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Birthday- Kovar, Emial

Happy 90th Birthday, Emial!

by Dorothy N. Hoobler
The soil in the flower bed in Front of Emial Kovar’s neat little house at 637 Main Street, Rossville, has already been readied for planting the usual colorful display of cannas, cockscomb, and zinnias. This spring, however, he’s also planting something new — bluebonnet seeds which he got in Texas.

“The Czech people have always been proud of their flower and vegetable gardens,” ob¬served his granddaughter, Carolyn Sage. Mr. Kovar is no ex¬ception. His home is filled with healthy house plants, and he has always had a big garden.

He admits he may concentrate more on flowers this year — they are less work.
You really can’t fault Emial for slowing down a little. After all, he will be celebrating his 90th birthday on April 4, with a reception at the Rossville Senior Citizen Center.
Emial’s grandparents were among the emigrants from Czechoslovakia who joined the John Stach family who had settled! a few years earlier along Cross Creek. Paul and Veruna Svetlik Kovar and their three children, Paul, Jr., Anna, and John, left the Czech province of Moravia, spent 21 days crossing the Atlantic, and arrived at Cross Creek on January 25, 1874. Although the Kovars and other neighbors settled in Kansas, there was another large Czech settlement around Caldwell, Texas, northeast of Austin. It is still a thriving community Where the Moravian customs are kept alive.

Emial’s father, Paul, Jr., was just eight years old when they emigrated. He married Texan Frances Kovarek — no relation, despite the spelling similarity. One of ten children, Emial was born April 4, 1903, in Jackson County, on the east side of Cross Creek. As in most ethnic communities, the native language was spoken at home, until the children learned to speak English at school.

Mr. Kovar started school at Twin Rose, two-room country school between Rossville and Delia. There were about 30 stu-dents in each room. The family moved to Texas for a year, then returned to Delia. It was once a thriving community with three grocery stores, a bank, a hardware store, two implement dealers, and the post office.

He reminisced about growing up in the Czech community. Classes at T win Rose included geography, physiology, grammar, Kansas history and, of course, learning the English language. Church services were held at the Hejtmanek home, with George as leader. The minister came monthly to conduct the worship service.

Emial also recalled Christmas and Easter celebrations, and the big community Fourth of July picnics and horse races at Graham’s Grove. The ZCBJ Moravian Lodge, which was so important in the lives of the Czechs, still exists.

The history of the Kovar and Svetlik families is included in a genealogy compiled by Viola Kovar Gideon in 1967. “And just look at all the sheets of information we’ve added since then,” Emial marveled. His immediate family, however, is unusual, since there are so few descendants, he commented.

Kovar and his wife, Carrie Cerny, were married August 1, 1926, in a home wedding. Their daughter, Dorothy, married Stanley Davis. Their daughters are Carolyn Sage; Who lives north of Topeka, and Beverly Martinek, who now lives in Texas. Tom and Carolyn have two children, Ryan, 14, and Tracy, 11. Beverly and Dwight Martinek’s son, Dustin, 21, frequently spends college break with his grandfather.

Like his ancestors; Emial farmed, with horses of course. He remembers his first tractor, a Samson bought front a Delia dealer, and his father’s first car, a Buick, probably purchased from Jack-Pott Motors at Emmett. Emial’s first car was a 1924 Model T Ford.

Kovar farmed until 1947, when they moved to Rossville, and he helped with the city’s waterworks system. He then worked as a meat cutter at Wehner’s until he finally retired.
The Kovars were members of the Delia Presbyterian Church, then transferred to the church at Rossville where he is still an active “never-miss-a-Sunday” member. He attends the PSB Rollers activities, participates in the Rossville Senior Citizen program, and particularly enjoys their craft sessions. He also likes woodworking. Carolyn especially treasures keepsakes made from cedar cut from the Cerny farm.

Not all of Emial’s memories are of days gone by. He took his first airplane ride at age 85, flying with the Sages to Mission, Tex. They visited in Mexico and picked up sea shells on Padre Island. Not as much fun was a collision with a train in Rossville in 1985, when he crawled out the back window with only a bloody nose and a couple of cracked ribs. “God was watching over me,” he added gratefully.

Happy 90th birthday, Emial, and may He continue to keep you in His care.

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