kitchensinkgenealogy.com

Genealogy News About the Kishinevsky, Klebansky, Chernorudsky & Pekler Families

KITCHEN SINK REUNION TO BE SCHEDULED FOR 2007!

Keep your eyes open for the official invitation. My committee [Laurie Neff Schlichter, Rachel Neff Schooler, and Jack Neff; other volunteers welcome!] and I need to identify a suitable location somewhere in the Los Angeles area. Start saving your pennies now for a weekend bash that will include at least a banquet and an outdoor picnic. All relatives from all branches (thus, the kitchen sink theme) will be welcome.

Kishinevsky/Zeilikovich/Sirota: It’s the end of an era. The last two of my grandpa Jack Neff’s sisters, Bea Penn and Sadelle Brass, died in 2005, at ages 101 and 104, respectively. When I last visited Sadelle in 2004, she was still playing 1920s pop tunes and Rachmaninoff on the piano, her hair still styled and her fingernails painted a bright fuchsia. Bea was ill even then, but she chatted with me with apparent pleasure. I will miss them both. On the research side, digitized versions of the Chicago Tribune revealed many stories about Nevskys and Neffs, including a 1901 profile of the man who delivered Sadelle, with a small oval photo of Sadelle included in the spread. The society pages printed an engagement announcement for Thelma who had already eloped, then got married a second time to the same man.

Klebansky/Vatnik/Kheifetz: Grandma Sophie Klebanskaya Neff’s sister, Jeanette, may or may not have been married four times, but I was never able to find marriage certificates to prove it. Grandma told me Jeanette had been married on board ship to the first husband, a Polish Catholic man. Jeanette had a baby, who died. The husband then abandoned her to enter the priesthood (or so the story goes).This year, I found a ship manifest showing that Jeanette had indeed married Franz Laskiewicz at Ellis Island. I subsequently found Jeanette’s second marriage to Arturo Fabbri, a violinist. By 1920, they had split up and Arthur was keeping company with a floozy involved in a major Chicago murder scandal, but that’s another story.

Chernorudsky: Uncle Si [Isaiah Share] has agreed to have his DNA tested. I will soon send Morris Chernorudsky (born in Berdichev, now in Tel Aviv) a DNA test kit and we’ll determine if the two men share a common ancestor. (I hope this works out better than the Kishinevsky test I did for my dad last year!) I recently ordered a set of three microfilm reels that include copies of 19^th century Russian-language documents from the Berdichev region. Because I read Russian, I’ll be able to translate the indexes to determine if any Chernorudskys are included.

Pekler/Gumenik: I found the announcement of Philip Peckler’s graduation from pharmacy school and several other small items in the digitized Chicago Tribune. Watch this space for updates!

Please go to the Contact Me Page to notify me of address changes, new additions to the family, recent accomplishments, etc.

Wishing you all a happy Chanukah, and a healthy and prosperous 2006!