Researching Stanley Miller but finding Alexander and Stacia instead...

I had a memorial service card from St. Joseph's church for what I believed to be Stanley's funeral service. The name on the card was Stanislawa Miller, the date was June 11, 1965. In order to verify dates of our more recent ancestors, I have been spending lunches at the Webster library looking through their collection of Webster Times on microfiche. They have the Times all the way back to the late 1800's, and if you have the patience you can find all kinds of good stuff.

Anyway, I wanted to verify the date that my grandfather Stanley Miller passed away so I went to the library to search the obituaries on and around 6/11/1965. I didn't find Stanley, instead I found the obit for his wife Stacia. How can this be? Stacia's name in polish is Stanislawa and Stanley's is Stanislaus or sometimes Stanislava. I knew both of these facts but failed to recognize the subtle difference on the memorial card when entering the data. That card was for Stacia Miller and not Stanley so I corrected the tree and continued the search for Stanley.

I went back today and started a new search. This time on a hint I remember I got from Maryellen Bolte (Mania's daughter). Her hand written note to me listed Stanley dying at the age of 46. Knowing his birth date, I started searching the Webster Times obituaries in 1956.



On an unrelated note: "Man found lying in road after eating tools". While searching the column "Homes in Mourning" I came across an article for a person found in the middle of the street in obvious distress. He was taken to the hospital where they later removed 25 razor blades, 3 screws, some metal piece of an umbrella, and several other metallic items. When asked why, he said that he was offered this as a challenge at the local fair to win a prize. Perhaps I found the original "jackass"?



On with the search.... I made it through all of 1956 and didn't find anything for Stanley Miller. I did however find the obituary for Alexander Miller (Stanley's father) who died on Jan 12, 1956. In it, it states that he leaves his wife Stacia, 3 daughters and 6 sons one of which was Stanley. From that piece of information I now know that Stanley died after 1956 (unless of course I missed his obit). After nearly 25 years of working with computers I've gotten pretty good at scanning data really fast and accurately, so I doubt I missed it.



Anyway, if time permits I'll be back tomorrow searching the 1957 Webster Times for my grandfather's obituary, and any other interesting articles that I may come across.



Come to think of it, I could just visit the cemetery and read his headstone, but this is certainly more fun.



(Pictured above is Stacia and Alexander Miller)