by Sam Begg
George and Dora Bucar started their family. In 1915 a daughter, Mary was born. The Bucar's (Butchers) lived on 5th Avenue in Rankin. George was settling into family life. In 1916 a son, Nikolas was born. In that same year, George Bucar's brother's wife died and Joseph Bucar and his son moved from Steelton to Rankin.
Nikolas Bucar was a frail baby and in 1917 he died. George and Dora were distraught; it seemed their family was doomed to suffer in America. They contemplated returning to Croatia. Necessary travel documents were secured and tentative plans made for a return trip to Privinci. Fate, in the form of World War I and the influenza epidemic of 1918 intervened. George and Dora did not want to return to a country (Austria-Hungary) which was at war with the United States.
While the Bucar's waited for the war to end, Dora fell victim to typhoid fever in the midst of the influenza epidemic.
George decided that he did not want to take his daughter back to Croatia to be raised by the family there. He opted to remain in America and have other care for Mary. Initially, Mary went to live with her godmother in Braddock Hills, Pennsylvania. It was the beginning of a peripatetic childhood for Mary, and an alcohol filled life for George.
Read also:
Croatia to America: Gjuro Bucar
Croatia in America: George Bucar
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