Two Weddings, a Remembrance, and In the News including Gymnastics, a bomber and the Polish Bonnie and Clyde.

22 TO 28 OCTOBER 2026

Two Weddings, a Remembrance, and In the News including Gymnastics, a bomber and the Polish Bonnie and Clyde.

Two October weddings brought together families whose descendants include Kathi and Charlie. This edition celebrates those beginnings and remembers Mary Stankiewicz Riefski through her records and a photograph with her granddaughter Janet. A special In the News feature brings together six reports of family achievements, gatherings, wartime news and everyday life.

Michael Butler and Kate McAteer's marriage application, license, and returned certificate, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, 1890.

Kathi's family

22 October 1890136th wedding anniversary

Michael Butler and Catherine McAteer

Michael lived about 42 years; Catherine about 78 yearsMarried about 18 years (reported)6 documented children

Family connectionMichael and Catherine are Kathi's maternal great-grandparents.

A wedding at St. Thomas’ Church in Villanova joined two families whose names still run through Kathi’s family history.

Direct line to Kathi

Michael Butler and Catherine McAteer
Mary Rose “Molly” Butler McBride
Mary Catherine McBride Frick
Kathleen Cynthia “Kathi” Frick Heckman

Their six documented children were Catherine, Mary Rose “Molly,” James M., John Joseph, William A., and Elizabeth Butler. Michael’s age and the marriage duration use his reported 1866–1909 dates, which still need original vital-record confirmation. Catherine’s approximate lifespan uses her probable 17 May 1869 birth and newspaper-reported death on 24 July 1947.

Historic view, circa 1890. St. Thomas of Villanova Church appears behind the college buildings, identifiable by its twin spires. This panoramic illustration is the earliest dated image located for this article. Villanova University Archives. Image source

St. Thomas of Villanova Church in color. Photograph currently displayed on Villanova University’s Sacred Spaces webpage; the page does not state the photograph’s capture date. Photo: Villanova University. Image source

On 22 October 1890, Michael Butler and Catherine McAteer married at St. Thomas' Church in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The county record calls the bride Kate. Michael was twenty-four and lived in Bryn Mawr; Kate was twenty-one and lived in nearby Wayne.

Two days before the wedding, Michael appeared for the marriage application. He was recorded as a laborer and named his parents as James and Catharine Butler. Kate's parents were John and Mary McAteer. Neither bride nor groom had a former spouse. Those few lines bring two sets of parents into the account of a new household.

The surviving docket follows the wedding through three dates: the application and license on 20 October, the ceremony on 22 October, and the filing of the returned certificate on 29 October. Michael's signature appears beneath the application. Across the page, the minister's return preserves the place and day of the marriage.

Michael and Catherine's daughter Mary Rose Butler continued Kathi's direct line through her marriage to James McBride. Their wedding record is therefore a meeting point for the Butler and McAteer families before the McBride name enters the next generation. This October, it lets us remember them at the beginning of their married life.

John Louis “Happy” Heckman and Nannie E. Bowser's marriage record is on the right-hand page, license 9418. Both fathers' consent entries survive beneath the application.

Charlie's family

24 October 1906120th wedding anniversary

John Louis “Happy” Heckman and Nannie Bowser

John lived 49 years; Nannie lived 70 yearsMarried 29 years, 7 months3 sons

Family connectionJohn Louis and Nannie are Charlie's paternal great-grandparents.

Two young people, two fathers’ signatures, and a wedding 120 years ago connect the Heckman and Bowser families.

Direct line to Charlie

John Louis “Happy” Heckman and Nannie Edith Bowser
Charles Franklin “Poose” Heckman
Renay Charles Heckman
Charles Rene “Charlie” Heckman

Their sons were Charles Franklin “Poose”, Wilmer Dwight “Dite”, and James Wilson Heckman, all named in the family Bible. John and Nannie married on 24 October 1906; their marriage ended with John’s death on 27 May 1936. John was born on 22 November 1886. Nannie was born on 29 August 1889 and died on 24 March 1960.

**Archival original.** John Louis “Happy” Heckman and Nannie Bowser together outdoors. Family-supplied identification; date and location unknown.

Restored and colorized: John Louis “Happy” Heckman and Nannie Bowser together outdoors. Family-supplied identification; date and location unknown. — **Restored and colorized by Reggie (AI).** Colors and reconstructed details are interpretive.

**Archival original.** Nannie Bowser with five other women, 1905. Nannie is identified in the family catalog as front row, right; the other women remain unidentified. Date and identification are family-supplied.

Restored and colorized: Nannie Bowser with five other women, 1905. Nannie is identified in the family catalog as front row, right; the other women remain unidentified. Date and identification are family-supplied. — **Restored and colorized by Reggie (AI).** Colors and reconstructed details are interpretive.

**Archival original.** John Louis “Happy” Heckman standing, circa 1905, with an unidentified seated companion. Identification and approximate date are family-supplied.

Restored and colorized: John Louis “Happy” Heckman standing, circa 1905, with an unidentified seated companion. Identification and approximate date are family-supplied. — **Restored and colorized by Reggie (AI).** Colors and reconstructed details are interpretive.

On 24 October 1906, John Louis “Happy” Heckman and Nannie E. Bowser married in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. John Louis was nineteen and Nannie seventeen. Their marriage record preserves more than the couple's names: it includes their application, parental consents, license, and the certificate returned after the ceremony.

Nannie's father, Wilson Bowser, signed his consent to her marriage. On the same page, John Louis's father, James H. Heckman, also signed a consent for his nineteen-year-old son. The two fathers' signatures make this an unusually personal family document. Each acknowledged the marriage of a child who was still under twenty-one.

The application names John Louis's parents as James H. and Martha A. Heckman and Nannie's as Wilson and Mary R. Bowser. Nannie's mother was Mary Rachel Crissman, whose father Michael died during his Civil War service. The Bowser name in this marriage record thus carries the Crissman family story into another generation.

John Louis and Nannie became the parents of Charles Franklin “Poose” Heckman, Charlie's grandfather. Last week's newsletter followed Charles through his 1940 draft registration; this week turns back to the marriage that began his parents' household. The 120th anniversary offers a chance to see their own signatures and those of the fathers who consented to the wedding.

Mary Stankiewicz Riefski with her granddaughter Janet. Identification supplied by Charlie Heckman; photograph undated.

Charlie's family

28 October 195274th remembrance

Mary Stankiewicz Riefski

Lived about 83 years (death certificate)Married roughly 46–52 years (census estimates)8 children reported in 1900; 6 then living

Family connectionMary is Charlie's maternal great-grandmother, mother of Joseph Riefski and grandmother of Janet.

A photograph with Janet brings Mary into view as a grandmother, while records trace her from Glen Lyon to her final home in Wilkes-Barre.

Direct line to Charlie

Mary Stankiewicz Riefski
Joseph John Riefski
Janet Riefski Heckman
Charles Rene “Charlie” Heckman

The 1900 census records Mary as the mother of eight children, six then living; this is a count at that census, not an established lifetime total. The reconciled family register identifies Agnes, Lizzie, Andrew, Joseph John, Annie/Antonina, and Stanley, with some early identities still under review. Simon died on 26 April 1934. Conflicting census answers imply a marriage about 1882 or 1888, so its duration remains approximate. Mary’s death certificate gives her age as about eighty-three; other records differ.

Mary Stankiewicz Riefski died on 28 October 1952 at 125 Kent Lane in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Her death certificate gives that address as both her home and the place of death. Although the family had long associations with Glen Lyon, Mary's final home was in Wilkes-Barre.

The photograph shows another part of her life: Mary standing behind her young granddaughter Janet. Janet was the daughter of Joseph Riefski and later became Charlie's mother, making this a picture of two generations in his direct maternal line.

Restored and colorized: Mary Stankiewicz Riefski with her granddaughter Janet. Identification supplied by Charlie Heckman; photograph undated. — **Restored and colorized by Reggie (AI).** Mary Stankiewicz Riefski with her granddaughter Janet. Identification supplied by Charlie Heckman; photograph undated. Colors and reconstructed details are interpretive.

Census records trace Mary and her husband Simon through Newport Township, where Simon worked as a coal miner. By 1930 they were living at 85 Main Street. In 1940, Mary was widowed and living alone at 85 East Main Street. By 1950 she was in the Wilkes-Barre household of her daughter Agnes and son-in-law Stanley Bunsick.

Her death certificate records the name Mary Rajewski and adds 'or Riefski.' It gives Poland as her birthplace and Stankiewicz as her father's surname, but supplies no given name for him and identifies her mother as unknown. Mary's son Joseph's death certificate also names his mother as Mary Stankiewicz.

Mary's exact birth date remains unresolved. Her death certificate contains a question mark in the birth-date field and gives her age only as about eighty-three. Other records offer differing ages. We can follow much of her Pennsylvania life, but the search for the original Polish records that establish her birth and parents continues. The photograph preserves something those missing records cannot: Mary with the granddaughter who links her to Charlie's own memories of family.

FAMILY NEWSPAPERS · OCTOBER 22–28

In the News

Six snapshots from the family newspaper collection. Publication dates and event dates are distinguished below.

Kathi’s gymnastics placements

22 October 1977

A Courier-Post report published on October 24 names Kathy Frick as placing third on beam, vaulting and exercise in the ages 9–11 group at a New Jersey intermediate qualifying meet at the Gymnastics Academy in Cherry Hill. The report’s Saturday wording places the meet on October 22. She competed on the Gymnastics Academy team in Cherry Hill before attending Auburn University.

Courier-Post, 24 October 1977, p. 32. “Bruge wins 3 events in gymnastics meet.”

View newspaper source

Leon Shershen: wounded in action

22 October 1918

The Times Leader of 22 October 1918 lists Priv. Leon M. Shershen of Battery C. The entry gives September 4 and says he was injured by a gun trail while moving the piece under fire. October 22 is the publication date; September 4 is the injury date reported in this entry.

View newspaper source

Ike Szerszen: a liquor arrest

22 October 1937

The 22 October 1937 newspaper reports that Peter Shershen of 1 College Hill, Wanamie, was arrested on a charge of possessing liquor on a beer license. It says he posted $500 bail for court before Alderman Brown the previous night. The family newspaper index identifies him as Peter “Ike” Szerszen. This is an arrest report, not a conviction; the eventual court outcome remains unverified.

View newspaper source

Blanche and Ike, the Polish Bonnie and Clyde

I remember my Uncle Ike and my Aunt Blanche as a pair of characters who were not afraid to confront authority.

Given the collapse of the Soviet Union and the PRL, it's probably safe to disclose some of their great capers! But out of an abundance of caution, I'll simply say that my Aunt Blanche allegedly smuggled produce, including live huckleberries (IIRC) through the Iron Curtain into Poland. She might have tied her raincoat sleeves together, put the plants in the sleeves and carried the raincoat through Soviet customs, hanging from one arm with the sleeves hanging down!

Unlike the CIA, they were not limited to foreign operations, they also engaged in domestic missions against the communist Polish government. The infamous Mrs. Paul's Fish Chips defection of the late 1970s. I believe it was 1979. That alleged incident is burned into my 13 year old-ish brain. Our dynamic duo may or may not have assisted a pair of 20 something crew members to defect from a Polish freight ship that was delivering fish in Camden. The senior citizen siblings act (they were about 67-69 years young at the time) was the perfect cover for infiltrating through the watchful eyes of the Communist minders at a Polish Heritage Society dinner and conspiring in whispered Polish to help plan the escape to political asylum. The operation, if you should choose to believe it occurred, was assisted by a relatively young niece of Blanche's who was planted as a deep cover housewife in southern New Jersey to establish a base of operations from which the duo would plan and execute their infiltration. A regular Slough House on Deer Road!

Renay’s watercolors on exhibition

23 October 1984

A reviewed newspaper report announced Renay Heckman’s watercolor exhibition with Roy Bishop at the Cumberland County Library, running through November 10. October 23 is the publication date, not a documented opening date. Later newspaper reminders describe the same exhibition.

View newspaper source

A surprise party for Simon Riefski

28 October 1911

Friends and members of the St. Michael choir surprised Simon Riefski at his Glen Lyon home on Saturday evening. The October 31 newspaper report places the gathering on October 28 and names guests including Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Bonczek, John Stankewicz and Master Stanley Riefski. It does not say that the occasion was Simon’s birthday.

The Evening News, 31 October 1911, p. 15. “Surprise Party.”

View newspaper source

Janet’s letter to the newspaper

28 October 1976

A letter signed Janet Heckman of Cherry Hill criticized the publication of a bomb-construction diagram. The letter offers a glimpse of its writer speaking up about a newspaper’s editorial judgment.

View newspaper source

"Any bright 10-year old"

Okay, I remember having a discussion with my mother when an article was published in a newspaper that I delivered on my paper route at about this age.

When Reggie found this, I thought it must be related to one of the Unabomber's devices, but Reggie notes those attacks did not start until 1978. He quickly found the original article. It was about a pipe bomb that was left at Heritage Middle School during a teacher's strike that caused all township schools to close for a day.

I happen to have been 10-years old when my mother wrote this editorial. I had NO idea she wrote an editorial about it! But, why did she have to drag me into her rant? Presumptuous to assume she is referring to me as "any bright 10 year old", but I remember very clearly pointing out that I was pretty sure I could build this bomb based on the diagram in the Courier.

This is one of several editorials that Reggie has found from my mother. I had no idea she was firing these missives off to the poor editors at the Courier. I was too busy folding and chucking papers and not taking the time to read them, I suppose. Now, if she had written an editorial in the Inquirer's sports pages, I might have caught that. The Courier's box scores were always terrible.

FROM THE DATE DATABASE

Family dates, October 21–27

18 database entries: 15 calendar entries and 3 held or excluded entries. This table uses the requested October 21–27 range.

Date	Person	Event	Family	Generation
October 21, 1969	Marie T Ralston	Death	Frick	2
October 22, 1890	Michael Butler & Catherine McAteer	Marriage	Frick	3
October 22, 1918	Leon Michael Shershen Sr.	Newspaper report: WIA Report	Heckman (collateral)	Not recorded
October 22, 1937	Peter 'Ike' Szerszen	Newspaper report: Arrested for Liquor Possession	Heckman (collateral)	Not recorded
October 22, 1977	Kathleen Cynthia Frick (Kathi)	Gymnastics placements in age 9-11 qualifying meet	Frick	0
October 23, 1713	Hanss Jacob Seitzinger	Death	Frick	10
October 23, 1984	Renay Charles Heckman	Newspaper report: Watercolor exhibition at Cumberland County Library	Heckman	1
October 24, 1625	Georg Buser & Margreth Erb	Marriage	Heckman	10
October 24, 1872	Marianna Kopacz	Baptism	Heckman	3
October 24, 1905	George Skinner	Death	Heckman	5
October 24, 1906	John Louis Heckman & Nannie Edith Bowser	Marriage	Heckman	3
October 24, 1942	Albert Downing Frick	Rule for final divorce decree entered	Frick	2
October 24, 1969	Marie T Ralston	Burial	Frick	2
October 25, 1795	Susannah Seicrist Sequist	Birth	Heckman	6
October 25, 1851	Adam Bowser	Will dated / signed	Heckman	6
October 25, 1905	George Skinner	Death	Heckman	5
October 26, 1786	Jacob Bowser	Reported militia service certificate issued	Heckman	7
October 27, 1835	George Hollibaugh	Will dated / signed	Heckman	6

Heckman identifies Charlie’s family line; Frick identifies Kathi’s. Generation 0 is Charlie or Kathi, 1 a parent, 2 a grandparent, 3 a great-grandparent, and so on. Collateral relatives are labeled separately; missing generations are not inferred.

Kathi’s gymnastics entry remains held as a probable identity in the database. George Skinner’s October 25 death entry conflicts with the certified October 24 date. Susannah Seicrist Sequist is excluded from the ancestral calendar. Publication dates are distinguished from event dates; an arrest report is not a conviction.