Lakewood Lore

Four brothers have been witness to changing times

In a new era of varying lifestyles, one Lakewood family’s record generates a symbolic reassurance that old-line values still exist, and that not everyone is opting for trendy changes.

Prideful, but not pretentiously so, each of the four Voytko brothers -- John, 85; Andrew, 83; Joseph, 80; and Peter, 77 -- has been married to his respective spouse for more than half a century.

Each of the brothers was born, reared and educated in Lakewood. Each was baptized and confirmed in the same Lakewood church, and each continues to worship there and live in our community.

“We were born and grew up in a home that once stood on Ridgewood at Madison, behind the Uno Theater,” said Peter, youngest of the brothers. “The home is gone now, and so is the movie theater.”

The Uno, which opened in 1917, later changed its name to the Royal Theater, and even later become Home Federal Saving Bank. Last year, the old building was torn down, and today, on the site, there is a new building that houses both a Lakewood branch of the bank and a Revco store with a drive-through pharmacy.

“Our parents -- Andrew Sr. and Suzanna Voytko -- were Slovak immigrants who came to America from Central Europe at the turn of the century,” Pete said.

“At first, they settled in Ava, Ohio, where Dad became a coal miner and carpenter. Then, they moved to Lakewood in the early 1900s, and dad got a job on an automobile assembly line in the area of Madison Avenue and Berea Road, where he helped make Winton cars.

“All four of us Voytko offspring attended grammar schools here, as well as Lakewood High (School),” Peter said.

“Religion, too, was a big part of our lives from the beginning. Father was charter founder of Pentecost Evangelical Lutheran Church on Madison at Clarence, and it eventually became the family church for all our clan.”

John, oldest of the brothers, married his wife Amelia (Millie) at Pentecost 56 years ago, and Andy, second oldest, followed suit five years later, tying the knot there with wife Anna.

The first couple has one daughter and two grandchildren; the second boasts three children and two grandchildren.

Nuptials for Joe and wife Mary 56 years ago, and for Pete and his Bessie 55 years ago, were performed in Pleasant City, Ohio, where the brides, who are sisters, had attended Holy Trinity Lutheran Church there before coming to Lakewood.

Joe and Mary have four children, eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren, while Pete and Bessie outnumber the others, with five children, 13 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

During their years in the workaday world, John was a lab technician for Pittsburgh Plate Glass; Andy, an engineer and draftsman for General Motors; Joe, a designer and engineer for Hinde & Dauch; and Pete, a tool and die maker at Eaton Corp.

In their retirement years, they have been kept busy with volunteer work and their hobbies.

Pete and Bessie, for example, continue to deliver food to the Hough intercity neighborhood on a monthly basis through their church-sponsored program in which they have participated for 33 years.

Those efforts and other generous acts of volunteerism won for them the “Good Neighbor Award” from WRMR-AM radio two months ago.

Pete and John are sports enthusiasts who still play golf. Joe remains involved in his long-standing avocation of building model airplanes, and Andy is an avid stamp collector.

“Lakewood is a wonderful place to live; we wouldn’t trade it for anywhere else,” Pete explained.

Today, John lives on Hilliard, Andy on Ridgewood, Joe on Blossom Park and Pete on Marlowe.

When asked to divulge their secrets for matrimonial harmony, Pete’s Bessie reaffirmed a statement the couples gave to the Lutheran Messenger publication recently: “When you’ve got a commitment, you don’t give up on it, and, above all, have Christ in the center of your life.”

Do they ever argue? “Sure, we argue,” Bessie said. “Show me a couple who do not. We argue but don’t hold grudges.”

This article by Dan Chabek appeared in the Lakewood Sun Post November 21, 1996. Reprinted with permission.

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