In 1912, all four grandparents of Mark Pienkos, the superintendent/principal for the Washington-Caldwell School District, came to America from Poland.
They settled in Chicago, married and raised their families. He and his two brothers married young women who also were of Polish descent.
On the 100th anniversary of his grandparents’ arrival to the U.S., Mark Pienkos was invited to meet with the President of Poland, Bronislaw Komorowski.
Pienkos currently serves as vice president of the Polish American Congress-Wisconsin Division and will become president of the organization on July 1.
He and his brother, Donald Pienkos (a professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), along with Ewa Barczyk-Pease, Director of UW-Milwaukee Libraries, traveled to Chicago on May 21to meet with Komorowski.
Don Pienkos is a national director for the Polish American Congress. Barczyk-Pease is president of Polanki, the Women’s Cultural Society of Milwaukee.
Some 125 Polish Americans from around the nation received invitations to the meeting held at the Blackstone Hotel in downtown Chicago.
Komorowski was in Chicago to attend the North Atlantic Treat Organization (NATO) Summit.
NATO’s purpose is to protect the freedom of its members. Poland became a member of NATO in 1999.
Pienkos had the opportunity to greet Komorowski and welcome him to Chicago and the United States.
He met the Polish Ambassador to the United States, as well as the Polish Counsel General and Deputy Counsel General,+ who have offices in Chicago.
Pienkos noted that his family has been planning a 100-year reunion in Poland celebrating the arrival of their grandparents to America. This fall, they will travel to Rzeszow, Poland where one of his grandparents, Walenty Pienkos, was born.
There, they will meet with relatives and friends to celebrate their families’ accomplishments, as well as renew friendships that have been maintained over the many years.
The Polish American Congress is an organization promoting a better understanding of Polish traditions, history, and culture.
Its members meet on a quarterly basis at the Polish Center of Wisconsin in Franklin.
One of its major events is the annual Polish Independence Day/Veterans Day Luncheon, to be held this year on Sunday, November 11 at the Polish Center.
Among the individuals to be honored with the “Congressman Clement Zablocki Civic Achievement Award” are Ewa Barczyk-Pease and Ann Pienkos (Mark Pienko’s wife).
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