had four daughters and no sons, so no more HALOUPEKs there, assuming normal naming conventions. Frank's 6 children only gave him 6 grandchildren, shown in the picture above. (Incidentally, 4 of the 6 were adopted.) The oldest boy was Jack, who died at age 35, leaving no children. The next oldest boy had two daughters and no sons. The youngest boy had two daughters and one son. That one son is now 5 years old, and represents the last hope of perpetuating the HALOUPEK name.

The Czech name CHALOUPEK, or CHALOUPKA, begins with a consonant that is hard for Americans to say. That is probably another reason for the name change. Even the vowels are challenging. Frank used to tell people how to pronounce HALOUPEK this way: If you had a peck (a quarter of a bushel) of peas, and you hulled them (took off the outer shells, or hulls) then you would "hull a peck" of peas. I would be surprised if that was consistent with the Czech pronunciation. I think Grandpa Frank was just trying to make it easy for Americans to pronounce the name. I don't know of any other word in English where the "ou" combination makes a "short a" sound.

Please take a look at the unidentified photos from Jack Haloupek's photo album, from the mid 1940s.

Chaloupek page

Back to Bill's Genealogy page

Last updated 18 Nov 2020 by William Haloupek. Contact haloupek at gmail dot com.