Věstník (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 101, No. 21, Ed. 1 Wednesday, May 29, 2013 Page: 34 of 40
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34 Wednesday, May 29, 2013
VĚSTNÍK
Carbon Copies
By d.knape
Lodge 187, Round Rock
They are copies
of ones who came before
always begging the question
who do they look like most
whose eyes do they háve
whose nose, whose mouth
whose characteristics
the DNA is relative
and so are the behaviors
those inherited idiosyncrasies
the way they hold their head
the cadence in their speech
the little things they do
remind us of moments
from our past
as they grow more
more hints appear
copying mannerisms
expressions
qualities we háve seen or heard
now circled back on us
recycled in something new
these images come back
in daily reminders
soft whispers from the past
for we háve seen them before
in ourselves or in the family
like looking in a mirror
only now we are more aware
and with a growing sense of pride
we smile
honored to see them
being little copies of ourselves.
—SPJST—
Thunder
and Lightening
By cuknape
Lodge 187, Round Rock
Thunder &
lightening
aaded to any
rain shower
gives it expression
and excitement
and the quality
of sound
if rain had none
it would be like
watching
a silent movie
something
would be missing and
rain would háve to háve
subtitles.
Remembering Dr. John M. Skřivánek
By John David Skřivánek • Lodge 39, Bryan
My dad, John Marion Skřivanek was bom along with
his fratemal twin brother on June 6,1913, to Josef J. Skři-
vanek and Marie Drgac on the family ranch near Cooks
Point, Texas, in Burleson County. The twins looked so
much alike, that people got them mixed up early in life,
in college, and as young men, if they saw them separately.
I remember as a little boy that they tried to fool me and
telí me to go to Daddy and point to my uncle Joe, but lit-
tle kids are smart, and you can’t fool them!
The Skrivaneks came to the New World then known as
Texas in 1855, landing in Galveston then proceeded to
Cat Spring by ox cart with their
two young sons and one daugh-
ter. They were from Zele-
chovice, Moravia, and it was a
rough, long trip by sailboat. My
great-great-grandparents Josef
and Rozina Bravenec are buried
in Hallettsville, and their son
Josef who married Anna
Mucha, and along with Josef
and Marie Skřivanek are buried
in New Tábor Cemetery. There
has been a Josef John Skřivanek
for se ven generations. As I did
for each of my four wonderful
grandparents on the lOOth an-
niversary of their birth, I will go
to College Station and plače
flowers on my father’s grave.
From my earliest memoríes,
I knew I was Czech. American
first, of course, but proudly Czech. My grandparents
spoke Czech to each other, and if my parents didn’t want
me to know what they were talking about, they spoke
Czech to each other and to the grandparents. But, smáli
children are ‘big-ear sponges,’ and I could pretty well fig-
uře out what they were saying. When I was at Texas
A&M as a student, Czech wasn’t offered during those
years so I took Russian and was amazed how much Czech
helped with the Russian vocabulary despite the Greek-
Cyrillic alphabet that Russians ušed. Of course, Czech
and Russian are both Slavic languages.
No one exemplified a pride in their Czech heritage
more than my dad. And his lifelong effort in teaching and
promoting everything Czech was in full display, first at
the University of Texas then the University of Houston
and finally at Texas A&M. He really ‘took off’ when he
went to Czechoslovakia in 1946 to study for his PhD in
languages and philosophy courtesy of a Fulbright schol-
arship. Dad is shown in an issue of Life Magazíne of that
time studying at Charles University in Praha. We always
anticipated the interesting airmail letters he sent back to
Texas from the ‘Mother Country.’ Mother and my twin
sister were to join him in Praha the following year, and we
got all the way to New York City by train but upon arriv-
ing at the hotel, we had a telegram from Daddy telling us
not to come. Mother told us kids that Daddy said it was
too cold to come but, in actuality, the Communists were
beginning to také over the country. What a disappoint-
rnent. We did get to see the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade
before heading back to Texas.
Dr. Skřivanek in 1954 instigated the founding of the
Czech Educational Foundation of Texas (CEFT), a non-
profit, tax-exempt foundation to preserve and promote
the Czech language and culture through higher education.
I remember Daddy talking to Henry R. Maresh, M.D. of
Houston and August Kacir of Temple at the very begin-
ning about this possibility at a major university in Texas.
I typed many letters for my Dad to get things started when
I was in high school and then in college. Eli never forget:
The Czech Educational Foundation of Texas, P.O. Box
446, College Station, Texas! Daddy dkhťt live to see his
dreams fully realized, but in 1993, thanks to those many,
many hardworking and dedi-
cated CEFT supporters who re-
energized CEFT, the goal was
achieved in 1993 for a
$1,000,000 Texas Chair in
Czech Studies at the University
of Texas. Today, the active
CEFT led by savvy, understand-
ing and involved personnel, too
many to mention by name, con-
tinue to expand and bring the or-
gan ization into the 21st Century,
e.g. the Kostohryz Residency in
Czech Music and Culture at the
University of North Texas.
Daddy died suddenly on De-
cember 27,1972. It was the sad-
dest day of my life. Who would
I ask for advice? Who would
help me work things out. He al-
ways had the right perspective,
sound thinking, and good ideas. My friends and col-
leagues at work said I didn’t smile or laugh for a month.
Texas A&M passed a resolution after his death to rec-
ognize his Service as Professor of Slavonic Languages in
the Department of Modem Languages for 20 years, de-
veloping the University’s Russian language program,
teaching of the Czech language, and introducing several
courses unavailable at most institutions, including a series
of graduate courses in scientific Russian for doctoral can-
didates. He was cited by the Liberál Arts Student Coun-
cil for “distinguished teaching” accomplishments. He was
an ardent advocate for the preservation of the Czech lan-
guage and culture, both in Texas and throughout the
United States. He developed a textbook and audio-tape
program entitled “Conversational Czech” which was
adopted by language programs in other institutions. In
1968, Dr. Skřivanek spent a sabbatical in Czechoslovakia.
He put together audio tapes of native speaking Czechs
and wrote several books: Modem Conversational Czech,
Books I and II; Czech Area Reader; and Russian Con-
versation and Reading with Fedor S. Mansvetov.
Dr. Skřivanek was a popular speaker and was fre-
quently asked to speak at SPJST and other lodges, cul-
tural events, Czech Day at the Texas State Pair, even
churches. I remember being with him at one event, and I
overheard Maxine Sefcik (wife of former Věstník Editor
Rudy Sefcik) telí someone she was talking to: “Oh, here
comes Dr. Skřivanek. Everything always seems better
when he shows up!” I smiled with pride for my dad. I
miss him.
— SPJST-
Dr. John M. Skřivanek
and wife Lil (Marek) Skřivanek.
-SPJST-
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Zavodny, Melanie. Věstník (Temple, Tex.), Vol. 101, No. 21, Ed. 1 Wednesday, May 29, 2013, newspaper, May 29, 2013; Temple, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth631815/m1/34/?q=waco+tornado: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas.