"A family tree can wither if nobody tends its roots."

Dec22nd2025

Her Star Shines Brightest on the Holiest Night

by  Phyllis Zeck

Corinne and Phyllis. Sisters and best friends. My mother passed away in 2004. It was especially hard on my Aunt Phyllis as Corinne was her baby sister. When Auntie passed away in 2013 she left instructions that she wanted to be buried at Mount Carmel in Illinois near her mother and father (Bertha and Gilbert). She is buried directly behind Elvira.

When my sister Holly and I were planning our trip to Chicago last October our cousin Rick said he would like to meet us and visit his mother’s grave. We spent a wonderful week together being tourists and reminiscing. One morning I pulled up an audio recording my brother Rob and I had made of an interview with Auntie Phyllis in 2011. In part of this interview Rob asked Auntie Phyl about Christmas Eve in 1939, the evening that Elvira passed away. Our mother would have been 8 and Auntie Phyllis just turned 12. Below is an audio of Auntie’s memory of that night. She recalls it as if it happened yesterday.  

Wishing everyone a joyous and peaceful Christmas!

 

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Nov30th2025

Restoring Elvira & Pietro’s Memorial

by  Phyllis Zeck

The last 18 months have brought profound challenges and changes for me. In June of 2025 I unexpectedly lost my best friend and baby sister, Lori.  People often mistook us for twins and we loved traveling the world together on our yearly trips. Since 2013, Lori and I lived side by side, supporting each other through life’s hardest moments and celebrating its most joyful ones.

In 2018 Lori and I bought a new home and moved closer to family. My daughter and grands, my sister and brothers along with numerous nieces, nephews and their children are all within 15 minutes of Lori and I. How I wish we’d all had more time with Lori!

In September of 2024 my sister Holly and I decided to take a trip to Chicago. We wanted to visit with our younger brother Tony who had some health challenges. Home was calling to us.  As always, we packed a ton of activities into the trip. We had friends and family to see and trips down memory lane that had to be made. 

Holly and I stayed in Oakbrook Terrace. One day we visited the “pond” where we used to ice skate and St Pius Church.  We stopped in at the Villa Park train station (now a historical museum), toured Willowbrook High School and visited with the family who lived in the home we grew up in. I have no idea how we fit our family in that tiny home! Mom & dad, 8 kids and Grandpa Gilbert in a 1600 square feet house.  Grandpa and the 3 oldest boys slept in a room in the basement. There were 3 bedrooms on the main floor. One for mom & dad, one for us 3 girls and one for Lori & Tony.  For several years dad’s mother and step-father lived upstairs.

We spent several days with our brother Tony, playing cards, bringing him treats (beef sandwiches) and watching old home movies. We couldn’t have imagined that our time together would be our final visit. Tony passed away this past January.

One day was set aside to visit Mount Carmel Cemetery and Queen of Heaven Mausoleum in Hillside. Holly and I cleaned up headstones and toured the magnificent stained-glass panels inside the Mausoleum. What a glorious structure that is! 

Several relatives told me that Elvira and Pietro’s monument needed some attention.  It was true that the words were barely legible and that the statue of Jesus was covered in moss and lichen.  When we returned to Oregon I was tasked with finding someone who could restore the monument and Holly set up a go fund me account to help pay for restorations. Thank you for helping honor our past and protect our family legacy for those who come after us.

We hired Glen, the owner of Memories in the Making. He removed the lichen growth from the statue and cleaned the dirt and stains from the granite. For the second phase he applied a dark grey Lithichrome paint to the engraved letters and the background of our family name. Lastly Glen cleaned and caulked the area surrounding Elvira and Pietro’s cameo photos. Thank you to all who contributed!

Another highlight of this trip to Chicago was our Ciolli & Del Principe Family Reunion.  The photo above is of my sister Holly, Vickie (great granddaughter of Bibbiana Ciolli, myself (granddaughter of Gilbert Del Principe), Sandy (great granddaughter of Emil Del Principe), Susan and her daughter Sandra (daughter and granddaughter of Otto Del Principe). Fun fact, Susan was our mother’s flower girl. Standing is Mary and her father Greg (great granddaughter and grandson of Antonio Del Principe).

I can’t express how amazing it was getting to know one another. I had met Vickie, Mary and Greg on earlier trips to Chicago, so it was wonderful to reconnect with them. We all showed up with photos and keepsakes to share, and we laughed and reminisced until the afternoon vanished in a blur of joy.

Until we meet again, Chicago…

 

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Jan8th2024

Portraits From The Past

by  Phyllis Zeck

In 2015 I wrote about a long-hidden secret. My father Robert had changed his last name from Winkofske to Winike. For many years I was frustrated that I couldn’t find any information about my father’s birth father.  Dad passed away in 1970 while I was still a teenager and I never thought to ask questions about his father. I only knew that my grandfather’s first name was Frank and I consistently searched for him by the last name of Winike. I was shocked to discover that his last name was Winkofske. I was very curious to discover more about Frank and this new branch of my family tree. I’ve been able to connect a few more dots over the years but so much time has passed most of the relatives who might have know what Frank’s personality was like along with his life story have long since passed.  

Francis John Winkofske (1899-1959) married Grace M. Norder on 05 Nov 1928 in Chicago. Their son was born 30 Dec 1928 in Chicago. Dad’s name on his birth certificate was Francis Winkofske Jr however dad changed his name to Robert Thomas Winike.

In 2018 I connected with a relative through Ancestry.com. Tom’s mother and my grandfather Frank were siblings. I asked Tom if by chance he had any photos of my grandfather. He didn’t, however a few days ago he sent me three photos I’ve never seen before along with the following memories; “Charles owned a house at 5926 S. Honore St. in Chicago. As I was only twelve at the time of his death I don’t recall very much. As we did not have a car it was a rarity to visit. I do recall he kept homing pigeons, which I thought was kind of neat. I believe he was a teamster – that is he drove horses. I believe for a while he delivered coal.  His father’s name was Louis. His first wife (Catherine) died in 1915. With 8 kids in the house, he married a second wife, Anne Duball, she had two children from a previous marriage, one was Gertrude.”

Charles Peter Winkofske Catherine GannonThe photos above are my paternal great grandparents Charles Peter Winkofske (born in Germany) and Catherine Gannon (born in Chicago). Dad would never meet his grandmother Catherine as she died in 1915. Since Charles lived until 1960, I wonder if dad and his grandfather had a relationship. 

Edward & Marie WinkofskeThe photo on the left is a snapshot of my paternal grandfather Frank’s brother. Edward & Marie Winkofske pose with their two daughters Marie (Bonnie) and Edith (Kitty).

Charles Peter Winkofske (1874-1960) and Catherine Gannon (1879-1915) had 
eight children:
Jessie Agnes (1895-1983)
Charles P. (1897-1965)
Francis John (1899-1959) (my grandfather)
Jane L. (1901-1978)
Thomas Edward (1903-1937)
Edward John (1905-1982)
Katherine (1907-1922)
Patricia Mary (1911-1991)

 

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Dec31st2023

Storyworth

by  Phyllis Zeck

In 2022 I received a birthday present from my daughters from Storyworth. I was sent a question a week which prompted me to write a story from memories and experiences that I’ve had in my life. I was able to change the frequency that I received my questions during the summer when I didn’t have as much time for writing as I did the rest of the year. I was also able to change the question if I felt the desire to share an experience that I haven’t yet received a question about.  At the end of the year the questions stopped but I had time to fine tune my stories or add photos.  Once I was happy with my book I pressed the button to print and waited for it to arrive in my mailbox. 

I have to say that this was one of the best gifts that I have ever received.  It was so much fun to reminisce about my childhood and share my thoughts about my relationships with grandparents, parents and siblings as well as life experiences. I loved hunting through old photo albums in search of photos to insert which really livened up my stories.  

Storyworth has very basic editing features so I used photoshop elements to create photo galleries when I wanted to insert a row of photos. They also offer limited designs for their covers but these issues don’t diminish the value of the writing and publishing experience. 

I sent some of my stories to Ashley which she read to the kids here and there before the book was finished. My grands got a kick out of hearing how different my childhood was from theirs.  

I’ll put this book into Abby’s hope chest which is in my bedroom for now. Abby loves to poke around in the chest from time to time and discover any new treasures that I’ve added. I hope she’ll read a few stories now and again. Wouldn’t it be great if it sparks an interest in Abby to research her ancestors herself? 

Wishing everyone a happy, peaceful and healthy New Year!

 

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Jan20th2022

Researching Pescasseroli Family Names

by  Phyllis Zeck

Abby Skiing on Mt Hood

It’s hard to wrap my mind around the fact that 2021 zipped by without me having much time for genealogy research. This summer I mailed my old VHS tapes, CD disks and Camcorder tapes of family adventures to have them made into digital files. This project has been on my to do list for many years. The last couple of months I’ve had fun going through the digital files to edit them.  I created short videos and saved them to folders which I’ve shared with my siblings, nieces, and nephews. It’s shocking how fast the years have gone by. It was fun to reminisce about our families’ milestones and adventures and to see and hear family members who are no longer with us.

My 8 year old granddaughter Abby went skiing for the first time this weekend. My sisters and I compared a video of Abby skiing to a video I found of Ashley about the same age skiing in our backyard.  Abby looks, sounds, and laughs exactly like her mother. Click on the image below for a 2 minute video of Ashley taken about 1990.

Last fall Michael emailed me to introduce himself.  His paternal grandfather Emidio Finamore and his great grandfather Orazio emigrated from Pescasseroli. Michael wrote “Via Ancestry we have some DNA matches with my Del Principe descendants.  I believe that you and I are 7th cousins, (at least), and are related through your great-grandparents Pietro Del Principe and Elvira Ciolli. There is a common ancestor named Marco Antonio Ciolli b. 1654. I’ve traced Marco to Elvira and also to Maria Scolastica (Saltarelli) Del Principe via Maria’s maternal branch.”

Michael shared a website that I have not yet stumbled across. There are over 16,000 names of family members from Pescasseroli, Italy.  The information is a collaboration from several sources.  The following partial text is a Google translation from the home page:  “This Genealogy research ‘Genealogy of the Pescasseroli families’ contains 16703 individuals and 4640 families. These are the Genealogical Trees of all the Pescasseroli AQ Families from 1716 to the 1920s.

The research is open to the collaboration of all those who wish to report errors or inaccuracies in the data present or communicate other data or photos and documents to be included. It is in fact possible to insert Photographs, Documents and Stories for each Person and for each Family present in the search. With the collaboration of all, it can become a place of memory and memories.

Courtesy of Terre Pesculiasseroli

A particular thanks is due to friend Prof. Tarquinio Gianluca, today unfortunately he is no longer with us, to the parish priests responsible for the Parish Archives of Pescasseroli, for advice, information and great availability. The data entered so far are taken from the Registers of Births, Deaths and Marriages 1866 – 1910, from the Draft Lists from 1866 to 1918 and from the Registers of Births, Deaths and Marriages of the Napoleonic Period 1809-1865.

On the other hand, decisive help came from the Registers of Families or “Status Animarum” of the Parish of Pescasseroli and from the Population Registers of the Parish for the reconstruction of family genealogies throughout the 18th century, up to the beginning of the 20th century, and for the identification of many household nicknames.

The oldest register contains records of baptisms from 1716, marriages from 1754 of the deceased since 1752, unfortunately many have deteriorated and not all the pages of which it is composed have been transcribed. The program then plans to continue the research with the transcription of the registers of the parish of Opi.  Other news in this research, in particular the data of the military visit, come from the State Archives of L’Aquila.”  

To research your family members click on this link: 
https://terrepesculiasseroli.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/pescasseroli/default.htm
Click on the image to the right of the home box (top left side of the page).
Click on “C”.  
Click on Ciolli. 
Click on Pietrantonio Amabile Ciolli to see his and Filomena’s Ursitti’s children.

5/24/24: Update.  Unfortuntly this website is no longer active.  I’ll update this post  if another website replaces it.

 

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