It was a wrong and stupid assumption, yet again. I should have seen this coming. Granddad Eugene died in 1948, five years before his wife Anna did. I thought he might be buried with their baby girl Bertha, who died as a toddler. He wasn’t. Granddad was difficult to locate, at first. It took persistence. However, his not being with little Bertha was quickly explained.

Anna died in 1953. She was buried with baby Bertha, in the Bronx, in St Raymond’s cemetery. It was solely for Catholics. That’s why Eugene couldn’t be there.

I looked around and thought I found him, at Mt Carmel, Glendale, Queens. That wasn’t a bad lead. It was nearby, Jewish, and therefore a reasonable maybe – but no, it was not the right guy. This Eugene Kardos presented no middle name and lived much later. Where was ours?

Every New York City record site I went to, had nothing. They suggested I look out of the city. What? Granddad Eugene was buried outside his beloved New York City? Even if he was out of the Bronx, I’m sure that was not preferred.

However, it does look like his dear old New York City was not his final resting place. Westchester County’s Ferncliff had his correct full name, the exact birth day, month and year. I think that’s him.

I admit to being mildly troubled by this. Maybe there was just some practical reason. Maybe that funeral bill and his gambling away their savings meant he had to move to a cheaper suburb? And, was Westchester a cheaper suburb, back then?

Was there not a single affordable cemetery in all of New York City that would let a nice, assimilated Jewish boy into the neighbourhood?

The next time I visit the USA, this trip is on the list.  There’s also the marker for Bertha and Anna, in the Bronx. And, most of the records for these years, are in this borough’s archives. This is relevant too, because I never did find Eugene and Anna’s marriage certificate.

Those are usually easy to find on the internet, but I have found nothing, after hours and hours of searching. I assume it was a civil ceremony, with their religious differences.

Now that’s what I call a loose end.

Research continues.

PS, in the photo is Anna with her youngest, Alex (Dad), maybe age 6?