Jasek-Zatopek Reunion Set for July 17 in Ellinger
Members of the Jasek and Zatopek families will gather Sunday, July 17, for their annual reunion in Fayette County. The reunion begins with a mass at 10 a.m. at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fayetteville and moves to St. Mary’s Parish Hall near Ellinger for a potluck lunch, family history activities, and socializing.
The focus of family history this year is military veterans. Mary Jasek, who has done extensive genealogy research, encourages everyone to bring stories and photos about their veterans as well as family information for the history table.
Family members volunteer to make the reunion a success. John Gully, reunion president, makes arrangements for the facilities and assists with opening and closing the hall, along with the Tim and Patrice Boyd family of Navasota. The C.H. Prihoda family of Navasota provides paper goods and utensils. John Gully and wife Kelly of Cypress and Nancy and Steve Fitzsimon of St. Hedwig furnish coffee, tea, and other nonalcoholic drinks. All are asked to bring their favorite meat, vegetable, or dessert dish for the lunch. Games will be provided for children.
Mike and Mary Jo Piwetz encourage all to donate items for the silent auction; the proceeds will help pay for expenses. Dana Werner of Houston serves as reunion treasurer.
A Long Reunion History
This year marks the 68th gathering. (No gathering was held in 2020 because of the pandemic.) For most of those years, the reunion was held at St. John’s in Fayetteville, but the three most recent gatherings have been at St. Mary’s. The cemetery adjacent to the church is the resting place for numerous family relatives.
The reunion was started in 1953 by two cousins, Willie Jasek (1896-1982) and Elo Zatopek (1902-1976), who were both in their 50s at the time. The cousins, who were also good friends, apparently wanted to reconnect with each other’s families in the aftermath of WWII, share memories, and feast on home cooking and traditional foods like sausage, sauerkraut and kolaches. Willie’s daughter Effie served as the reunion’s first secretary.
According to Willie’s grandson, Mike Piwetz, Willie served in France in World War I. He was drafted, got Spanish flu in training camp, and was sick for several months. Once deployed to France, his job was taking care of the mules the army used to carry ammunition and supplies to the front lines. When he returned home, he and his wife Mary worked their farm in Fayetteville.
Meanwhile, Elo, who had been born in Fayetteville, moved with his family to West in McLennan County in 1921. Why they moved is unknown, although a common reason at that time was to look for more or better farmland. In 1926 Elo and his brother Bill formed the Zatopek Oil Company in West. His older sister Anna was already living in West, having married Vaclav Bezdek in 1919.
Czech Heritage
The Jasek and Zatopek families trace their heritage to the Moravian region of what is now the Czech Republic. The Jasek family came from Hovezi; and the Zatopek family, from Trojanovice. Between 1850 and 1900, according to Wikipedia, almost 500 inhabitants of Trojanovice left, mostly for Texas. They settled in or near towns like Fayetteville, Weimar, La Grange and Columbus.
In 1891, the two families became entwined when John Jasek (1869-1963) married Veronika Zatopek (1869-1955). Today the reunion brings together descendants of both families across generations. They include the descendants of the couple’s parents – Thomas and Majana (Hrback) Jasek and Frank and Mariana (Holub) Zatopek – as well as the couple’s children. On the Jasek side are the families of Edwin and Rosalie (Hafernik) Jasek, Alois and Frances (Veselka) Jasek, Veronica (Jasek) and Joe Machalec, and Joseph and Agnes (Krenek) Jasek. On the Zatopek side are the families of Anton and Barbora Zatopek, and John and Rosina (Grossman) Zatopek.
In addition, the reunion offers an opportunity for connection to the co-founders’ descendants, such as the families of Willie’s children – Olga Gully, Effie Piwetz, Leonard Jasek, Lawrence Jasek, Marian Prihoda, and Willie Mae Jasek—and the families of Elo’s children – Elo J. Zatopek and Royce Zatopek. Family members who attend the reunion come from throughout Texas and as far away as California and Minnesota.
“We have lost a lot of direct descendants over the years,” said John Gully, “but the next generation is doing their best to keep the reunion going by attending and sharing stories and memories.”
Contact
For more information about the reunion, contact Barbara Langham of Austin at b_langham@langham.com. Or call (512) 914-9857 and leave a message.