St. Mary’s of Czestochowa Cemetery

Source: Thorp Courier (Thorp, Clark Co., Wis.) 05/08/2009

Northwest of Thorp a few miles on Elm Road on the north side is the St. Mary’s of Czestochowa Cemetery.  This well maintained cemetery, located near the St. Mary’s of Czestochowa Church, is large and spacious.  From the entrance gate, displaying the name of the cemetery to passers by, graves are arranged in two rows, with a large altar bearing a crucifix at the end point.  Tall trees and flowers help visitors fell at ease and benches can be found throughout the cemetery.

The cemetery sexton, Ed Chura, provided us with the history of how the cemetery came to be.  A small group of Polish settlers moved to the Junction area around 1901, and by 1907, the thriving community wanted to construct a church and cemetery.  Mr. John Janik donated ten acres for the church while Mr. John Kot offered four acres for a cemetery.  The offers were accepted and in February 1908, the parish and cemetery were officially incorporated, with John Janik and Stephen Pluskwa as the first legal trustees.  Konstansy Zapisek, who accidentally drowned at the age of 22, was the first to be buried at the cemetery in 1908.

The centerpiece of the cemetery is an altar donated by the children of Anton and Catherine Mnikolaicik, in memory of their parents.  Beside the altar is the grave of Rev. Stanley Andrzejewski, who served Czestochowa Parish from Nov. 1937 to Dec. 1940, and again from June 1969 to shortly before his death in 1980.  The cemetery is currently maintained by the Czestochowa Cemetery Board, who include Edward Chura, Bill Ciolkosz, Rita Derks, Elaine Venet, James Ciolkosz, Tom Symbal, Julia Ciolkosz, Christine Niedzwiecki and Bernice Symbal.

Jeanne Konieczny (Szczech) also sent us a letter telling about her memories of the St. Mary’s of Czestochowa Cemetery.  “I grew up at Junction, so when we go to the cemetery – the visits bring back many memories of the neighbors too,” She writes.  Both sets of her grandparents (Francis and Victoria Szczech, Alex and Katherine Symbal), her parents (Joseph and Bernice Szczech), two brothers (Francis and Joseph L. Szczech), and many aunts, uncles, and cousins are buried at St. Mary’s of Czestochowa Cemetery.

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