Okulewicz family · Rudy family
On this page: A life in the records · Family connections · What remains unknown · Sources and evidence
Frances Okulewicz Rudy lived with her husband, Joseph S. Rudy, in Sayreville, New Jersey. Her 1965 obituary names her parents as the late Charles and Anna Okulewicz. This is explicit obituary-reported parentage; her birth or marriage certificate has not been inspected, and Anna’s maiden surname remains unproved. [F9]
A life in the records
1910 · The probable childhood household. Five-year-old Frances, recorded as Franziska, appears with Charles and Anna in Sayreville. Both adults are recorded in their first marriage, married ten years; Anna is recorded as having borne six children, five still living. Together with the later household, this strongly supports Anna as Frances’s mother. [F1]
1920 · Charles’s daughter. Frances, age 15, is recorded as Charles’s daughter in the Sayreville household. The household pattern and later sibling evidence support identifying her as the Frances who married Joseph Rudy. [F2] [F8]
1923 · Marriage evidence. The brides index records Frances Okulewicz, husband initials J.R., August 26, 1923, volume 30, page 448. It supports the marriage date used in the family research; the husband’s full name and both spouses’ parents are absent from the index. [F3]
1940 and 1950 · Married life in Sayreville. Frances appears with Joseph and their children in both censuses. She is recorded as New Jersey-born, age 37 in 1940 and 45 in 1950. Those ages do not agree exactly, so her exact birth date remains open. [F4] [F5]
1965 · Death and announced funeral. Frances died on January 11, 1965, explicitly dated in the separate death notice accompanying her obituary. Funeral services and burial at St. Stanislaus were announced; completed interment and a grave location have not been verified. [F9]
Family connections
Frances’s obituary explicitly names Charles and Anna Okulewicz as her parents. The 1910 and 1920 household evidence supports connecting that couple with her earlier family. The Caroline index entry naming Ann Stefanski remains a sibling-based lead to Anna’s maiden surname, which Frances’s obituary does not provide. [F9] [F1] [F2]
Carol A. Samuel’s published obituary names her parents as Joseph and Frances Okulewicz Rudy. A separate Social Security applications-and-claims index names the same parents for Florence Felicia Rudy, also recorded as Florence Felecia Scassera and Florence Scassera. [F6] [F7]
Frances’s obituary names her sister Florence Bogush and her daughter Florence Scassera separately. It also names sisters Carrie Talmowski, Caroline Brustowicz and Mary Gonyo, and brothers John, Frank and Adolph Okulewicz. Florence Bogush’s later obituary prints Carrie Palmowski and Caroline Brustovich; those spelling differences remain unresolved. [F9] [F8]
What remains unknown
The obituary reports that she was born in Sayreville but gives no age or birth date. Her exact birth date and Anna’s maiden surname remain unresolved. [F9]
Sources and evidence
[F1] 1910 U.S. census, Sayreville Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey, enumeration district 43, sheet 29B, May 2, lines 51–57, family 497; NARA T624, roll 899, archive image n1077. Original image checked in the family research. The head is recorded as Charlie; the surname handwriting is uncertain. Anna’s maiden surname is absent.
[F2] 1920 U.S. census, Sayreville Borough, Middlesex County, New Jersey, enumeration district 64, sheet 17B, January 10, lines 80–89; NARA T625, roll 1057, archive image n487. Original image checked in the family research. The head/daughter relationship is recorded; identification with the later Frances Rudy is a reasoned connection.
[F3] New Jersey brides marriage index, 1920–1929, L–O, archive leaf 663. Frances Okulewicz; husband initials JR; August 26, 1923; volume 30, page 448. The full certificate has not been inspected.
[F4] 1940 U.S. census, Sayreville, enumeration district 12-148, sheet 64A, lines 34–40; NARA T627, roll 2363, image 00075. The enumeration-date field is blank.
[F5] 1950 U.S. census, Sayreville, enumeration district 12-241, sheet 20, April 6, 1950; NARA image 185424-0021. Joseph and Frances appear on this sheet; the household continues on sheet 21.
[F6] “Carol Samuel,” Daily Democrat, September 15–16, 2023, hosted by Legacy.com. Obituary-reported parentage, not an original birth record.
[F7] U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007, Ancestry, record 19772268, Florence Felicia Rudy. Database transcription checked; original application not inspected. The parent entries derive from this same record and are not independent sources.
[F8] Florence Okulewicz Bogush obituary, Spezzi Funeral Home. Names Frances Rudy as a sister. This helps connect Frances to the earlier household, but does not directly identify her parents.
[F9] “Mrs. Joseph Rudy,” continuation and separate RUDY death notice, The Daily Home News, January 12, 1965, p. 9. Original newspaper page inspected from a ProQuest research copy. The death notice supplies the exact death date; burial language announces arrangements. The obituary does not state an age. Link access may require a library subscription; no newspaper scan is reproduced here.