last updated 1/6/99
Gizella May was my grandmother's mother. I have never met her.
My grandmother remembers her, but only through a child's eyes,
as she died when my grandmother was only seven years old. All
I know about Gizella May is what my grandma, Eleanor Lachata,
and her sister, Irma Lachata (Aunt Mitzi), have told me and what
I have found by searching through old pictures and documents that
they have shown me.
Gizella was born on July 27, 1882 in Budapest to Alajos
(pronounced A-loy-osh) and Mary (nee Tolsik) May.
Among the pictures that I found, were the pictures at right of
a man and woman. I believe that these could be Gizella's parents
based on the location of the photographer, my estimate of both the year
the pictures were taken and the age of the subjects, and the fact
that they were among Gizella's collection, now held by Aunt Mitzi.
Gizella had a sister named Irma and two brothers named
Alajos and Istvan.
I believe that pictured at left are the four siblings: Irma, Istvan,
Gizella and Alajos.
Gizella married Marton Lachata (right), from Totkomlos, Hungary On
July 14, 1904 at a church in Budapest and their civil ceremony was
three days later.
While in Budapest, Gizella and Marton enjoyed the birth of two daughters,
Gizella in 1905 and Ilona (Helen) in 1907. Soon
after the birth of Helen, the family emigrated to the United States
and their first son, Martin, was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania
in 1909. By 1911, the family finally settled in Chicago,
Illinois where their remaining children were born: John in
1911, twins who died at birth in 1913, Irma in 1916,
Eleanor in 1918 and Margaret (not pictured) in 1919.
According to Aunt Mitzi, upon arriving in Chicago, Gizella worked
for a while in her sister Irma's store located on "Willow and
Orchard across from the Newberry School" but stopped working there
after her son John was born. Gizella's husband, Marton Lachata, my great grandfather, was studying to be an
engineer and made his living working in a factory that made
motorcycle parts.
Gizella's sister Irma (at right)was married to a man with the last name Fachet, and later
married a man named Louis Fuhr. Irma never had children.
Since I never new my great grandmother, I am trying to get to know
her through the stories, pictures, and paraphernalia that my
grandmother and great aunt have saved.
One theory that I have is that she was a romantic. I also suspect
that she had a happy childhood. These theories are based upon a
couple of photographs, and what appears to be an autograph-like
book of poems that she kept. From the group photograph below,
Gizella and her sister Irma are pictured "toasting" each other
with mugs of (what looks like) beer. The joy on the faces of
the unknown folks surrounding them looks sincere. I love this
picture because it is so different from the stuffy studio
photographs that I have usually uncovered from this time period.
Here there are people in action, if you put modern clothes on them,
it could be a snapshot from a current day backyard barbecue.
Perhaps it is this picture which so inspires and attracts me to
the life of my great grandmother.
As for Gizella's book of poems, it is bound in medium-blue velvet.
It looks like a pendant was once on the cover and a metal knob
stands waiting for a hook that once was there to close upon it.
On selected pages there are colorful Victorian stickers placed
over the author of the page's signature. One must lift the sticker
to see their name. Whether Gizella or the author's placed these
stickers, I do not know. The book belongs to my Aunt Mitzi
and I have made copies of the pages. All of the writing is in
Hungarian and perhaps someday I will have it translated, but since
it does not appear to have any genealogical information, the
translation time and expense is not an immediate priority for me.
I can read the names and dates of those who made entries on her
pages, however, and these may tell their own story.
After leafing through this little booklet, I feel like I know
my great grandmother Gizella a little bit and I pray someday
to meet her.
