Family Friends Friday: Recent History on the Kamuda Name

You know how as a youngster, you might hear of or see people in your family that you assume are somehow related in one way or the other, but you never ask for specific information on the connection. You just take for granted they are part of the family and leave it at that. It can be even worse when it's your in-laws and you can't keep track of all the ins and outs of a large family. Following is a story of names and people who I have had heard about over the years in my (ex) husband's family but never took the time to question until now. It is more recent history then I usually research. 

Uncle Mike (David) Westfall sent me the notice of Aunt Marie's husband Robert Rebbeor's funeral via email the other day. I asked about the identity of Clint named as Robert's grandson in the obituary. I was curious as it did not name any child surviving, only a grandson. Mike said that Bob and Marie adopted Kim Kamuda and Clint was her son, although she had other children as well.

I asked who Kim Kamuda was as I understood there was some relation to Nina (nee Swift) Westfall who was married at one time to Mike's oldest brother. Mike reported that Kim was a daughter from Nina's brother-in-law, Joe or Steve Kamuda, but was not sure which one Nina was married to.

I attempted to do some research online on the Kamuda name but was not having much luck. I mentioned this to Uncle Mike and he suggested I talk to his brother Ken about the family as Ken used to hang out with Butch (Steve) in Buffalo and that they "worked on the road with the vans for quite some time." Uncle Ken used to work for United Van Lines as did his brother (my former father-in-law Gerry). I met Butch myself a time or two when they would come down to Florida.

Using the clue of Buffalo as a place of origin, I was able to find several more things online and piece some of the family story together as follows:

Mel Steven Kamuda was Butch. He was born 26 July 1947 and died 1 April 2008. Uncle Mike Westfall said he was the brother-in-law of Nina (nee Swift) Westfall Kamuda, although Nina's daughter Annette called him her cousin in Butch's online obituary guest book.

Looking up the surname Kamuda on the Fultonhistory.com website of old newspapers, I found more information. In 1958, according to the Buffalo paper, when Joe Kamuda Jr. was 16, he admitted to police that he knifed and beat an old woman who owned a neighborhood store because he hated her and wanted to get back at her for turning him out of the store at an earlier time. When police first searched for Joseph, they found him hiding "behind a fence at a foundry where his father worked."

I first guessed that this Joseph Kamuda, Jr. was Nina's husband. He was born about 1942 and closer in age to Nina. Although if Joe Sr. was her husband, Butch would then have been her daughter Annette's cousin and not Annette's uncle. This turned out to be the case after all. Joe Jr. and Mel were sons of Joseph Kamuda and his wife Faye P. (nee Thompson). According to Faye's obituary, they also had daughters:  Ramona, Linda, Karen, Ruth and Kim. This Kim is likely the Kim Kamuda who was adopted by Bob and Marie (Westfall) Rebbeor. This information also matches Mel's obituary that says he was survived by one brother and five sisters. Faye was born about 1921 and died 1 April 1960 in Buffalo. Her obituary lists her maiden name as Thompson but states she was the daughter of Mrs. Rosalee Gross. An obituary of Max H. Gross who died in Franklinville, NY in 1997 lists the late Faye (late Joseph) Kamuda as his sister; this could have been a half-sibling relationship. Max was also a member of the VFW Post in Cuba, NY.

Joseph Kamuda Sr. was born in New York about 1915 and was 21 years older than Nina. He was living with his parents Matthew and Stella during the 1940 census in the 6th ward of Buffalo. His occupation was that of a molder helper in a foundry (which coincides with Joe Jr.'s father working at a foundry in 1958). I don't know what happened to Joe Sr. or Joe Jr. There was an obituary of a Joseph J. Kamuda who died in Illinois in 2002 at the age of 58 (placing year of birth at 1944). This is not likely the right family as Mel's obituary stated he was survived by his brother. I think it is likely that Joe Sr. made his way down to Franklinville/Cuba/Rushford area because of his brother-in-law Max Gross. The Social Security Death Index shows a Joseph J. Kamuda born 22 August 1941, died in Erie County, New York 5 March 2009 but nothing further has been located. Nina is listed as Mrs. Nina Kamuda of Rushford in her father's obituary when he died in 1969. Another Joseph Kamuda from the Social Security Death Index has a birth date of 15 June 1914 and death date of 1 January 1996 in Lancaster, Erie Co, NY. This is likely Joseph Sr.

Having known Ken and Gerry since I was twelve years old, I recalled a man named Butch that used to be with Ken a lot when we'd see him down in Florida. In a later conversation, Mike also said Ken used to work at the foundry in Buffalo with Joe Kamuda years ago. When I asked Mike where the foundry was, he called Ken up and confirmed that it was called the Fillmore Foundry on Clinton and Fillmore Streets in Buffalo. Mike also mentioned that Butch was married to one of Ken's old girlfriends, Pat Brehm, from Protection (a small hamlet in the town of Sardinia in southern Erie County according to Wikipedia) and that Butch even named one of his sons Ken.

The parents of Joseph Kamuda, Sr, Matthew and Stella Kamuda, were immigrants from Galicia, Poland and came to the United States in 1913 according to the 1920 New York state census. They were listed under the surname "Karomada" and lived in the rear of 568 Howard Street along with their children Julia, Joseph, Stella and Bertha. Also in the household was a 31-year-old boarder by the name of Brownie Katkowski who also immigrated from Poland in 1913. Both Brownie and Matthew worked for a radiator company as laborers.  "Pa" was written under the naturalization column for both, possibly indicating that they had completed papers for the naturalization process as opposed to be listed "Na" for being naturalized citizens.

Joseph's brother Stanley S. Kamuda enlisted in military service from Buffalo in 1941. The military record stated that he was born in New York in 1916, although Stanley was not listed in the 1920 census. It is possible the name and sex of the daughter Stella was listed erroneously. The family could not be located during the 1930 census. There was a Tadeus and Stephania Kamuda with children Julia (born about 1912) and Jozef (born about 1914) indexed in the 1915 New York state census that was probably the same family.

An obituary of Mary Kubas nee Kamuda who died in June 1959 lists her as the daughter of Stella Zabriel and the late Matthew Kamuda. Her siblings were listed as Jewel Hejza, Berniece Pelosene, Helen Beard of California and Joseph, Stanley and Walter Kamuda. An obituary of Andrew Zabriel who died in May 1968 lists him as the beloved husband of Stella Kamuda Zabriel nee Imiolo and stepfather to Mrs. Chester (Julia) Heiza, Joseph Kamuda, Stanley Kamuda, Mrs. Don (Bernice) Palaseno, Walter Kamuda, Mrs. Helen Beard and the late Mary Kubas. Stella Zabriel is listed in the Social Security Death Index with a birth date of 7 November 1885 and a death date of February 1975 in Erie County, New York. Matthew Kamuda 1888-1940 is listed in the St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Cemetery in Cheektowaga, Erie Co, NY.

That's as far as I have been able to get, but I wanted to get the details down for potential future research.