Martha Kostyra

By Stephanie Reitz, Associated Press, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2007:

Martha Kostyra, Mother to Martha Stewart, dies at 93

Hartford, Conn. – Martha Kostyra, whose daughter Martha Stewart credits her with teaching many domestic tricks and techniques, has died at a hospital near her home in Weston. She was 93.

Stewart announced her mother’s death Saturday on her blog, and Weston selectman Glenn Major confirmed the death.

Kostyra, a retired teach whose family long ago nicknamed her “Big Martha,” died Friday at Norwalk Hospital of undisclosed causes, according to a notice published Saturday in local newspapers.

Kostyra and her husband, the late Edward Kostyra, raised the future domestic doyenne and her five siblings in Nutley, N.J., where, Stewart said, she learned many tricks of what later turned into her trade.

In an appearance together in December 2003 on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” Kostyra described herself as “very proud” of her daughter’s accomplishments. Kostyra said people asked her “’Did you teach her everything she knows?’ Well, I’ll take the credit, certainly,” Kostyra said in the interview.

Until recently, Martha Stewart lived in a Colonial-era estate in Westport, not far from her mother’s Weston home. Stewart put the estate on the market and now lives primarily in Katonah, N.Y., about 20 miles away. Some of Stewart’s siblings still live near Kostyra’s Weston home, including a ssister who lives in town and was often spotted on errands with the matriarch.

“We all knew who she was, but she was low-key and nobody made a big deal out of it,” Major, the selectman, said Saturday. “There are a lot of well-known people who live here, so nobody thinks anything of it to see them around.”

From her obituary:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ctpost/obituary.aspx?pid=98110314

KOSTYRA Martha R. Kostyra, age 93 of Weston, previously of Nutley, N.J., devoted wife of the late Edward Kostyra, passed away peacefully while surrounded by her family in Norwalk Hospital on November 16, 2007.

She will be remembered by her family including

• her children,
  • Dr. Eric Scott and his wife, Helen of Williamville, N.Y.,
  • Martha Stewart of Katonah, N.Y.,
  • Frank Kostyra, and his wife, Anita of Fairhope, Ala.,
  • Kathryn Evans and her husband, Mark of Old Greenwich,
  • George Christiansen and his wife, Margaret of Fairfield, and
  • Laura Plimpton and her husband, Randy of Weston;
• grandchildren,
  • Jeffrey and Eric Scott,
  • Alexis Stewart,
  • Shom, Jonathon, Arick, Josha, and Shannon Kostyra,
  • Kirk and Kristina Christiansen,
  • Christopher and Sophie Herbert, and
  • Charles Plimpton;
• one great-grandchild, Ethan Kostyra;
• one brother, Alexander Russ and his wife, Patricia;
• one sister, Clementine Carriere; and
• additional relatives.

Born and raised in Buffalo, N.Y., Martha resided in Nutley, N.J. for 48 years and moved to Weston in 1986. She was a retired grammar school teacher, spending much of career in Nutley's Lincoln Grammar School. A dedicated mother, she with her husband, Edward, raised their six children, instilling in each of them the importance of a strong work ethic and fairness. A devout Catholic, she was an active parishioner in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Nutley, and later at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Weston.

Possessing a real zeal for living, Martha often would appear on her daughter, Martha's television show as "Big Martha" happily sharing some of her favorite cooking and baking recipes. When not spending time with her family, she enjoyed helping her friends with little errands around town, participating in the Weston Senior's Book Club and the Westport YMCA, where she was a regular swimmer in the aquatic exercise classes. During the October opening ceremony for the Mount Sinai Hospital Martha Stewart Center for Living, Martha's daughter named her as the source of inspiration for aging gracefully.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday at 10 a.m. in St. Francis of Assisi Church, 35 Norfield Road in Weston with Monsignor Nicholas Grieco officiating. Her interment will follow in New Jersey. Memorial contributions may be directed to either The Norwalk Hospital Foundation, Maple Street, Norwalk, CT 06856 or Vitas Innovative Hospice Care -Charitable Fund, 777 Commerce Drive, Fairfield, CT 06825. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Lesko & Polke Funeral Home, of Fairfield Center.

From Wysokieobcasy magazine online:

http://www.wysokieobcasy.pl/wysokie-obcasy/1,96856,1834107.html?dis...

Życie według Marthy Stewart, by Zbigniew Basara, 27 December 2003:

Jej korzenie są polskie: przed pierwszą wojną światową do Nowego Jorku i pobliskiego Buffalo przyjechali dziadkowie Marthy ze strony matki - Franciszka Albiniak z Janowa Lubelskiego i Józef Ruszkowski z Kotunia pod Warszawą, a także dziadkowie ze strony ojca: Franciszek Józef Kostyra z Rudnika nad Sanem i Helena Kruker ze Lwowa. Były jeździec w gwardii honorowej Franciszka Józefa Franciszek Józef Kostyra - piękny, silny, rosły blondyn - zaczął w Nowym Jorku jako kelner. Wkrótce został menedżerem restauracji. Po jakimś czasie w Jersey, gdzie rządzili wówczas Irlandczycy i Polacy, otworzył jatkę. (Najlepsze steki wysyłał irlandzkiemu burmistrzowi; ten odwdzięczał mu się tablicami rejestracyjnymi dla notabli, dzięki czemu samochodu Franciszka Józefa nie zatrzymywała policja). Pod koniec życia założył tawernę Kostyra Tavern, gdzie jego żona gotowała obiady dla robotników. Martha Stewart odziedziczyła po dziadku pieniek do krojenia mięsa, który stoi w jej domu w Westport.

Translated by Ben M. Angel (via Google and his very rudimentary Polish):

Her roots are Polish: before World War I, arrived in New York, near Buffalo, the grandparents of Martha, on her mother's side: Franciszka Albiniak from Janów Lubelski (Lublin Governate within the Russian partition), and Józef Ruszkowski from Kotunia near Warszawa, and on her father's side: Franciszek Józef Kostyra from Rudnik nad Sanem (within the Austrian partition), and Helen Kruker from Lwow (Lemburg, also within the Austrian partition). Formerly a rider in the honorary guard of Franz Josef, Józef Kostyra - handsome, strong, and blonde - became a waiter in New York. He soon became a restaurant manager. After some time in Jersey, where the Irish and the Poles dominated, he opened his own place. (He sent the best steak to the Irish mayor, who in turn provided him with a special license plate, so that the car of "Franz Josef" wouldn't be stopped by the police.) Toward the end of his life, he founded the Kostyra Tavern, where his wife cooked lunches for the workers. Martha Stewart inherited from her grandfather a meat slicer that today can be seen at her home in Westport.

---

From a forum posting on Genealodzy.pl

http://genealodzy.pl/PNphpBB2-viewtopic-t-7485-postorder-asc-start-...

Witam Krysiu,

Józef Ruszkowski (ur. w Kotuniu k/Siedlec) przed I wojną światową pojechał do USA (czy można ustalić kiedy?). Tam pozostał. Ożenił się z Franciszką Albiniak. Ich syn Eugeniusz zginął w wypadku samochodowym w 1968 r. Inne dzieci to Klementyna i Oleś. Najstarsza córka Marta Kostyra (ma 6 dzieci) mieszka: Slumber Corners, Weston, Connecticut. Ale czy jeszcze żyje? Może zmieniła miejsce zamieszkania. Na listy nie odpowiada. Józef Ruszkowski zmarł na początku grudnia 1987 r. w Bufallo, NY.

Będę wdzięczna za wszelkie informacje na temat tej rodziny.

- Ania (aniemirka from Warszawa)

-

Witaj Aniu!

Hamburger Passagierlisten, 1850-1934 about Josef Ruszkowski

• Name: Josef Ruszkowski
• Departure Date: 8 Sep 1910
• Estimated birth year: abt 1889
• Age Year: 21
• Gender: männlich (Male)
• Marital Status: ledig (Single)
• Family: Household members
• Residence: Koton,
• Ethnicity/Nationality: Russland (Russian)
• Occupation: Landmann, Tagelöhner
• Ship Name: Cincinnati
• Shipping Line: Hamburg-Amerika Linie (Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft)
• Ship Type: Dampfschiff
• Accommodation: Zwischendeck
• Ship Flag: Deutschland
• Port of Departure: Hamburg
• Port of Arrival: Southampton; Cherbourg; New York

-

New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 about Josef Ruszkowski

• Name: Josef Ruszkowski
• Arrival Date: 18 Sep 1910
• Birth Year: abt 1889
• Birth Location: Russia
• Birth Location Other: kotor
• Age: 21
• Gender: Male
• Ethnicity/Race/Nationality: Polish
• Port of Departure: Hamburg
• Port of Arrival: New York, New York
• Ship Name: Cincinnati

http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/5342 ... ijosef.jpg

-

World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 about Joseph Ruszkowski

• Name: Joseph Ruszkowski
• City: Buffalo
• County: Erie
• State: New York
• Birthplace: Poland; Russia
• Birth Date: 30 Aug 1889

http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/5923 ... joseph.jpg

-

1930 United States Federal Census about Joseph Ruszkowski

• Name: Joseph Ruszkowski
• Home in 1930: Buffalo, Erie, New York
• Age: 40
• Estimated birth year: abt 1890
• Birthplace: Poland
• Relation to Head of House: Head
• Spouse's name: Francis Ruszkowski
• Joseph Ruszkowski 40
• Francis Ruszkowski 38
• Harriet Ruszkowski 15
• Eugene Ruszkowski 13
• Alexander Ruszkowski 8
• Clementina Ruszkowski 4 11/12

http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/5923 ... joseph.jpg

-

Josef Ruszkowski

• B: 30 AUG 1889 Kotuń, Mazowieckie, Poland
• D: Dec 1987 Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA

Wife Franciszka Albiniak

• B: 07 MAR 1890 Janów, Lubelskie, Poland
• D: August 1976 Bufffalo, Erie, New York
• Marriage ABT 1914

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/416/ ... oseph1.jpg

http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/416/ ... oseph1.jpg

-

Social Security Death Index about Joseph Ruszkowski

• Name: Joseph Ruszkowski
• SSN: 070-05-7335
• Last Residence: 14214 Buffalo, Erie, New York, United States of America
• Born: 19 Sep 1889
• Died: Dec 1987
• State (Year) SSN issued: New York (Before 1951)

New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 about Franciska Albiniak

• Name: Franciska Albiniak
• Arrival Date: 19 Jun 1912
• Birth Year: abt 1891
• Birth Location: Russia
• Birth Location Other: janow
• Age: 21
• Gender: Female
• Ethnicity/Race/Nationality: Polish
• Port of Departure: Antwerp, Belgium
• Port of Arrival: New York, New York
• Ship Name: Kroonland

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/8456 ... ciszka.jpg

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/8456 ... ciszka.jpg

-

Social Security Death Index about Frances Ruszkowski

• Name: Frances Ruszkowski
• SSN: 068-52-9761
• Last Residence: 14214 Buffalo, Erie, New York, United States of America
• Born: 7 Mar 1890
• Died: Aug 1976
• State (Year) SSN issued: New York (1973)

-

Martha Ruszkowski

• B: 16 SEP 1914 Buffalo, Erie, New York, USA
• D: 16 NOV 2007 Weston, Fairfield, Connecticut

Husband Edward Kostyra

• B: 21 AUG 1911 New York City, Bronx, New York, USA
• D: 31 AUG 1979 Nutley, Essex, New Jersey, United States of America

U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 1 about Martha R Kostyra

• Name: Martha R Kostyra
• Birth Date: 16 Sep 1914
• Address: 11 Slumber Cors, Weston, CT, 06883-2811 (1993)

-

Social Security Death Index about Martha R. Kostyra

• Name: Martha R. Kostyra
• SSN: 142-34-0788
• Last Residence: 06883 Weston, Fairfield, Connecticut
• Born: 16 Sep 1914
• Died: 16 Nov 2007
• State (Year) SSN issued: New Jersey (1960-1961)

-

Social Security Death Index about Edward Kostyra

• Name: Edward Kostyra
• SSN: 153-16-7422
• Last Residence: 07110 Nutley, Essex, New Jersey, United States of America
• Born: 21 Aug 1911
• Last Benefit: 07110 Nutley, Essex, New Jersey, United States of America
• Died: Aug 1979
• State (Year) SSN issued: New Jersey (Before 1951)

-

Ciąg dalszy o Ruszkowskich

U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 about Alexander J Ruszkowski

• Name: Alexander J Ruszkowski
• Birth Year: 1921
• Nativity State or Country: New York
• State of Residence: New York
• County or City: Erie
• Enlistment Date: 18 Mar 1944
• Enlistment State: New Jersey
• Enlistment City: Fort Dix
• Branch: Air Corps
• Branch Code: Air Corps
• Grade: Private
• Grade Code: Private
• Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
• Component: Reserves - exclusive of Regular Army Reserve and Officers of the Officers Reserve Corps on active duty under the Thomason Act (Officers and Enlisted Men -- O.R.C. and E.R.C., and Nurses-Reserve Status)
• Source: Enlisted Reserve or Medical Administrative Corps (MAC)Officer
• Education: 1 year of college
• Civil Occupation: Unskilled miscellaneous occupations, n.e.c.
• Marital Status: Single, without dependents

Pozdrawiam, Krystyna (Czerniga of Kamienna Gora, Dolny Slask, Aug. 29, 2010)