Juraj “George” Smitka, Sr.

George was born July 7, 1886, in the village of Pucov, Slovakia, which was part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire at the time.  His parents were Andrej Smitka (10-4-1856) and Maria (Smolen) Smitka(10-23-1857).  He had 3 siblings, Štefan (07-25-1881), Andrej(6-8-1889), and Terezia(7-12-1884).  After George turned 18, he was concerned about being drafted into the Hungarian army.  So he and his brother Štefan decided to come to America.  After arrival at Ellis Island on March 23, 1905, on the ship Oldenburg, they stated that they were going to Whiting, Indiana, where their brother Janos lived and worked for Standard Oil.  We are assuming Janos was a cousin or friend since he didn’t have a brother by that name.  Nevertheless, he ended up in Whiting and got a job as a laborer for Standard Oil.  Both brothers worked for a while at the Whiting refinery, but Štefan returned home within a couple of years.  George transferred from the Whiting refinery about that same time and he was working in Sugar Creek, Missouri, at the Standard Oil Refinery by 1908.  Being single and located in a town with many other Slovak and Croatian immigrant families, it was understood that he was quite a lady’s man and was linked to several young women there at that time.  On March 7, 1915, for an unknown reason he enlisted in the US Army.  After joining the army, he was involved in the Pancho Villa Expedition into Mexico with General Pershing in 1916.  After that, he spent most of WW1 in Alaska. While in the army, he petitioned in 1917 to become a naturalized citizen.  He also wanted to Americanize his last name to George Peter Smith at that time.  His petition was denied because we were at war with his home country, Austria-Hungary.  He reapplied for naturalization after the war and it was granted on April 19, 1920.  He rose to the rank of Private First Class before completing his term of service on June 4, 1920.  His last post was at Fort George Wright in Spokane, Washington, where he resided for the 1920 census.  Returning to Sugar Creek, he went back to work for Standard Oil.

At that time, my grandmother’s father, Jan Tetak Firic, was temporarily living in Sugar Creek and working at Standard Oil.  He sent for his 20 year-old daughter Zuzana(Susie), who was accompanied by her cousin Štefan HalaŠtik, his wife, and young daughter.  They arrived on December 10, 1920, and she quickly got a job at the refinery as a janitress, cleaning toilets and doing other low-end jobs.  That is where they met for the first time.  Even though there was a 13 year age difference, they married on May 11, 1922, and had nine children together.  In order they were Thelma, Alice, Arthur, Aron, Margaret, George, Mary Rose, William, and Donald.  They lived in a small house at 331 Evans Street, in one of the houses originally built by Standard Oil and sold to their workers.  There they stayed until 1939, when they purchased the old Pitillo place and 10 acres at 915 N. Claremont.  A portion of that house was originally built in the 1880’s and is the oldest surviving house in Sugar Creek.  There they lived as gentlemen farmers with a large garden, an orchard, a vineyard, chickens, ducks, pigs, and cows.  They even owned a tractor at one time.  Since George always lived close to the refinery, he walked back and forth to work and never learned to drive a car.  George rose from laborer to a more responsible job as an oil treater, which was very unusual for a Slovak immigrant.  Most immigrants were relegated to low end positions.  He finally retired in the early 1950’s and remained relatively healthy until he contacted tuberculosis shortly after Susie died in 1969.  He was eventually transferred to a special hospital in Mount Vernon, Missouri, where he died on July 15, 1970.