Bercha Branch
 
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Dan (Dumitru) Bercha married Katie (Ecaterina) Feica in Alberta or Saskatchewan sometime in the early 1920s. They later moved to the Detroit, Michigan area around 1924. According to some family members, the move was made because of jobs available in the  auto industry which began growing and the call was made for workers to all parts of the U.S. and Canada. Katie died a few years after the move to Michigan in 1928. Her death was attributed to diptheria, by one account, or heat stroke by another.

Her untimely death provided fodder for one of the more unsual family anecdotes involving Katie's mother, Anna. According to family members, Anna was very much a believer in what some  would call eastern European superstitions or folklore. For instance, she believed that if a black bird flew into your home, it was a sign that there would be a death in the family.  Anna was also a believer in what might be labeled supernatural senses. She believed dreams were signficant and could be interpreted. She also, according to some family members, had what could be called a sixth sense.  I will let others decide and wish merely to present the facts as they were presented to me. One afternoon, Anna awoke from a nap and told everyone that "Katie is dead." She had seen it in her dreams. The family was not especially suprised at this declaration, they had witnessed Bunica's (Romanian for grandmother) uncanny insights and signs of precognition before. At that time on the farm, there was no phone, nor any other way to speedily communicate with Michigan, or even the farm down the road a few miles. About a week after Anna's statement on her daughter's passing, a black-lined envelope, which was the customary way death notices were delivered, arrived at the farm, confirming Katie's death.

According to Katie's granddaughter, Linda Lee, "Dan never remarried. I understand he was an interesting fellow. He was very big and he worked as a laborer during the depression. Because of his size he was always one of the first chosen to work in day labor. Later he ran a 'blind pig' during prohibition and made his own liquor to sell to friends and neighbors. He died of a sudden heart attack about 1951."

When Katie died, she left to young children, Vera,  5, and George, 3.

Vera was married to Tom Johns, who was killed in action in France in WW II, they had a daughter, Diane.  Vera later married a banker, Edward   Boltz.  They had a son, Edward. Diane lives in Illinois.  Edward, lives in Michigan. Vera died in 1983.

George and his wife, Joann, had four children: Linda, George, Dan and Gail. Three of the children live in Texas, the fourth lives in California. George died on Dec. 24, 1985.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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