Jacob Pseny
Jacob Pseny: husband of Dora Huber / father of Sylvia Pseny Mink /Grandfather of Sharon Mink Rosenthal/ Susan aka Nancy Mink Davis/ David Mink .
Born: February: 14, 1888 / Siedlce, Poland
Died: December: 24, 1951 / Philadelphia, PA.
As we prepare for Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, my mind travels across the Atlantic to Poland, where my mother Sylvia was born. Sylvia came to America with her mother, Dora, in 1920. Jacob, my grandfather, Sylvia’s father, preceded them in 1913.
Jake Pseny pre 1920
Of the four branches of my grandparents: Greenberg, Minkowsky, Huber, and Pseny, only the Pseny’s had no other relatives in America or anywhere else, that I am aware. There are lots of branches from the Greenbergs, Minkowsky’s, in the U.S. and Hubers in the U.S., Israel, and Argentina. But I have never met anyone from the Pseny branch.
Jake died of a heart attack in December 1951 when I was four years old. I have some special memories of him. He owned Pseny Hauling, a shipping company where he hauled tobacco from Lancaster to Bayuck Cigars, the makers of Phillies Cigars, in Philadelphia. He loved to smoke cigars. I always got the ring wrapper for my finger. He would pick me up and deliver a juicy kiss. I liked the cigar aroma because it meant Grandpop.
Father’s day 1947 L to R: Dora Huber Pseny, me David Mink, Jake Pseny, seated in back is my dad, Sam Mink.
Jake was a strong man and shaped like a fire plug, short and stout, but his round face always had a smile. Documents describe Jake as being 5 feet 3 inches and weighing 170 pounds with his right hand crippled. I don’t remember any crippled hand, but I do remember he had a stub instead of an index finger. The family story that I would learn in my adult life was that he cut his finger off to avoid serving in the Russian army, and I believe it.
Jake Pseny’s Certificate of Naturalization. If you zoom in you can see where it mentions his crippled finger.
One day in 1970/71, I was checking in a canned goods delivery at Kelly’s, the restaurant our family owned. The delivery driver asked me , “Are you Jake Pseny’s grandson?” I was flabbergasted, Jake had been dead for 20 years. “How do you know Jake Pseny?” I asked. “He gave me my first job, driving for Pseny Hauling. It was the beginning of December, and when Christmas came, he gave me a bonus just like he gave his veteran drivers. He was quite a guy!” I was thrilled to have this memory.
Jakes Employee ID
Growing up, my mother expressed many times how much she loved and missed her father, Jake. However, life in Siedlce, Poland, the shtetl or town where they lived, was never a topic of conversation. In fact, I’m even surprised my mother revealed the name of the town. It wasn’t until 2000, six years after my mother’s death, when I started to research my family history, that I began to discover all the pain that family endured. We’ll get into those details in a later post.
This brings us back to Yom Kippur. During Yom Kippur, synagogues produce Yizkor books which are a listing of loved ones whose memory you want to honor. At the special Yizkor service we perform the mitzvah of Tzedakah which is an obligation to give charity. Tzedakah literally translates as justice and righteousness, it’s about doing the right thing in your loved ones memory. With that in mind, I always include the members of my mother’s family who perished in the Holocaust in my synagogues Yizkor book.
Page from the Yizkor book
Jake & Dora’s grave stone
