Holak obituaries, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana 

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Name, date of obit, date submitted, submitted for the USGenWeb archives by:

Holak, Metchislaw    23 Jul 2007    Jul 2007    Jerry Nelson

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Obituary published in The Hammond Daily Star on:  7/23/2007

HOLAK, METCHISLAW (MIKE) 
"Mike" as everyone knew him, died in his home suddenly and unexpectedly,
Saturday morning July 21, 2007. He was born February 3, 1933 in Kazakhstan,
Russia, and was preceded in death by his parents, Anton and Melita Holak,
his son, Michael and his brother, Victor. He is survived by his son James
Holak, his grandson, Mitchell Holak, his sisters, Mrs. Lydia Wdowych and
Mrs. Lennye South and his brothers, Walerij (Larry) and Stanislaw (Stan).
The Holaks came to America October 13, 1949, and moved into a strawberry
picker's house in Independence, Louisiana. In America, Mike could not go to
school because he had to work to help support the family. He picked
strawberries for others and for his parents who were sharecroppers.  In
1951, Mike moved to Chicago to get a factory job and sent his pay back to
Louisiana. The rest of the family joined him in Chicago in 1952. Mike's
first job was as a floor sweeper, but eventually he worked his way up from
floor sweeper to be a first class machinist.  Mike and his brothers, Larry
and Stan, moved back to Louisiana in 1966, and in 1969 started their own
machine shop called Gulf South Machine. In 1981, the brothers started
another machine shop called Drilex Corp. These two companies now employ
about 100 people.  Visitation will be Tuesday, July 24, 2007 from 6 pm to 
9 pm at Harry McKneely & Son in Hammond, and after 8 am on Wednesday until
the 10 am Funeral Home Chapel Euology, followed by interment in Ponchatoula
Cemetery.  Condolences to hmckneely@i-55.com / subject line Holak. 

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