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May 23, 1998 We precipitate our quest on the presumption -- however flawed -- that 'all Gryniewiczes are related.' We don't know that this is true; perhaps, we don't even believe that this is true ... but it is a place to start.
"The first thing you should do is write down all you know about your family, starting with yourself and your parents and working backward to your grandparents, great-grandparents and so on. Chances are someone already has started this process; if so, your job should be easier. "You should include dates and places of births, marriages, deaths, places of residence and other information, such as occupation, military service or church affiliation ..." Richard A. Pence "Searching Your Family Tree"
I was born Eugene Leonard Gryniewicz, Jr. on July 16th, 1952, at 6:08 a.m., to Eugene Leonard Gryniewicz -- now -- Sr. and Elizabeth Theresa Radowski. South Shore Hospital, Chicago IL. He was 22; she was 21; they were married only a year ... . Family tradition holds that the nurse, at first, couldn't find my dad to tell her he was proud father to a 6# boy. She called his name several times, but he ignored her. Didn't hear her. Sequestered he was, he told me years later, behind a comic book he had found in a corner of the delivery-waiting room. Superman it was, maybe, or Captain America; he no longer remembered. "Can I see her?" he asked after my mother. "No." Then returned to his comic book.
Dear .. though -- for the life of me -- I haven't the foggiest notion just how ... we may be related. My name is also Gryniewicz <oh what a giveaway!>, as in Eugene Richard --> son of Eugene Richard Gryniewicz (Sr.) ... who, with Harold Gryniewicz, was son to Francis (Frank) Gryniewicz who was son to Francis Gryniewicz who was son to Ludwig <Ludwick? Ludwik?> Gryniewicz ... . Nada. A letter from a third cousin -- Robert Oldowski -- stirred up my interest in this particular ancestral hornet's nest .. followed by a chance email to/from Chinch Gryniewicz. He lives in Wales UK. I echoed their comments --> that there can't be THAT many Gryniewiczes out there; the name is hard enough to spell ... until I started looking into the matter and discovered over 100 of us <!> ... and we appear to have been spread all around the world -- not only Poland, but Germany, Australia, France, Canada, South Africa <-- Bob did a lot of legwork on this. Including a pilgrimage to Przersol "where the Gryniewiczes are from" he told me. Recently, we touched base again. And recently ... again ... . He told me of his travels, of his meeting Marian Gryniewicz, a cousin of ours who still lives in the ancestral village <?> Casmir Gryniewicz, brother to Frank, son of Ludwig, begat Zygmond Gryniewicz ... who changed his name to Greenwich <?> during the 1920s --> that opened up a whole new avenue of interest and exploration; I got in touch with Larry Greenwich .. who has been looking into his branch of the family for some time now. Please, if the spirit moves you .. talk to me. Who are you? By what claim are you a Gryniewicz? Marriage? Birth? A chance misspelling of your name? You were 'borrowed' at birth by a roving band of Gryniewicz gypsies? Are there more of you? Speak to me of your fathers and your fathers' fathers ... . Me? I'm 45. Married. To Celeste. And father to two sons -- Joshua Martin and Christopher Demian; they are 21 and 19, respectively. I have a brother, Robert Allen, and a sister, Catherine Marie ... .
To talk: email me; or write: Gene Gryniewicz 7509 W. 161st PL Tinley Park IL 60477
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Volume One, Issue One
