Evan Hrbek

URWT-1104

Mrs. Raymond

3-29-19

The Evolution: Hrbek Edition

The Hrbek family is a very unique one. My name is Evan Hrbek and I am currently an

engineering major at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Believe it or not, I am fifty

percent Czech and nearly fifty percent Italian. The Czech nationality comes from my father’s

side while the Italian nationality comes from my mother’s side of the family. Throughout this

paper, I am going to be providing information about my father’s side of the family and my

mother’s side of the family through five generations of time. A lot of this information was not

just handed to me, it took a lot of research and a lot of meetings with family members I didn’t

think I would see in a while. Not only did these encounters help me uncover secrets about my

family, but they encouraged me to learn more and more every day as this project progressed.

You never know how many secrets are surrounded by your family name until you have the will

and motivation to find out for yourself.

The flag of the Czech Republic consists of two horizontal bands, a white band on the top

and a red band on the bottom. It also consists of a blue isosceles triangle based on the left side.

This flag has history that goes as far back as 1918, when Czechs, Slovaks, and Bohemians united

to form Czechoslovakia. The flag was originally red and white and did not include the blue

isosceles triangle. The triangle was eventually added to the flag because it showed “symbolic

reference” towards both the Slovaks and the Ruthenians. During World War II, the flag

disappeared but later recovered in 1945. This Slovaks decided that they wanted to become an
independent country and branched off from the Kingdom of Bohemia. This resulted in the

kingdom being named the Czech Republic in 1993.

My great grandfather from my father’s side, Adam Hrbek, was born in Prague,

Czechoslovakia where he met the love of his life Natalie. He left his wife in Prague,

Czechoslovakia to come to the United States where he worked a year to save the money doing a

variety of jobs including a tailor. When he had the money, he went back to get her so they can

continue to grow together. They sailed through Ellis Island and settled in Queens, New York.

They had one child, who is now my grandfather, Peter Hrbek. He was born September 15, 1937

in Queens, New York. As he progressed through grade school, he attended NYU for Journalism

for four years. At NYU he met his current wife, Grace Jancek Hrbek. Surprisingly enough, she

was also born and raised in Queens, New York and was from the Czechoslovakia! She was born

February 23, 1939. When Peter graduated, she got a job for Metlife Insurance. Once married,

Peter got a job as a middle school social studies teacher and kept that position in the same school

for 35 years. Grace worked for Metlife Insurance for several years while he was teaching, but

then decided to become a stay-at-home mother once their son, Matthew Hrbek was born.

Matthew Hrbek is also known as my father. Towards the end of Peter’s career at the middle

school, he began writing curriculum books with a colleague and consulting with a variety of

school systems. He is now retired from the job but continues to write during his free time and

send my family books he has written from time to time. Peter and Grace are both alive to this day

and still live in Queens, New York.

My great-great grandfather from my mother’s side, Robert Pelliccio, came from Italy by

boat and sailed through Ellis Island. He and his wife left behind six children and had more

children in Brooklyn, NYC. He was a blacksmith and worked for a milk company taking care of
horses. My great-great grandmother Lena Grella came over from Italy by boat through Ellis

Island at the young age of 15 by herself when she was promised to marry a young man who was

ill. She settled in New Jersey. They had a daughter Josephine, who inherited the kidney disease

that her father had that she then she passed onto her first born who died from it. Lena met a man

named Mr. Ungarelli after her first husband died. They both eventually married and had four

children. One of which was my great grandma Celestina. Lena opened a small corner grocery on

Long Island when she moved to Long Island, so that she could raise her kids when he left her

and went back to Italy. When my great-grandparents married, they settled on Long Island where

they stayed and raised a family. They eventually retired in Florida and then moved to North

Carolina to be with their sons.

My great grandfather on my mother’s side, Alexander Pelliccio, was born June 6, 1906 in

Long Island, New York. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and was a medic in WW2 at the age of 35.

After the war he was the head gardener and groundskeeper for a very wealthy family on Long

Island, NY, “The Cory’s. His wife was in charge of all the help inside of the home, such as the

maids, etc. Their oldest son Alexander Jr. joined the Navy and went to the Korean War. Their

youngest son, Thomas Pelliccio, also known as my grandfather, enlisted in the U.S Army and

went to Vietnam where he earned the purple heart for being wounded in action and a bronze star

for bravery for protecting his unit when their tank was hit. In order to retrieve this information, I

conducted an interview between me and my grandparents, Thomas and Margaret Pelliccio in

Pinehurst, North Carolina. When I arrived at their doorstep, I told them I had a couple questions

about our family history. She agreed to the interview and walked me to their bedroom closet. She

pulled out an entire U.S. Army uniform, a purple heart and a bronze star. At this moment, I knew

that my mother’s side of the family had a lot of connections to recent wars and battles. I asked
her numerous questions about the medals and the uniform. I wanted to know what role my

grandfather played in the war, and how it made him the man I witness today. I found out that a

bronze star is an award that represents an act of heroism or meritorious achievement in a combat

zone. A purple heart is an award that is given to a soldier by the president of the United States to

recognize their service for our country after either being injured or losing their life. This award is

only given to specific soldiers that were wounded or killed in the act of fighting for our country.

These awards are not just given to everyone, these awards are only given to specific soldiers that

have put their lives on the line for their country and have showed extraordinary acts of heroism

in the war.

My ancestors on my grandmother’s mother’s side trace back to riding the Mayflower

from England. Jeanette Estelle Jackson was your great-great grandma. The names Jackson,

weeks, and Matthews trace back to early settlers all on her side. William Buck, also known as

my great-great grandpa, his parents came from Germany though Ellis Island, he settled in New

York. My great grandmother Elizabeth Buck was born May 21, 1916 and grew up on Long

Island she was married with a daughter when her husband went to WW2. She worked on the line

at Grumman’s building the wings for airplanes. Her husband returned from war with what we

would describe today as PTSD and he couldn’t handle it. She divorced him and married my

great-grandfather Charles Nadolny, he also worked in Grumman’s building parts for planes.

They had five children together once married. She stayed home with the children while he

worked as an accountant. They later relocated to Connecticut and then retired to North Carolina.

Charles was in the polio epidemic of 1915 and contracted the disease. His mom refused to send

him to the hospital because all the citizens who visited the hospital died when they were being

treated. So, she kept him home and gave him what we would consider physical therapy, she
alternated hot and cold baths. This worked and he led a normal healthy life never requiring any

medication. However, over the years his muscles weakened and by the time he was in his late

80’s he was wheelchair bound. He passed away December 16, 2008.

My ancestors on my grandmother’s father’s side (Charles parents) came over from

Poland, through Ellis Island. They settled on Long Island. Marianna Salavatar, his mother came

by herself at the age of 15 through Ellis island from a farm in Poland as an indentured servant to

John Nadolny. He had 2 children and a dying wife, so she came to this country to take care of

them. On the wife’s death bed, she told him to marry Marianna, and he did. They had 5 children

total. She later ran a butcher shop in New York. All of their children had higher education, they

all went to college. They could sing, dance, play instruments. They spoke English in public and

polish at home because they were American, and she loved this country. She tried for years to

get her baby sister Valerie to this country and never saw her again for 40 years.