Birth Name: Rita Wondrak

Current Name: Rita Wondrak

Birth Place and Time: August 29, 1947 - Chicago, Illinois USA

History: Moved to Baltimore Maryland USA - September 1970
         Moved to New Haven Connecticut USA - June 1972
         Moved to Brooklyn New York USA - September 1973
         Moved to Metuchen New Jersey USA - December 1985

Family History: Rita is the only child of Joseph and Anna Wondrak.
         Father(Joseph) was also an only child.  He had emigrated
         to America with his father and stepmother at about age 5.
         His mother had died in Austria and his father remarried.
         Both Rita's grandfather and step-grandmother were dead at the
         time of Rita's birth.  Her father died when she was age 4.

Other Known Wondrak Family Members:
 

Father - Joseph Frank? Wondrak
         Born Vienna (or nearby), Austria - June 1898
         Moved to Chicago, Illinois USA - at approximately age 5
         Died Chicago, Illinois USA - October 12, 1951

Other Information:
         What few family records I have are currently packed away in
         storage, so all data is from memory.  I believe that my grand-
         father's name was Frank, but I'm not sure.  Also, although Vienna
         was listed as my fathrer's birth place on his death certificate,
         I believe that he was actually from a small town, probably a resort
         town located near Vienna.  The location was given as Vienna at the
         time of emigration just to simplify things.  When I was a child,
         one of our neighbors had said that her family was from the same town
         My grandfather supposedly left Austria because he did not want to
         become a soldier as was expected of him, but I'm not sure that this
         was the truth.  My grandfathe was completely cut off from any family
         members that he had left behind in Austria.  To my knowledge he
         never communicated with any of them after he came to America, and my
         father never spoke of any relatives in Austria.  Also, at the time
         of my grandfather's entry into America, he supposedily refused to
         change his name as the officials had requested.  They wanted him to
         change his name to Vondrak, to keep the original sound of his name,
         but he kept Wondrak, the original spelling.
 

Page created and maintained by Rita Wondrak.   Last Updated on 19 November 1998
Copyright (c) 1998 by  Wondrak Consulting.  All Rights Reserved.