| The paternal side of M.A. (Vanya)Babiak 1920 Census Record |
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| John Vanya was born in 1878 and died from cancer of the mouth in 1922. Paul, his son attributed his fathers cancer to the fact that he constantly had a tobacco pipe hanging from his mouth. Needless to say Paul Vanya for that reason never smoked. Not much else is known about John Vanya, the father. Except that he and his wife lived first in a small coal town in PA. called Nesquehoning. He worked in the coal mines while in PA, and later bought a small farm in Lowman, N.Y. and moved the family there. |
| Susan (Hlasney) Vanya came to the U.S. ahead of John Vanya. Lived with family friends and later sent for John Vanya, her future husband, to join her in America. She was born in 1872, some where in Czechoslovakia. She spoke Slovak, german and some english. She had three children, John, Christine, and Paul. She died in 1952. |
| John Vanya (1st son) was born in 1901. Meet and married his wife, Elizabeth(Betty) Vanya, while working in New York City. After the birth of there two daughters, they bought a small dairy farm near the family farm in Horseheads, N.Y. They worked the farm which at its peak had 25 milking cows. John died in 1971. His family sold off the livestock and closed the farm at that time. Betty Vanya lived the rest of her life in the family home. Occupying herself by cooking, baking and sharing visits from family, friends and neighbors. She died in 1994 at the age of 90. |
| Christine (Vanya) Crawford, only daughter of John & Susan Vanya, was born about 1911. She married Robert Crawford and had one daughter. |
| Paul Vanya (2nd Son) born Feburary 18th 1912 in Nesquehoning(Little Italy), PA. Worked the family farms in NY with his brother John to support his mother until he joined the Marines to fight in World War II. In June of 1943 he married Priscilla Durizch before being sent to fight in the Asiatic Pacific Area from Jan. 13, 1944 to Oct. 15, 1945.
He was very prowd of his service in the Marines as a tank mechanic platoon sergeant. He participated in action against the ememy at Kwajalein from Jan. 44, 1944 to Feb. 8, 1944; Tinian from July 24, 1944 to Aug. 1, 1944; Saipan from June 15, 1944 to July 10, 1944; and Iwo Jima from Feb. 23, 1945 to Mar. 14, 1945. During the war he sent money home to support both his mother and wife. After returning home Paul and his wife had one son and one daughter, but he and his wife divorced in 1958 after the death of is son in 1953 and 5 years of separation. He worked the rest of his life as a carpenter. First as a forman for Streeter Associates and later as forman for the Chemung County Building Department. He remarried again in 1960 to Dorothy(Baldwin) Vanya, and died in there home on June 29, 1973 1:51am. |
Priscilla (Durizch) Vanya was born March 11, 1926, Mary Parasceva Durizch, but later changed her first name to Priscilla. She was the first born of Alex Durizch & Mary (Novotny) Durizch. She was raised and schooled with her two brothers and two sisters in Sayre PA. She meet her husband Paul while visiting her maternal grandparent's farm in Lowman, NY. After separation from Paul and the death of her first son, she continued her education and became a pratical nurse. She worked as a nurse, mostly caring for the elderly. In 1964 she bought the rest home where she was employed. She ran the rest home until she retired in 1979. She remarried in 1958 and had another son with her second husband in 1959. She died Sept. 3, 1999. |
| John Alex Vanya was born in April of 1947. In the summer of 1953 he contracted polio while at a picnic with his father, his sister, and friends of his father. He died in June of 1953, just one year before the release of the Salk vaccine for polio. |
| Mary Ann (Vanya) Babiak. Recovered from the same polio outbrake in 1953 that killed her older brother Johnny. Graduated high school in 1966 & Corning Community College in 1968. Married Andrew Babiak in 1968 while attending Geneseo College. Andrew left for Germany 3 days after the wedding to finish his service in the army, while Mary Ann stayed behind to finish her education. After his return they raised two sons, Andrew 111 & Paul John and are still living near the old vanya farm and near the home where her father Paul Vanya died. |