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When I was born three of my four grandparents were already dead. My maternal grandfather died when I was eleven* and both of my parents have been gone for over twenty years. There is no one left to ask about the past.
The only things I am relatively sure about are that my maternal great grandparents (Otto and Minnie Vass Kolbaska) were from Germany, my paternal grandmother (Louise Cardinal) was of French descent (possibly thru Canada) and my paternal grandfather (Henry T Stanger)was born in Illinois and is of German descent. I had heard that when the family immigrated to the US they added and "r" or "er" to the last name to Americanize it.
My maternal grandfather* changed his name from Dave Ostrensky to Otter (or Ostran) for political reasons, I believe. He was president or sec/treas of AFL-CIO in the Quad cities before he died in 1955. His parents were Mandle and Minnie Ostrensky and immigrated here in 1878 from Poland Russia. His sister, Anna Ostrensky Horner was born in TN in February 1885 and died in Pittsfield MA in 1966. She is buried in Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago with my grandfather and great grandparents.
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