Walter Balachowski (1889-1963) was born in Buffalo, New York, and his wife Frences Schwanek Balachowski (1889-1964) was born in Prussia, Poland. They had seven children ~ five boys and two girls. The two girls were Leona, who was born and died in 1919, and Adeline Francis who was born and died in 1923. The five boys were: Ben (1917-1998); Elmer (1920-2014); Edward (1924-2014); Frank (1927-2007), and Richard (1928-2014). The house Walter and Frences lived in was in Ward 13 in Cleveland, which is called the Old Brooklyn and Stockyard neighborhoods.
At some point, their sons changed their last name from Balachowski to Balach, Bala, and Balla. If I'm not mistaken, Ben and Elmer went with Balach; Ed and Frank went with Bala, and Rich added an extra "l" for Balla.
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| Rich, Frank (standing) Ed, Elmer (seated) |
I don't have any pictures of Uncle Ben, as he died in 1998, and unfortunately, all of the sons ~ our Dads ~ have now passed as well. This picture of Rich (upper left), Frank (upper right), Ed (lower left) and Elmer (lower right) was taken at the one family reunion I attended in July 2005. Looking at the four of them, I see that Frank and Elmer resemble each other, and Rich and Ed resemble each other ~ round heads vs. oval heads. 😂 (I wish I had pictures of our grandparents to see who they took after.)The only remaining wife is Charlotte Balla, Rich's wife. Frank's wife, Marty, passed away only within the last couple of weeks. Elmer's wife, Anne, passed away in 1988, but his girlfriend, Pat Kominek, is still with us. Ed's wife, Adeline, passed away in 2014. I don't have any information on Ben and I don't remember his wife's name.
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Rich & Charlotte, a second cousin I do not know, Elmer,
Frank & Martha, and Ed & Adeline |
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This looks like a picture from the 1994 Reunion
(The "Brothers" -- Ed, Frank, Elmer, Rich & Ben) |
The following are pictures from the July 2005 Reunion: |
| Elmer with Laura & Dave Bala |
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| Aunts Mary & Charlotte |
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| Bill & Cindy Balach |
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| Frank Bala |
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| Pat Kominek & Frank Bala |
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| Laura & Dave with Adeline Bala |
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| Ed and Elmer |
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| Elmer, Ed, Frank & Rich (Ed's son in the background) |
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| Elmer, Frank, Larry (Ben's son), Rich & Ed |
We are the children of Ben, Elmer, Rich, Frank and Ed. We are the Cousins. The Cousins don't get to see each other very often, even though most of them live in the surrounding Cleveland area. We all have our own lives, jobs and children, so it's hard to make time to get together. However, in August of 2019, I stopped in Cleveland for a visit, before heading off again to Texas.
I was always in contact with Linda and Diana through Facebook, so we tried for a get together before I took off again. Linda set up a Cousin Group on Facebook Messenger and suggested a reunion for the cousins and their spouses at the Winking Lizard in Independence, Ohio on Sunday, August 4, 2019. Most everyone was able to come to the reunion, and it was fantastic having so many of us together again and be able to catch up with each other's lives.
There were only a few who were not able to make the reunion: Debbie, who just moved back from California; Larry and Kathy were not feeling well; I don't know about Mary Ann; Ed did not come, and also missing was Mike and Diane. Bill even drove two hours from Columbus to join us. Pat did not come either.
I made a list of the Parents and their children, going in order of age:
(1) Ben and ???, whose children are Larry (Kathy) and Mary Ann;
(2) Elmer and Anne, whose children are Gayle (Jim), Mike (Diane) and Bill (Cindy);
(3) Ed and Adeline, whose children are Cheryl (John), Ed, and Dave (Laura);
(4) Frank and Marty, whose children are Linda (Jim), Debbie (Bill), Lorene (Eric), and Diana (Mitch); and
(5) Rich and Charlotte, whose children are Gary and Bruce (Karen).
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