By Theresa-Marie Wilson ~
A century after being separated by circumstances surrounding World War I; a local family was reunited by what they call a “miracle.”
For the second time in 100 years, members of the Radziwanowicz-Ostapowicz Family recently came together and this time the mini-reunion took place in Arroyo Grande.
In 1914, Kazimiera Radziwanowicz-Ostapowicz and her three children (Juliusz, Bernice and John) boarded a ship bound from Chicago to her homeland in Lomza, Poland because she was ill and wanted to see her family doctor.
Her husband, Julian Ostapowicz, remained in the U.S. to work and sent money to support the family. Shortly thereafter, war broke out and traveling to and from Poland was not allowed.
It wasn’t until 1920 that Julian was able to reach Poland, but Kazimiera had died, just six weeks before he arrived. Julian remarried and the family returned to Chicago. The Radziwanowicz and Ostapowicz Families lost touch.
Flash forward to 2014 and Arroyo Grande husband and wife, Ken and Linda Ostapowicz, known locally as the “Ostys,” traveled to Lomza, Poland to search for his grandmother’s gravesite.
“Nobody in the family that was on that boat to Poland in 1914 was alive,” Linda said. “We wanted to walk full circle. One hundred years ago, they were there. We wanted to go to the same little town, maybe find the grave, walk the same steps Ken’s father did and let him know in Heaven that we remember him.”
The couple spent four days in Lomza, an area of about 63,000 people. It was on the third day, while eating at the Na Farnej Restaurancia in the town square, that the miracle started to form.
The owner of the restaurant, who happened to speak English, was sitting at a nearby table with the owner of a local television station and overheard Ken and Linda talking about their two days going to churches and cemeteries trying to find the graves of his grandmother and other family members.
“The owner said you should go to the TV station and get on TV,” Ken said. “So we did.”
A member of the Radziwanowicz side of the family saw the Osty’s telling their story on local TV, and the next day Ken met his cousin Merek and his family for the first time.
“It’s a miracle,” said Linda.
“It was unbelievable,” Ken added. “You are shocked because we were thinking that the best we could do was find a grave. We really didn’t think any family would be remaining because of the wars.”
And perhaps through the miracle of technology, the family members have kept in touch through social media and the Internet.
“It’s like we have know each other all of our lives,” Linda said. “It’s not like there was a 100-year time lapse.”
The Radziwanowicz clan immediately began making plans to visit America for the first time. But red tape got in the way.
Merek’s visa application was denied three times over the course of a year. On the third request, he brought a copy of a Polish newspaper article written about the family reunion in 2014, and his visa was finally approved.
Merek, a mechanic and a nurse, and his daughter, Katarzyna or “Kazia,” recently visited the Osty’s for two weeks at their home in Arroyo Grande.
“Everything is bigger,” said Merek via Kazia’s translation. “The cars, the homes. Also, all the restaurants have beef. In Poland it is difficult to find a restaurant with good beef.”
Kazia, who is a pilot and civil engineering student, said, “We have seen for the very first time in our lives a palm tree and the Pacific Ocean. The clothes are more modern, but similar to those in Poland.”
The Osty’s took their guests to various places, like Hollywood, Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo’s Farmers’ Market, Santa Barbara, the Avila Barn, and the Madonna Inn, among others.
Asked if they would be returning to Poland soon, it was Ken and Linda’s younger cousin who immediately answered. “They have to,” Kazia said.
“I am just so elated that we found family in a place that my dad (Juliusz) had existed,” Ken said. “It is wonderful that we are able to talk to someone from Poland and kind of revisit the past.”
