D'Unkals

One thing the family was well endowed with were a great cast of uncles who were all a treat to be around in their time. I was lucky because when I was growing up in post WW2 Detroit, I saw a lot of them. Our family was close so much of our social interaction we enjoyed were inter-family get- togethers. That usually meant at our house. Dad had the basement on Lonyo made into a recreation room. It had knotty pine wall paneling, a tiled floor, finished ceiling and a glass block bar that seated six with a bar sink, refrigerator and a back bar stocked with high end booze and exotic liqueurs that were selected because of their unique bottle shapes and colors. It was as well stocked as any high end joint in town. The glassware was all imprinted and the walls and shelves were adorned with neon beer and liquor signs. The glass walls of the bar were back lit in a rainbow of colorful lights. Real revolving bar stools and an authentic cash register finished the look. If prohibition were to ever be re introduced, the K family was set for business.

It was a perfect place for all my uncles to congregate almost every weekend for  night of pinochle, food and free booze. They each gd their favorite spot at the bar, at which they sat until the card games began. The longer they spent at the bar, the louder the card games got.

the pinochle games were intended in the beginning to be held in turn at all the homes. It ended up that dad hosted the weekend get togethers for a number of years. He had the bar, the space, the store and the money, but the games eventually ended when Ed realized that reciprocity was not a virtue. In fact,  the uncles seemed to believe that it was my father's responsibility to share his good fortune with the family and not expect any reciprocity.   It was fun while it lasted

The cast of uncles, lovable characters all.

John Dziedzic (Deeds)
Uncle John was a good guy. I loved to visit him at his store then later at his little bar and spend time talking to him. He was a very unorthodox binge drinker. He alternated his binges between beer and Pepsi. He could drink a case or more of either almost every evening. His weight would balloon when he binged on either. John was a grocer who collected silver coins (coins were all silver before they were made from alloys) He had amassed a small fortune in silver dimes, half dollars and quarters and made a nice profit when the price of silver rose to many times more than face value.

Johnie Misa 
Dad's partner and best friend. Uncle Johnie married my father's sister, Bernice. He was a very smart and gifted man who made a lot of money in the stock market. He was a favorite of mine. One afternoon during a family picnic, I was disappointed that I couldn't catch a fish. Johnie had caught a dozen or more. When I wsn't looking, he sneaked into the lake and put a fish on my limp line. Then came to shore and laughed as I fought hard to bring the monster fish I had caught to shore. I bought Uncle John the shirt he was buried in, an expensive one, just because he deserved it. I miss him.

Benny Zdyr.
 Uncle Ben woke up every morning and stuck a big wad of Lieberman chewing tobacco in his mouth.  He kept a cheek full there all day, even when he drank his many beers, Uncle Ben was a quiet soul who maintained an even buzz all day. As a young man, he was part of the notorious Mercier Gang, a group of tough Polish kids who protected their turf and the young Polish girls from the advances of the Italians and other non Polish (hillbillies) and pagan hordes who surrounded the neighborhood.

Uncle Ben once came home badly beaten and bloodied-- but he had a smile on his face. He had taken a prize from his opponent-- the guy's upper false teeth. Benny never owned or drove a car until he got to be 30. A year or so after he bought his car a '53 Chevy, he totaled it and almost killed himself and Aunt Irene

Rudy Adams (adamowicz)
Rudy was the playboy. He married my mother's younger sister, Adele, who died suddenly at about age 60. He was a good looking Russian-Ukrainian-Polish guy who was younger than the other uncles by ten years. He and I were good buddies, We still are as Rudy is alive and kicking at the age of 90. He has a occasional live in girl friend and still likes to party.