The Pinsinskis

Marcella Christine Pinsinki (Jan. 31, 1929 - Apr. 30, 2000) was born in Utica, NY to Joe and Stella (Mielczarek) Pinsinski. She was the youngest of 11 siblings. She grew up at 717 Lenox Ave. in Utica, NY. She married Robert L. Zarnoch in July 1947. After his death in 1983, she remarried Donald E. Blanchard (1925-2013) on October 24, 1997. Growing up, Marcella's older sisters took care of her. Unlike her older siblings (except Hank), Marcella did not attend the Szkoła Świętej Trójcy (the Holy Trinity School), but instead attended public schools. According to Hank, they both attended under the surname Purnie (a name Vinn had been using for his business) so that they did not stick out as Polish in a school filled with children of Italian, Welsh, Irish and German immigrants. However, Marcella always loved the traditional folk costumes and dances of Poland. Both Vinn and Hank used the surname Purnie later in life. Growing up during the Depression, she once related a story about how she and her brothers would chew tar off the roads because they couldn't afford gum, and another about how she and Hank (and probably her other siblings) used to tie their sleds to car bumpers and ride around town that way in the winter. When she was younger, Marcella dreamed about being an archaeologist, but her dislike of extreme heat and humidity eventually convinced her she didn't want to pursue that career. She always tried to make the holidays a special time for her family and friends. And while she was not the best cook, she did have a few dishes, like her pot roast and her apple pie, that were delicious. Although she disliked writing poetry, she had a knack for it. Her older siblings include: Ignace or Vinn (1911-1969), Julianne or Julie (1913-1992), Helen (1914-1981), Amelia or Emily (1916-1987), Edith (1917-2013), Joseph (1918-2000), Frances (1920-1995), Janina or Sister Beatrice CSFN (1922-2012), Florence (1923-2001), and Henry or Hank (1926-2013). She is buried in Holy Trinity Cemetery, Yorkville, NY.

Left is a picture of Marcella around age 14, c.1943.

Teofil (Joseph) Konstanty Piusinski (Mar. 3, 1881 - Mar. 28, 1964) was born in Płock, Płocki, Russia (now Płock, Mazowieckie, Poland) to Teofil and Maria (Kosztowna) Piusinski. Joe had 2 brothers and 3 sisters, none of whom came to America. His siblings were: Jozefa, Stefanie, Zofia, Piotr, and Zigmund. Joe had first come to the US in 1905, staying until 1908. According to his first papers he was 5'8" and came to the US on the S.S. Potsdam. In 1910, he married Stella in Poland. Joe was a "fire-man engineer" by trade, working at the Utica Knitting Co. For 12 hours a day, he would shovel coal into furnaces to keep the fires burning hot enough. In his book, Hank says he was twice severely scalded. After work, Joe would come home and relax in his chair and smoke a hand-rolled cigarette and listen to Stella's report on who had been good and bad that day. Those deserving a severe punishment would be struck with a 5-tailed leather strap which hung nearby, though Hank says it was hung more as a reminder than actually used. He could be quick-tempered, but at the same time he was kind and generous. Once he bought a bicycle for his son because he knew his best friend had been given a new one. Joe played the accordion, his only possession he'd brought with him from Poland, according to Edith. At family gatherings he would often play while others sang along. Right: Joe around 1915, see full image in the Additional Pictures section below.

Stanisława (Stella) G. Mielczarek (Oct. 12, 1885 - Aug. 13, 1975) was born in Biała, Płocki, Russia (now Biała, Mazowieckie, Poland) to Franciszek Mielczarek and his first wife Jadwiga Dylewska (1861-1892). Stella had 8 siblings: Czesław, Henryk, Jan (1883-?), Ignacy (1887-?), Jozef, Rumcza, Julia (1890-1977), Bronisława Romana (1892-?) and 3 half-sisters: Bolesława Franciszka (1894-?), Władysława (1896-?) and Genowefa (1898-?). After marrying Joe in Poland in 1910, Stella came to the US for the first time. She never learned to speak English. While Stella had taken care of the older children, the younger children were cared for by her older daughters, especially Julia who was often the one to announce dinner, feed, wash, and help undress her youngest brothers and sisters. Hank quipped the he did not meet his mother, Stella, until he was about 6 or 7 years old! Marcella felt the same way, she was not particularly close with her mother, instead she remembers her sisters being the ones to take care of her and do activities with her. In July 1975, Marcella was notified by her mother's live-in nurse that she had died. Marcella rushed over to the house and paramedics had already pronounced her dead. Marcella's son Ken had accompanied her, leaving class to do so. Moments later Stella sat up on the stretcher, apparently fine. The same thing happened about two weeks later. The third time Marcella was called, Ken did not accompany her, thinking perhaps another false alarm, but it wasn't. Stella is buried in Holy Trinity Cemetery next to Joe. Left: Stella in the early 1960s.

Other Mielczareks in America

Stella had one of her siblings come to America in July of 1912, a sister Julia Mielczarek who married Stanley Stephen Marciniak (1885-1959) in Poland shortly before she emigrated. Julia was born February 15, 1890 in Biała. Julia and Stan left the port at Bremen on July 20, 1912 aboard the S.S. König Albert, they arrived in New York on July 31st. According to their ship manifest, Stan was about 5'9" with blond hair and brown eyes. Julia had blond hair and grey eyes. She is also listed as 5'9", but looking down the manifest almost everyone on that page is... The couple had been living with Stan's father, Jozef in Dziarnowo. Stan had $38 with him when he arrived. Initially they made their home on Potter Ave, just down the street from her sister Stella. When the Pinsinskis moved to Lenox Ave; Julia, Stan and their children followed, moving into 708 Lenox. She and Stan had five children: Edward "Butch" (1912-1998), Thaddeus (1914-2001), Stanley (1916-1939, he died in an accident at work), Edith (1917-2004), and Zigmund (1920-1989). Stan worked for the American Hardwall & Plaster Co. as a general laborer. Neither he or Julia knew how to read and write in English, but they did know how to in Polish. Julia died on December 29, 1977, both she and her husband are buried in Holy Trinity Cemetery in Yorkville, NY.

Additional Photos

Left (top): The Piusinski family, c.1915. From left to right is Julie, Joseph, Vinn, Stella and Helen.

Left (bottom): The Pinsinski siblings before their trip to Poland in the late 1970s/early 1980s. From left to right: Hank, Bob Zarnoch, Frances, Edith, Joe, and his wife Joan. The young blond man behind Edith and Joe may be Bob's son Steve (who did not go on the trip). Other siblings not pictures also attended. The trip was organized by Sister Beatrice.

Right: Marcella's paternal cousin Apolonija Jagodzińska, date unknown.

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