Bio

Mom and Pop came to the United States in 1903. Pop was born in on 11/13/1884 in Lomza, Poland. His father's name was Adam Rutkowski and his mother's name was Catherine Malahowska. Mom was a Polish Lithuanian born 12/10/1885. Receipt of Pop's social security records indicate that he was not from the Kracow area, but from Lomza, which is a city that is NE of Warsaw. You can find some information about what the surname Rutkowski means here. Lomza was at one time a province as well, but is now mostly contained within Podlaskie. You can see it's location here.

They were married in Poland. Soon thereafter, Pop came to the United States, and Mom followed shortly after Pop. Pop was only 19 years old when he moved to the U.S, and despite his young age had served in the military for awhile in Poland before leaving. Their first child was Alec, born in 1907. The last of the nine children was Vic, born in 1922.

Mom and Pop were lucky during the depression since Pop was never out of work. Most of the boys also found work. Eddie said they never did without what was needed, that he was able to buy nice clothes with the money he earned, and all in all they had a very happy childhood and were a very close family.

All the children went through Polish/Catholic school with the exception of Eddie and Vic, who went to Hamilton High. Eddie said that both he and Vic wanted to go to public school, and the only reason he was able to go to Hamilton High is because Vic wanted to as well, and since Vic was the youngest, were able to convince their parents to let them have their way.

All of the boys, with the exception of Alec, served in the military during WWII, and all of them made it through, although Yosh was lost for a year in Iceland. Joe was the first of the family to die, and the only one of the immediate family to die at a young age. He was returning to Massachusetts after visiting Alec at the shore, and his car hit a pole. He was pronounced dead at Philadelphia Naval Hospital. There were no skid marks at the scene, and the cause of the accident is unknown. He died at the age of 42.

Mom and Pop lived their entire lives on the property on Steward Ave. in Trenton, New Jersey. They originally lived in the small bungalow, then built and moved to the Big House next door when their family grew. Various family members lived on the property as adults. Ina lived with Mom & Pop while Eddie was overseas during the war. At the same time, Beverly, Joe's daughter, was living there. Joe lived there when he wasn't overseas while Beverly lived there. Jean and Danny lived there for a short time before Jean married Tony, and Steffie, George, and Carole lived there while their house was being built, right after Ina and Eddie moved out. Walt and June lived in the big house for quite some time. After Mom died, Yosh lived in the big house, which was sold after Yosh's death. Vic still lives in the original bungalow on what is left of the family propertly.

There was also other family in Trenton who had immigrated to the U.S. Pop had a brother named Thadeusz. Thadeusz had a son, Stanley (Stanislaw), who was a district attorney in Trenton for awhile and good friends with Yosh, his cousin. Thadeusz had two other sons and a daughter. One of the sons died during WWII. Mom had a brother named John Matuk (need verification), who also lived in Trenton. They had other relatives, and there are no doubt many cousins who are unknown at this time. There was a female cousin who attended Pop's funeral, but her name is unknown at this time.

Pop died at the age of 80. Mom died only a few short months after Pop died. Many family members died of various illnesses between the late 1980s through the early 1990s. At the present time, only Walt and Vic are left.