Polk
Henry Thomas "Tom" Polk (1945-)
Tom Polk, was born in January 1945 in Weimar Texas, to Vlasta anad Leroy Polk. He had an older brother, Leroy James Jr.
Vlasta was a cub scout Den Mother and Bobby and Vince went over to the Polk Home for cub scout meetings. Bobby became good friends with Tom.
Vlasta (Shumbera) Polk and her cousin, Gabriella, were also a substitute teachers at Saint Michael's School. Gabriela never married. But her brother married and lived next door to the Gray Family. The Mazoch-Lemke family built a home on the other side of the Gray family. They had two children, Shirley and Clyde Lemke. Shirley and Clyde played cards with Cecilia and Bobby Gray. Shirley later married James Polk. They have children and grandchildren and live near Houston TX.
Tom Polk married Cathy who was related to the Christinyk family of Praha. Tom and Cathy had a son named George.
In 2002, Tom invited Bob Gray to stay with him in Houston for two days. They met at the Saint Michael's Church Harvest Festival, August 12, 2002. On Monday, they had lunch with Tom's cousin, Francis Joseph "Frank" Janacek, who graduated with Bob forty-four years ago from Saint Michael's School. Vince Gray met with his classmates for a 40th year reunion.
Tom Polk had a chance to go to Europe the last two weeks in October, 2002.
with his Aunt Lil. They went on a land tour and an Island tour of Greece.
It was a great time, but things stacked up at home while he was gone.
Tom invited Bob back to visit in August 2003, and took a week off from work. They also went to the picnic at Assumption parish in Praha where Bob met many of the Christinyk Family.
Tom wrote this tribute in memory of his mother:
Vlasta Ann Shumbera Polk
1921-2002
Vlasta Ann Shumbera Polk was born on a farm south of Weimar, Texas, to August and Vlasta Kroboth Shumbera. She attended elementary school at Live Oak and New Bieleu, walking to and from school, even in mud when it rained. She was a cousin of Henry Hudec.
She attended high school at Weimar High, graduating in the class of 1939. After graduation, she attended Massey Business School in Houston, Texas.
She met the love of her life one rainy day on the farm when he came with his Dad to buy some pigs. They were married at St. Michael Catholic Church in Weimar and settled there until Dad was drafted into the army at the start of World War II. During the war, she followed him to Atlanta, Georgia, and Tampa, Florida, and then she came back to Weimar when he was sent overseas.
After the war, they lived for several years in a rent house on the south side of Weimar. Soon, they moved to a farm south of Weimar where Vlasta spent the rest of her married life. She raised two sons, Leroy James, Jr. and Henry Thomas. She was very active in Cub Scouts as a Den Mother. She and her sister-in-law were always willing to substitute as teachers at St. Michael School and Weimar High School. She was a member and officer in PTA at St Michael School and Bishop Forest High School.
Vlasta was very active in St. Michael Parish, serving on the parish board. She was a member of the Catholic Daughters of America, and held many offices in that organization. For many years, Mom and Dad helped out at the annual church picnic by getting up very early in the morning and frying chicken. She was an Extraordinary Minister and would take Communion to the sick and home bound elderly. She also found time to teach CCD classes.
Vlasta's favorrite hobby was gardening. She loved to grow flowers and always had flowers blooming in season around the house. She also had a large vegetable garden and supplemented the family income by selling vegetables to the grocery stores in town. She also liked to take time off from work to go down to the creek and fish, catching the grasshoppers or digging the worms for bait.
She spoke the Czech language fluently, and she would never miss an opportunity to practice her Czech with others who knew the language. I had the privilege of traveling to the Czech Republic with her and while there, she would stop people on the street and talk with them in Czech.
After her family grew up, she took a job with the Texas Agricultural Statistics Service. She traveled many miles around the local area talking with farmer, gathering statistics on their crops and cattle and measuring rice fields. She enjoyed this job, especially because she traveled around and met many people.
When Dad became disabled with Parkinson's disease, she kept him at home, caring for him and literally lifting him in and out of bed when he could no longer help himself. She kept him home until the day he passed away. They were married 55 years.
With Mom's passing on 5-2-2002, we have lost a wealth of knowledge. She had a tremendous memory of the people of the area, where they lived, who they married, and what children they had.
She will always be remembered, by us, as a loving wife and mother.
God bless you, Mom.
Stastnou Cestu a S Panem Bohem!
Mon, 22 Jul 2002, 08:43:23
Bob:
I enjoyed visiting with you on the phone last night.
Yes. I plan to be at the Saint Michael's Harvest Feast.
I usually bring my son home every weekend, and I could bring him home
Saturday for the day. He is disabled and stays at a residence run by a care service organization.
My birthday is January 27, 1945, and James' is August 7, 1942,
like Cecilia. This doesn't seem too old to be a university president. Aren't most of them 60 or older?
We are both computer programmers, or systems analysts is a fancier
term. James works for a banking service company, in Greenway Plaza in
Houston. I work for Input/Output, Inc., a company that develops and markets
equipment for oil and gas exploration, in Stafford, southwest of Houston.
You asked about Frank "Francis Joe" Janacek earlier. He is my first cousin, my dad's sister's son. He works at NASA. He is a computer repair technician.
Look forward to seeing you.
Tom Polk
Tom is also related to the Hudec Family of Weimar.