Mara (Mary) Okich is the only child of Julia (Gordgh) and Majh Okich. Julia nearly died birthing her daughter in the fields of her small village near what became Brod, Yugoslavia. Mara's father was much older than her mother and, to hear tell, an abusive and mean drunk. One winter night coming home from the bar across the fields, Majh, in his drunken stupor, fell and froze to death.
Sometime thereafter, Julia sent her daughter to the next larger village to stay with relatives and to go to gymnasium (high school), On June 28, 1914 Archduke Ferdinand of of Austria was assassinated in Sarajeno. On July 27, 1914 Julia left for America with plans to get settled and then send for her daughter. Julia Okich boarded the SS Ivernia in Fiume, Croatia/Italy for a 24 day passage to the New World. She spoke no English and carried the equivalent of about $25.00. One day after her ship had sailed Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Mara was separated from her mother for the remainder of what became World War I.
In April of 1920 as the first ships were beginning to remove passengers from Eastern Europe again, Julia traveled back to Serbia/Yugoslavia to find her daughter and finally bring her to America. Julia brought with her a young girl (probably the next door neighbor's child, who might have been the niece of her now husband, Eli George); she passed the 5 year old off as her American born daughter thereby guaranteeing her re-admission to the U.S. in lieu of a passport.
In October, 1920 Mara, her mother, and the young girl they were calling Ana arrived at Ellis Island and processed through to Mara's and "Ana's" home in Akron, Ohio. Sometime between October of 1920 and March of 1921 Mara, while working at the "Sweet Shop" (coffee shop) run by her mother and step-father, she met Nick Anich. They married on March 26, 1921. To this union four children were born: Christine. Julia. Eli, and John (aka Johnny).
Nick and Mara (now known as Mary) Anich lived at 22 Case Avenue at the corner of River Street, Akron Ohio according to the 1924 Akron City Directory. They are listed as being in the "soft drinks" business and residing at the same address, what we would call "above the store". It was also where Mary actually ran a little illegal alcohol operation.
The story goes that Mary was a bootlegger during Prohibition and at one time ran a bar that kept just one bottle of liquor behind the counter. The bar also had an open window overlooking the Ohio & Erie Canal. If a police raid erupted it was the duty of the bartender to heave the single bottle out the window hard enough to break on the far wall of the canal. One day the bartender was not successful and the bottle did not hit the wall and break, instead it hit the water and started floating down the canal. Mary was arrested, charged, and tried but was soon acquitted. Her lawyer in the case? One Wendell Willkie! He was able to show a defect in the chain of evidence by making the officer admit he had lost sight of the bottle while he exited through the front door and then ran behind the building to the canal! Not guilty!
Mary was also known to take trips to Windsor, Canada via Detroit to bootleg alcohol for sale. Her daughter, Julia, recalls Mary taking her and her younger brothers along to Detroit and tucking the bottles into the babies' blankets to bring bootleg the liquor to Akron.
In 1929 Mary divorced Nick. Although there was a brief attempt at reconciliation between them in the mid 1930s, Mary was not a girl to be tied down as evidenced by her string of husbands and paramours. Yet at the end of his life, Mara's cooking was the only thing Nick Anich would eat and she dutifully came from Cleveland every week to bring it to him and she stayed and fed him.
After divorcing Nick, she was married to Alex Sekulich, Sr. with whom she had a son, Alex Jr., before divorcing him. She next married Steve Henezi with whom she had daughter Bonnie. It was while she was married to Steve that Mary became a citizen of the United States. She divorced him and married Michael Lupyon. Michael was the only native born American she married; he died after less than two years with her.
After the death of Micahel Lupyon, Mary brought her daughter Bonnie to Akron and lived briefly again with her now adult daughter, Julia, adult son John, and 1st husband Nick who all resided together. She moved to Cleveland and lived many years with George V. ("Goko") Markovich of Cleveland, Ohio until his death in 1984 at which point she moved back to Akron where she died in 1990. Goko and Mara never actually married because of "the Social Security".
She is buried next to her 1st husband, Nick Anich, for whom she always had an abiding fondness as he did for her.
~ summarized from stories as they were told to me. No reuse without permission. Etoile of NE Ohio. May 7, 2012
Sometime thereafter, Julia sent her daughter to the next larger village to stay with relatives and to go to gymnasium (high school), On June 28, 1914 Archduke Ferdinand of of Austria was assassinated in Sarajeno. On July 27, 1914 Julia left for America with plans to get settled and then send for her daughter. Julia Okich boarded the SS Ivernia in Fiume, Croatia/Italy for a 24 day passage to the New World. She spoke no English and carried the equivalent of about $25.00. One day after her ship had sailed Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Mara was separated from her mother for the remainder of what became World War I.
In April of 1920 as the first ships were beginning to remove passengers from Eastern Europe again, Julia traveled back to Serbia/Yugoslavia to find her daughter and finally bring her to America. Julia brought with her a young girl (probably the next door neighbor's child, who might have been the niece of her now husband, Eli George); she passed the 5 year old off as her American born daughter thereby guaranteeing her re-admission to the U.S. in lieu of a passport.
In October, 1920 Mara, her mother, and the young girl they were calling Ana arrived at Ellis Island and processed through to Mara's and "Ana's" home in Akron, Ohio. Sometime between October of 1920 and March of 1921 Mara, while working at the "Sweet Shop" (coffee shop) run by her mother and step-father, she met Nick Anich. They married on March 26, 1921. To this union four children were born: Christine. Julia. Eli, and John (aka Johnny).
Nick and Mara (now known as Mary) Anich lived at 22 Case Avenue at the corner of River Street, Akron Ohio according to the 1924 Akron City Directory. They are listed as being in the "soft drinks" business and residing at the same address, what we would call "above the store". It was also where Mary actually ran a little illegal alcohol operation.
The story goes that Mary was a bootlegger during Prohibition and at one time ran a bar that kept just one bottle of liquor behind the counter. The bar also had an open window overlooking the Ohio & Erie Canal. If a police raid erupted it was the duty of the bartender to heave the single bottle out the window hard enough to break on the far wall of the canal. One day the bartender was not successful and the bottle did not hit the wall and break, instead it hit the water and started floating down the canal. Mary was arrested, charged, and tried but was soon acquitted. Her lawyer in the case? One Wendell Willkie! He was able to show a defect in the chain of evidence by making the officer admit he had lost sight of the bottle while he exited through the front door and then ran behind the building to the canal! Not guilty!
Mary was also known to take trips to Windsor, Canada via Detroit to bootleg alcohol for sale. Her daughter, Julia, recalls Mary taking her and her younger brothers along to Detroit and tucking the bottles into the babies' blankets to bring bootleg the liquor to Akron.
In 1929 Mary divorced Nick. Although there was a brief attempt at reconciliation between them in the mid 1930s, Mary was not a girl to be tied down as evidenced by her string of husbands and paramours. Yet at the end of his life, Mara's cooking was the only thing Nick Anich would eat and she dutifully came from Cleveland every week to bring it to him and she stayed and fed him.
After divorcing Nick, she was married to Alex Sekulich, Sr. with whom she had a son, Alex Jr., before divorcing him. She next married Steve Henezi with whom she had daughter Bonnie. It was while she was married to Steve that Mary became a citizen of the United States. She divorced him and married Michael Lupyon. Michael was the only native born American she married; he died after less than two years with her.
After the death of Micahel Lupyon, Mary brought her daughter Bonnie to Akron and lived briefly again with her now adult daughter, Julia, adult son John, and 1st husband Nick who all resided together. She moved to Cleveland and lived many years with George V. ("Goko") Markovich of Cleveland, Ohio until his death in 1984 at which point she moved back to Akron where she died in 1990. Goko and Mara never actually married because of "the Social Security".
She is buried next to her 1st husband, Nick Anich, for whom she always had an abiding fondness as he did for her.
~ summarized from stories as they were told to me. No reuse without permission. Etoile of NE Ohio. May 7, 2012
Mara (Mary) Okich is the only child of Julia (Gordgh) and Majh Okich. Julia nearly died birthing her daughter in the fields of her small village near what became Brod, Yugoslavia. Mara's father was much older than her mother and, to hear tell, an abusive and mean drunk. One winter night coming home from the bar across the fields, Majh, in his drunken stupor, fell and froze to death.
Sometime thereafter, Julia sent her daughter to the next larger village to stay with relatives and to go to gymnasium (high school), On June 28, 1914 Archduke Ferdinand of of Austria was assassinated in Sarajeno. On July 27, 1914 Julia left for America with plans to get settled and then send for her daughter. Julia Okich boarded the SS Ivernia in Fiume, Croatia/Italy for a 24 day passage to the New World. She spoke no English and carried the equivalent of about $25.00. One day after her ship had sailed Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Mara was separated from her mother for the remainder of what became World War I.
In April of 1920 as the first ships were beginning to remove passengers from Eastern Europe again, Julia traveled back to Serbia/Yugoslavia to find her daughter and finally bring her to America. Julia brought with her a young girl (probably the next door neighbor's child, who might have been the niece of her now husband, Eli George); she passed the 5 year old off as her American born daughter thereby guaranteeing her re-admission to the U.S. in lieu of a passport.
In October, 1920 Mara, her mother, and the young girl they were calling Ana arrived at Ellis Island and processed through to Mara's and "Ana's" home in Akron, Ohio. Sometime between October of 1920 and March of 1921 Mara, while working at the "Sweet Shop" (coffee shop) run by her mother and step-father, she met Nick Anich. They married on March 26, 1921. To this union four children were born: Christine. Julia. Eli, and John (aka Johnny).
Nick and Mara (now known as Mary) Anich lived at 22 Case Avenue at the corner of River Street, Akron Ohio according to the 1924 Akron City Directory. They are listed as being in the "soft drinks" business and residing at the same address, what we would call "above the store". It was also where Mary actually ran a little illegal alcohol operation.
The story goes that Mary was a bootlegger during Prohibition and at one time ran a bar that kept just one bottle of liquor behind the counter. The bar also had an open window overlooking the Ohio & Erie Canal. If a police raid erupted it was the duty of the bartender to heave the single bottle out the window hard enough to break on the far wall of the canal. One day the bartender was not successful and the bottle did not hit the wall and break, instead it hit the water and started floating down the canal. Mary was arrested, charged, and tried but was soon acquitted. Her lawyer in the case? One Wendell Willkie! He was able to show a defect in the chain of evidence by making the officer admit he had lost sight of the bottle while he exited through the front door and then ran behind the building to the canal! Not guilty!
Mary was also known to take trips to Windsor, Canada via Detroit to bootleg alcohol for sale. Her daughter, Julia, recalls Mary taking her and her younger brothers along to Detroit and tucking the bottles into the babies' blankets to bring bootleg the liquor to Akron.
In 1929 Mary divorced Nick. Although there was a brief attempt at reconciliation between them in the mid 1930s, Mary was not a girl to be tied down as evidenced by her string of husbands and paramours. Yet at the end of his life, Mara's cooking was the only thing Nick Anich would eat and she dutifully came from Cleveland every week to bring it to him and she stayed and fed him.
After divorcing Nick, she was married to Alex Sekulich, Sr. with whom she had a son, Alex Jr., before divorcing him. She next married Steve Henezi with whom she had daughter Bonnie. It was while she was married to Steve that Mary became a citizen of the United States. She divorced him and married Michael Lupyon. Michael was the only native born American she married; he died after less than two years with her.
After the death of Micahel Lupyon, Mary brought her daughter Bonnie to Akron and lived briefly again with her now adult daughter, Julia, adult son John, and 1st husband Nick who all resided together. She moved to Cleveland and lived many years with George V. ("Goko") Markovich of Cleveland, Ohio until his death in 1984 at which point she moved back to Akron where she died in 1990. Goko and Mara never actually married because of "the Social Security".
She is buried next to her 1st husband, Nick Anich, for whom she always had an abiding fondness as he did for her.
~ summarized from stories as they were told to me. No reuse without permission. Etoile of NE Ohio. May 7, 2012
Sometime thereafter, Julia sent her daughter to the next larger village to stay with relatives and to go to gymnasium (high school), On June 28, 1914 Archduke Ferdinand of of Austria was assassinated in Sarajeno. On July 27, 1914 Julia left for America with plans to get settled and then send for her daughter. Julia Okich boarded the SS Ivernia in Fiume, Croatia/Italy for a 24 day passage to the New World. She spoke no English and carried the equivalent of about $25.00. One day after her ship had sailed Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Mara was separated from her mother for the remainder of what became World War I.
In April of 1920 as the first ships were beginning to remove passengers from Eastern Europe again, Julia traveled back to Serbia/Yugoslavia to find her daughter and finally bring her to America. Julia brought with her a young girl (probably the next door neighbor's child, who might have been the niece of her now husband, Eli George); she passed the 5 year old off as her American born daughter thereby guaranteeing her re-admission to the U.S. in lieu of a passport.
In October, 1920 Mara, her mother, and the young girl they were calling Ana arrived at Ellis Island and processed through to Mara's and "Ana's" home in Akron, Ohio. Sometime between October of 1920 and March of 1921 Mara, while working at the "Sweet Shop" (coffee shop) run by her mother and step-father, she met Nick Anich. They married on March 26, 1921. To this union four children were born: Christine. Julia. Eli, and John (aka Johnny).
Nick and Mara (now known as Mary) Anich lived at 22 Case Avenue at the corner of River Street, Akron Ohio according to the 1924 Akron City Directory. They are listed as being in the "soft drinks" business and residing at the same address, what we would call "above the store". It was also where Mary actually ran a little illegal alcohol operation.
The story goes that Mary was a bootlegger during Prohibition and at one time ran a bar that kept just one bottle of liquor behind the counter. The bar also had an open window overlooking the Ohio & Erie Canal. If a police raid erupted it was the duty of the bartender to heave the single bottle out the window hard enough to break on the far wall of the canal. One day the bartender was not successful and the bottle did not hit the wall and break, instead it hit the water and started floating down the canal. Mary was arrested, charged, and tried but was soon acquitted. Her lawyer in the case? One Wendell Willkie! He was able to show a defect in the chain of evidence by making the officer admit he had lost sight of the bottle while he exited through the front door and then ran behind the building to the canal! Not guilty!
Mary was also known to take trips to Windsor, Canada via Detroit to bootleg alcohol for sale. Her daughter, Julia, recalls Mary taking her and her younger brothers along to Detroit and tucking the bottles into the babies' blankets to bring bootleg the liquor to Akron.
In 1929 Mary divorced Nick. Although there was a brief attempt at reconciliation between them in the mid 1930s, Mary was not a girl to be tied down as evidenced by her string of husbands and paramours. Yet at the end of his life, Mara's cooking was the only thing Nick Anich would eat and she dutifully came from Cleveland every week to bring it to him and she stayed and fed him.
After divorcing Nick, she was married to Alex Sekulich, Sr. with whom she had a son, Alex Jr., before divorcing him. She next married Steve Henezi with whom she had daughter Bonnie. It was while she was married to Steve that Mary became a citizen of the United States. She divorced him and married Michael Lupyon. Michael was the only native born American she married; he died after less than two years with her.
After the death of Micahel Lupyon, Mary brought her daughter Bonnie to Akron and lived briefly again with her now adult daughter, Julia, adult son John, and 1st husband Nick who all resided together. She moved to Cleveland and lived many years with George V. ("Goko") Markovich of Cleveland, Ohio until his death in 1984 at which point she moved back to Akron where she died in 1990. Goko and Mara never actually married because of "the Social Security".
She is buried next to her 1st husband, Nick Anich, for whom she always had an abiding fondness as he did for her.
~ summarized from stories as they were told to me. No reuse without permission. Etoile of NE Ohio. May 7, 2012
Gravesite Details
Although her legal name at the time of her death was Mary Lupyon, she is buried next to her first husband and the man with whom she had four children, Nick Anich. Her gravemarker reads "Mary Anich".
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
See more Anich Lupyon or Okich memorials in:
- Rose Hill Burial Park Anich Lupyon or Okich
- Fairlawn Anich Lupyon or Okich
- Summit County Anich Lupyon or Okich
- Ohio Anich Lupyon or Okich
- USA Anich Lupyon or Okich
- Find a Grave Anich Lupyon or Okich
Advertisement
