Hi Julie: I have done a fair amount of research on my Slovak ancestors and use a Slovak surname site which enables researchers to post names of families they are searching. I looked at it for your family name "Galik" but did not find an exact match. But I did find a listing for "Gallik" (GALLIK (Lendak) - Mgr. Slavomír Gallik, Bernolákova 2, 028 01 Trstená, e-mail, e-mail ). If you go to the following website it will enable you to click on the email address for Mr. Gallik and allow you to send him an email query to see if you have the same family. Here's the address:

http://www.genealogy-heraldry.sk/slo/g.html

I hope this might give you a lead.

Best Regards,
John E. Bartos

I was able to find some additional information (I'm so excited!):

Paul's parents, Samuel and Suzanna, did in fact use the GALIK spelling. Suzanna's maiden name was BOHOCK. However, no additional information has been found for them.

Ethel's father was Jozsef LETASI. So, I did have that spelling wrong. Jozsef was born about 1879, in Bošáca, Trenčín, Slovakia. He immigrated to America from Bremen, and arrived in New York on December 26, 1908.

Ethel's mother was Katarina KUSENDA. She was born about 1887, also in Bošáca, Trenčín, Slovakia. She immigrated to America from Rotterdam, and arrived in New York on September 8, 1913, along with their two oldest children, Janos and Jozsef. Katarina dies in Michigan, about 1929.

Katarina and Jozsef had 5, possibly 6 children total: Janos, Jozsef, Katarina, Paul and Ethel, and possibly a Steve. I am not sure yet if Steve was a sixth child, or an americanized name for Janos. I do not have a birth date for 'Steve', he is just remembered by family members.

I have been told that Jozsef remarried 'a few times' after Katarina's death, but have no names for his other wives.

Katarina's mother's name was also Katarina. The only info I have for her is that she lived in Bošáca, Trenčín, Slovakia at the time of her daughter's immigration. I do not know her husband's first name.

I am very excited to have found this new information! However, now I am stuck again. Does anyone have any good sources for Slovakian records? Do any of these names sound familiar to anyone?

In the end, despite questioning my Mom for years about her parents' families and her being adamant about not knowing any more info, I found that my parents had an old cabinet full of family photos and documents. When I reminded my parents that these items may have been useful, I got an 'oh, that's right...we forgot about that stuff.' And there, in all that info, was my Mom's baby book, where her mother had written in the names of my Mom's grandparents! Of course, seeing those names sparked some memories for Mom, and she was able to remember some of the names of Gramma's siblings.

It was all right there, all that time! Just goes to show that not only does perseverance (aka bugging relatives over and over LOL) pay off, but also rechecking places that you have searched before.

I am just starting my family tree and have been blessed with a good number of names from a cousin. I am still looking for more information and decendents of :Galik, Pakan, Amadec, Klc-Mickucviak from Myjava Slovakia. I know as far back as my great grandparents were Samuel Klc-Mickucviak and Dorothy Pakan. Samuel's parents were an unknown first name but surname Klc-Mckucviak and his wife was Alzbeta Galik. When my Great Grandparents immigrated to the states NJ- their name was changed to Klotch. If anyone has name that cross my family I would love to compare.