HomeMy WebLinkAboutOC1968-1107 - ESTATE OF STRIZICHIN THE ORPHAN'S COURT OF WASHINGTON COUNTY,PENNSYLVANIA
IN RE:)
,)No.1107 of 1968
MARRIAGE OF JOHN STRIZICH )
HEARING BEFORE THE HONORABLE
CHARLES G.SWEET,p.J.,SPECIALLY
PRESIDING,AUGUST 12,1968 at 1:40 p.m.
APPEARANCES:
Harold Fergus,Jr.,representing John
Strizich.
MR.'FERGUS:Your Honor,if it please the Court,the
Court is sitting today as the President Judge of the Orphan's Court rather
than Common Pleas.Mr.John Strizich and Mrs.Amelia Henc have just
applied to the Register of Wills Office for a marriage license and the license
has been refused.The reason that it was refused is that Mr.Strizich
.!
married in Russia'in.19~7 and his wif~·div·oiced him in Russia in 1938 and
he is unable to produce an official divorce decree.
BY THE COURT:On the record Mr.Fergus,have you
••J
consulted with the solicitor of the Register of Wills.
MR.FERGUS:Yes,your Honor,I have.I talked at great
length with Mr.Terputac who is in accord with the procedure that I am
going to suggest to the Court.
BY THE COURT:
immediate and summary appeal?
MR.FERGUS:
Does the Register of Wills acquiesce in this
Yes,your Honor,he does.I have talked
personally to Mr.Marino and he is in full accord.
-1-
_______II.IIIIIiII ;....-==~;.,.",,;·"""·_~_"""_.>_~..•_...".._,.,....~._b...l_...........:~._;".'2._:#.
BY THE COURT:Mr.Marino has no objection:to my hearing
this matter forthwith and waives any notice?
MR.FERGUS:
Honor.
BY THE COURT:
Fergus.
Yes.he does.That is correct.your
>All right.Proceed with your evidence.Mr.
JOHN STRIZICH called and sworn.
DIRECT EXAMINATION by MR.FERGUS:
Q Would you state your full name.pl~ase?
A My name is John Strizich.
Q What is your address.Mr.Strizich?
A R.D.5.Irvin.Pennsylvania.
Q Did today you go to the Register of Wills Office to attempt to get a
marriage license?
A I did.
Q Would you tell ~us what happened?
A It was refused.
Q Why was it refused?
A It was refused because I have no proof of being divorced.
Q Were you married prior to ---you have been married before.is
that correct?#..I.
A Yes.I was married in 1937.May 13.1937.
Q What was the girl's name that y,0l;lmarriE{d in 1937?..
A Anna Karmiseva.
-2-
Q Where did this marriage take place?
A It took place in the town or city of Novorossish of the Soviet Union.
Q Did you ever consummate this marriage?
A No.
Q When did you leave then for the United States after the marriage?
A I left immediately.The second day~I think it was.
Q Did your wife ever leave Russia to come to the United States to
live with you?
A No~she never did.
Q Will you tell ::'us about a letter you received?In 1938?
A I received a letter after more than nearly a year of absence.I neve
heard anything from her for nearly a year~and then suddenly a
letter appeared.It was either in October or November 1938~see.
In it~she stated that she was divorced and she was remarried and
wished me to remarry if I wished and wished me happiness and that
is about the last I ever heard of her.
Q But there is no question that she told you in the letter that she was
divorced?
"-.
A
Q
•I have no doubt of that.That's what the letter said.
Did you attempt to have your wife come to the United States to live.-
with you?
..-A Yes,immediately when I arrived back to the United States,I
applied for a visa from the State Department and a visa was granted
immediately by the State Department and sent to the U.S.Consulate
in Latvia.
Q Did you make any provisions for her passage over?
A Yes,I sent money.I bought ticket for her through agency in NeW
-3-
,'
York and this ticket was sent to the Consulate.It was waiting for
a year or more in the U.S.Consulate in Latvial that can be
confirmed by the United States State Department.
Q After you received this letter in 1938 in which she stated that she
was divorcedl what did you do?
A Weill I send the said letter to the agencYI to New York with the
proof that I a:..rn not able to bring her here any more since she
married another man ---since she divorced me and married another
man and I ask the agency to cancel the visa and also refund the
money for the ticket.
Q And did they do that to the best of your knowledge?
A I received the refund but I never received that letter backl see.
The letter got lost.
Q I have no further questions.Is there anything the Court would like
to ask him?
EXAMINATION BY THE COURT:
Q Did you ever hear from her again after she wrote that she had
divorced you?
A Neverl your Honor.
Q Did you.show this letter to,anybody here in America?
,!.;
A Weill there was her uncle who saw that letter but he ---
~P~
Q Where is your uncle?
A He died just about two or three.years ago.
Q Did you ever attempt to correspond with her'any more?
A I had no address to write tOI sirl so I couldn't.
Q Was she from the same town in Russia'that you were from?
A NO I I was born in Yugoslavial but this uncle of hers was my boss
in the place where I workl see.That is the way I got acquainted
with her and I had a correspondence with her for several years and
then we decided to get married.SOl in 19371 we married.I made
-4-
ot..-Ii
a trip there for that purpose and that's what it is.Nothing happenec.
Q Did you make the trip there from Yugoslavia or from the United
States?
A From United States with U.S.passport.I still have it.
Q ,Are you an Am erican citizen?
A Yes.
Q Did you make any other efforts to contact her between when you left
the Soviet Union after tlE marriage and when you heard aboutihis?
A Oh,yes,your Honor.I even sent package of clothing,several
packages and oth,er corr.espondence;continuous correspondence for
I "1-.~'~~".~,£~.~"..~.{._
about six m6~ths about her ~ff~rts to get a passport and she informe ~
me several times that she MI,as npt able to get a,passport to leave.'
the country,see.
..
MR.FERGUS:
Q You got married one day?
A Yes.
Q And then you stated that you left the next day?
A Yes.
Q Why didn't you live together that night?
A Well,she had to return to her job,see.She was working in an
agricultural laboratory,see.In the meantime,I ask the U.S.
Embassy 'in Moscow for advice,what to do.So they advised me to
return back to the States and apply for the visa,see.
Q But immediately after the ceremony,she had to do this,go to work?
A Well,I suppose so.She left to go to her place of work,you know.
Q Right after the ceremony?
A Yes.
Q And would this be because maybe of the strict controls that Stalin
had during that period,that workers couldn't be away from their
jobs,and is that why because oft~e strict control that Stalin had
-5-
-.'...}
over his workers?
A Well,I suppose that is what it was.I can't say because I am not
a politician to;Jmow those~things.
~,.\
Q But s~e had d~finite 9rgers,t~be-back to get to,tw?rk3"
A ~he had too much time to leave the job and go to her father's town.
She didn't work in the same,town.
"
Q From where you got married?Wpere qid s.he work?
A She worked in a town that was Krasnolaw,that is about several
hundred miles inland from the Black Sea.Also,she had to go back.
BY THE COURT:
MR.FERGUS:
Witness excused.
I have no further questions.
I have none.
BERNARD L UKETICH called and sworn.
DIRECT EXAMINATION by MR.FERGUS:
Q Would you state your full name,pIe ase?
A Bernard M.Luketich.
Q And what is your address?
A 161 Lincoln Street,Cokeburg.
Q Do _you know John Strizich who is in the courtroom today?
A Yes,I do.
Q How long have you known him?
";.~.
A About 10 or 12 years.
Q Has this been a close personal relationship?
A Yes,it has.
Q So,it is a social rather than a business type friendship?Is that
correct?
A Yes.
Q Do -you have from your knowledge or do you know how long Mr.
-6--
'--
.J
Strizich has been a citizen of the United States?
A
Q
A
I can1t answer that.I have no knowledge.
Do you know whether he has been·natur'alized or not?,r ".t,
Yes.
Q Are you familiar with his affa.irs _to ,the.extent that you were aware
-,
that he had been married'once before?'
~~
A Well,I know of that since-a recent date when he tried to apply for
this marriage license.
Q Has he told you why the marriage license was refused?
A Yes,sir.
Q And what was that?
A Well"he doesn1t have a copy of the divorce from Europe where he
was married previously.
Q Has he stated to you that he has been divorced?
A Yes,he has.
Q Would you have any reason to doubt this?
A No"I wouldn1t.
Q Do lyou know what Mr.Strizich1s reputation in the community is?
A Very good.
Q Is it one in which his truth is accepted?
Q Has he told you about a letter that he received from his first wife?
A Yes"sir.
Q Has he told you what the contents of that letter was?
A Yes,he did.
Q What did he say?
A Well"he said that his first wife had written to him that she had got
a divorce and that she intended to get married and that he was free
to do as he chosee
-7-
MR.FERGUS:
BY THE COURT:
MR.FERGUS:
"
.,
I have no further questions of this witness.
Anything else to put in the record?
No,your Honor,but I would like to move
you grant an order overruling the Register of Wills and issue a marriage
license in this case.
BY THE COURT:
,-~
So ordered.
* * * * * * * * * *
",.
I hereby certify that the proceedings are contained fully and
accurately in the notes taken by me at the hearing in the above cause,and
that this copy is a correct transcript of the same.
ourt Stenographer
The foregoing record of the proceedings at the hearing in the
-8-
·.
IN THE ..o;RPfIA:N'S,COURT OF WASHINGTON COUNTY,PENNSYLVANIA
IN RE:)
)No.
MARRIAGE OF JOHN STRIZICH )
o R D E R
jl()'i,1968 ~
f
AND NOW,this 12th day of August,1968,a hearing
having been held before the undersigned,it has been determined that John
Strizich,the petitioner,was divorced in 1938,and the Register of Wills
is directed to issue a Marriage License to the said John Strizich and
Amelia Henc.
BY THE COURT:
Charles G.Sweet,specially
presiding
.'J