HUSBAND        Joseph Wimmer
 
DATE - M/D/Y CITY COUNTY STATE (COUNTRY)
Born 9/2/1914 New York City New York
Married 7/1/1939
Died 8/5/1993 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
Buried   Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
FATHER Gustav Wimmer Other Wives:
MOTHER Kristain Wimmer
 
 

WIFE        Anastasia Romanick

 
DATE - M/D/Y CITY COUNTY STATE (COUNTRY)
Born 9/20/1911 Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania
Married 7/1/1949
Died
Buried 
FATHER Maxim Romanick
MOTHER Mary Symochko  Other Husbands:
        
 
 
CHILDREN
 
Sex
M/F		 Children
In order of birth		 Birthdate
M/D/Y		   Birthplace
City State Country		 Date of Marriage Date of Death
Name of Spouse City       State
F Barbara Wimmer 4/4/1941 Bronx, New York 9/5/1972
Charles Garbinski
F Irene Wimmer 3/5/1948 Bronx, New York 1/24/1970
Demetrius Ellis
 
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Anastasia (Romanick) Wimmer, the first born of nine children to Maxim and Mary (Symochko) Romanick, was born on September 29, 1911. There would be a total of five brothers and four sisters. We all lived in a very small, three-room house located on North Main Street in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. My father was a custodian for the Holy Resurrection Church.
My schooling consisted of completing Junior High School, I went to work in a silk mill at the age of 14. One condition of going to work at this early age was that I would have to attend continuation school once a week and continue my studies, until I was 16 years old.
At this time in my life there was no work in Wilkes-Barre. When I was 18 years old I decided to move to New York and found work as a domestic. Working as a domestic I did not have to worry about a place to stay or where my next meal was coming from. After working in New York for several years, I sent for my sister Mary who was now sixteen and still living in Wilkes-Barre.
In 1937, I worked at the Bloomingdale Day Care Center. The Bloomingdale Center was located in Greenwich Village. Working parents brought their children to the center where they stayed from 8 am to 6 pm five days a week. The parents were charged according to their ability to pay.
On my days off I would spend time at Coney Island, swimming in the surf. During the summer this outing would ' not be complete unless I stopped at the famous "Nathan's" on the boardwalk for a hot dog and knish. Other days I would spend visiting museums, the 42nd Street Library and other places of interest. I also attended many concerts.
Someone once asked me, what was it about New York that I liked. My answer was, that I liked it enough to make it my home. Museums were free and you could ride the subway for a nickel. One could do so many things on a limited amount of money.
In 1937, I was introduced by mutual friends to Joseph Wimmer, my future husband. On my first date with Joseph, we visited the Hayden Planetarium to see the Christmas show. We continued dating for two years and were married on July 1, 1939, in New York City. Joseph worked for the Massachusetts Importing Company. The company specialized in importing Oriental rugs from the Middle East.
We moved to our first home in Bronx, New York. It was a four room, cold water, railroad walk-up apartment on Saint Ann's Avenue. This apartment was called railroad because all the rooms were in a row with the kitchen in the rear and the parlor or as it was also called the "front" room in the front toward the street with the bedrooms in between. We had to heat the apartment and the water with a coal stove. We had no refrigerator. The Ice Man delivered a block of ice every day which was kept in our ice box. Today it is the refrigerator.
Our only source of entertainment was the radio, which we listened to our favorite programs every day. Joseph was making twenty dollars a week. Our rent was twenty dollars a month. It was during this time that my first daughter, Barbara, was born. She was born on April 4, 1941.
In 1945 we moved to a five room railroad apartment and it had central heating. Our rent went to thirty-five dollars a month. We also had our first phone installed. On March 5, 1948, my second daughter, Irene', was born at the Bronx Hospital. We lived in this apartment until 1955, at which time, we were able to purchase our first real home. It was located on Olmstead Avenue in the Bronx. It was a two family house and the apartment upstairs was rented out. It was at this time that I became interested in doing volunteer work.
In 1955, Peter Durniak, a cousin, suggested that something should be done for the chronically ill Orthodox patients at Welfare Island Hospital. Peter was an electrician at the hospital and noticed that patients of the Roman Catholic and Jewish faiths were visited by their organizations but no one came to visit the patients of the Orthodox faith. A group of eight women from our church started the Good Samaritan Society. Our goal was to visit patients, talk to themand listen to their problems. We tried to make their lives a little happier. We brought the priest and seminarians from Saint Vladimir's Seminary to conduct the liturgy for all those who for so long, had gone without one. I was elected treasurer and held that position for thirty years.
I was one of the twenty founding members of the Saint John Chrysostom Church established in Woodside, New York in 1958. Our first priest was Father John Kreta, who later became the dean of Saint Herman's Seminary in Kodiak, Alaska. By 1970, the membership of the Church had grown to 75 families.
In 1970, our daughter Irene, who at this time was an elementary school teacher, married Dr. Demetri Ellis. They later moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and have two daughters, Melissa and Patricia.
My Daughter Barbara had moved to Los Angeles, California in 1964 to accept a teaching position at an elementary school. She was married in 1972 to Charles Garbinski who was a sales representative with Bell & Howell Company. They now live in West Covina, California.
In 1974, we moved to a nice one family house in Elmont, New York. I continued my volunteer work. I was part of a team delivering "Meals on Wheels" and was involved in our local neighborhood street patrol. I assisted in a campaign to elect our local councilman and was also an active member of our community association. Joseph continued working for the Massachusetts Importing Company until 1980. After 41 years working for others, he decided to go into business for himself He opened his shop in New York City and continued buying and selling Oriental rugs until he sold his business and refired in 1990. 1 continued to be an active member in our community.
In 1992, due to our poor health, it became necessary to move to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in order to be closer to our daughter, Irene and her husband, Dr, Ellis, He would assist us with our medical problems. On August 5, 1993, my husband, Joseph passed away, He was laid to rest in Homestead Cemetery in Pittsburgh,
Now I spend about two months a year visiting my daughter Barbara and her, husband in West Covina, California. I enjoy attending the Liturgy at the Holy Virgin Mary, Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Los Angeles. I have also assisted the sisterhood there in sewing new vestments. While in Pittsburgh, I spend time with my daughter, Irene and her husband. I also enjoy visiting with my granddaughters, who are attending college when they are home. I attend Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Pittsburgh.