Wascavage, Edmund
(Apr. 18, 1912 - Feb. 15, 1997)
MayorNobody is surprised that the mayors of Old Forge, Pennsylvania, where the people believe it's the pizza capital of the world, have names as rich as the stuff in the pizzas they served to coal miners gathered to play cards. But one wonders what they else they did to Edmund Wascavage, who was the fifteenth person to head the local government, 1965-1969, and Americanized his family name.
It's amazing how fast the paymasters of the coal companies, the courts of Lackawanna County, and the people of the borough ten minutes from Scranton couldn't wait to give a new name to Mateusz Waszkiewicz, who came in 1894 to work in the coal mines of Old Forge from Suwalki, where 877 of the 5,168 persons of the same name in Poland were still found in 1990.
The name was essentially formed by compounding suffixes. For instance: Wa + sz + (k) +- (i) ew + icz. As William F. Hoffman, with a sense of humor, analyzed it, "Even in a nightmare a German would never dream of tacking four suffixes onto a name root. But Poles do that in their sleep!"
Four brothers followed Mateusz Waszkiewicz to Old Forge, and when the census taker caught up with them in 1900, he spelled the family name "Yoscavich." He changed Mateusz to Michael and his wife, Mary (Zukowski), whom he married in 1897, to "Francisca," and her 79 year father, Felix, who lived with them, to "Zukofsky." The head of the family received his citizen papers in 1910 when he lived with his wife and children in Old Forge, yet for some reason, probably because of the spelling, I couldn't find the family in the census records. The petition for naturalization is listed under the name of Michal Wascavitch. The family, however, was never known by that name.
It was the children who memorialized Wascavage. They included Adam, who was born December 24, 1898; Apolonia (Nellie), November 24, 1899; Edward, January 13, 1901; John, April 11, 1906; Stefania (Stella), December 4, 1909; Edmund, April 18, 1912; Zofia, December 12, 1914; Matilda (Tillie), 1918; and Mary, 1920. It seems that all of these children were born in the Austin Heights section of Old Forge, where the cornerstone of St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church was laid in 1905 by Father John Kominek, and they did not have an opportunity to be taught by Polish nuns until 1920 when Bernardine Sisters came from Berks County to open a school at St. Michael's, founded in 1907, which was the second Polish church in Old Forge. Unfortunately, in 1915 fire destroyed the beloved St. Stanislaus church, which stood next to the Wascavage home, and instead of a parochial school, the people of Austin Heights saw a need for a fire company. They organized the White Eagle Hose Company on January 12, 1917.
When Edmund Wascavage grew up, he went to work in the coal mine at Austin Heights and married Mary Kapusciak, with whom he had two sons. After the mine was closed, he was employed by Archbald Sewing Company. He dabbled in politics and was a mayor of Old Forge for one term and borough controller for 20 years. He was a member of St. Michael's Catholic Church, Old Forge; the Holy Name Society; Knights of Columbus; Eagle McCIure (originally White Eagle) Hose Co., Old Forge; and Lackawanna County Democratic Committee.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary, who died on August 15, 1995, and a son, Joseph, January 1986. Father Joseph Brozena, pastor of St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church, said a Mass of Christian Burial, and the mayor of Old Forge was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery, Old Forge.
From: Edward Pinkowski (2009) assisted by Thomas Duszak