Emma Kostal Psota wedding day

While looking up some recipes form my mother’s recipe blog, I found a photo of my great aunt, Emma Kostal Psota, taken on her wedding day. Emma is seated holding the flowers. Her new husband, Fred Psota, is to her right.

Emma was the younger sister of my maternal grandfather, Edward Kostal. She was born March 20,1896 and was three years younger than my grandfather. On June 29, 1914, she married Fred Psota. Three years later, their daughter Jeannette was born.

My grandfather entered the service in 1917 and left for boot camp and then overseas to France. He never saw Emma again. She became ill during the Great Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918 and passed away on April 2, 1919. Two years later, Fred married another Emma Kostal (no known relation) and remained married until Fred’s death in 1969.

This picture was included in The Psota Collection which is a compilation of recipes and genealogy about the Psota family. The Psotas are an allied family with the Kostal family. In addition to Emma marrying into the Psota family, her younger sister, Albie Kostal Psota, married Fred’s brother, Rudolf.

Winter of Death

I recently blogged about my great aunt, Emma Kostal Psota, who died at a young age as a result of the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919. This week I received a copy of a new booklet by local Ravenna author, Valerie Vierk, that chronicles the flu pandemic.

The booklet is called Winter of Death: Ravenna Area Victims of the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic. Readers of this blog who may be interested in obtaining a copy of the booklet can do so by contacting Valerie directly by e-mail. The cost of the booklet is $10.00 plus $1.50 shipping.

[Disclosure: I provided Valerie with some material for her book. I have no financial interest whatsoever.]

Emma Kostal Psota

My grandfather, Edward Kostal, had four step-siblings and three full siblings. He was the only boy among his full siblings. Two of his three sisters grew to adulthood and lived long, long lives. I knew both of them.

While in France with the AEF, my grandfather learned that his third sister, Emma Kostal, contracted Spanish Flu during the great pandemic of 1918. Even though The Great War ended on November 11, 1918, my grandfather was severely wounded and did not return to the states until the following spring. It was too late as Emma succumbed on April 2, 1919. She was 23 years old.

Emma married Fred Psota and they had a daughter together named Jeanette. After Emma’s death, my great grandparents took care of Jeanette. Fred remarried another Emma and moved to Fairbury, Nebraska.

Emma is buried in the Ravenna cemetery. This photo has been in the family for a very long time. Back then, it was common practice to hire a studio photographer and have him/her take photos of the deceased with all of the floral decorations. For a small town like Ravenna, this was a lot of flowers!

I’m unsure if this was photographed at a funeral home or in a private residence. I know that some memorial services were held in the home rather than in church or a funeral home. For example, the service for my great grandmother (Emma’s mother) was held at her home.

Those Kostal Kids

My mother recently found a photo taken of her father and his three sisters. In his family, there were a total of eight children – four half brothers and sisters, his three full sisters and himself.

In this picture, from left to right, is Albie Kostal Psota, Edward Kostal, Emma Kostal Psota and Agnes Kostal Glodowski. Three years ago, I posted a photo of all eight children with my great grandparents.  I guessing the picture above is more recent than the full family photo. I’m basing that solely on Aunt Albie looking slightly older in this picture – maybe a year difference at most. She was born in 1899 so this picture was probably taken somewhere in the 1904 – 1906 range.

I really wish I knew more about these old pictures.

Young Arlene

A photo of my mother, Arlene Kostal Cornelius, as a young girl. This photo was found behind another photo of my great grandmother.

< Hosted on Flickr

Coming soon to a brochure near you

I was recently contacted by an advertising agency about using this photograph in an advertising brochure. The client is a bank located in York, Nebraska and the purpose is to show how long the bank has been in business. We think this photo of Fred Astaire was taken in 1904 or 1905. More detailed information about this photo is here. Hosted on Flickr