The Dzurissins

I don't really have a lot of information on Helen Demko's branch. She is a daughter of John Demko Sr. and Zsuanna (Susan, Susanna) Yuhas; she married Andrew Dzurissin I (Aug 22, 1899-Aug 01, 1984).

A week ago (10-14-2013), I struck gold and got this picture of Helen Demko, taken on what appears to be her wedding day! I got this picture from Eleanor Mello-Appel, Helen's niece. She mentioned several times how much she loved Helen, and kept stating as well how "frail" she was, as if she were a nervous little thing. In any event, I fixed up the scan, and here you go! It's only one of two pictures we have of her—a rare find indeed!

Helen Demko-Dzurissin.

Little bits of information come out every once in a while. One I found out about just yesterday is that Andrew the First was in the insurance business at one time. This makes sense, 'cause in the picture (further down the page) in which a young girl is sitting on the steps with two children, the window reads Reading Insurance Agency; the back of the picture reads, "Taken on our front steps." Ok, fine, but the rest of the family story has something to do with Andrew's becoming a missing person only to later reappear and say he had amnesia. Here are some newspaper articles you might find interesting.

The Scranton Republican Sept 23, 1931 pg 3

Scranton Republican, Sept 24, 1931 Page 03

Scranton Republican, Sep 24, 1931 Page18

Scranton Republican Sept 29, 1931 pg01

Scranton Republican Sep 29, 1931 pg 18

Andy Dzurissin III told me that his grandfather, Andy the First (Helen's husband, remember), worked for the Post Office. Here's a picture taken upon his retirement. I wish the quality were better.

The Oneonta Star, (Oneonta, NY) Sept 20, 1969, pg 02

This is Andrew I and Andrew III in 1974. It was the one and only time they met. Source: Andrew III

Here's one of Aunt Dzurissin and her first husband, John Dzurissin. Yeah, I don't know, either.

This is the back of the above picture.

To me, the lady seated on the right looks much like the the wife of John Dzurissin in the first picture. The handwriting is of Anna Mello-Marcinko (standing on left), who is standing with her parents, Peter A. Mello and Anna Demko-Mello.

I've been fortunate enough to contact Andrew Dzurissin III, the grandson of Andy Senior and Helen Demko. He said that the children in the above picture are Helen Jr., Dorothy, and John—3 of the 4 children of Andy Sr. and Helen Sr. (I think Helen's on the left, since she's older and therefore probably taller.) Andrew Jr. was in the 8th grade at this point, so he was unable to be at the same orphanage (Jebnota) as his siblings here (this is according to Helen Jr., shown in the picture).

The same kids as above. This is of Andrew Dzurissin Sr.—Helen Demko's husband—and three of their children, John, Dorothy, and Helen Jr. (I believe that order is correct.)

 

Andrew Jr. is on the left, John, Helen Jr.

So the kids in this picture are Andrew Dzurissin Jr. and Helen Demko Jr., my first cousins twice removed.

This is another rare pic. For years, there were two camps in our family: one thought that Andy Sr. and Helen Sr. had two girls and one boy; the other, two boys and one girl. I think this came about because all anyone ever saw were pictures showing only three kids, one way or the other. This picture shows that there were actually FOUR children. Above, left to right, are John, Dorothy, Helen Jr., and Andrew Jr.

This is Andrew Dzurissin Jr. This was written by Anna Mello-Marcinko, Helen's niece, which makes her and Andy here first cousins.