Anton James Franta, son of Jacob and Anna Franta, moved to Abie with his wife, Josephine Jezek Franta in 1924. He went into the oil business with Wm. J. "Bill" Franta. A newpaper clipping dated Jan. 1, 1953, tells of the 25 year anniversary of this business which they operated until 1954. Another clipping of the 60th wedding anniversary has a photo of Anton James and Josephine Franta of Abie.
Josephine Jezek Franta was born 28 Sept 1881, in Czechoslovakia, and died 28 Aug 1965 in Schuyler. Anton J. Franta was born 1 Jan 1875 and died 14 Jan 1962. Genelle has "In Remembrance" cards from Abie Sokol Hall, Abie, Nebr. for documentation of these events.
In 1953, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. J. Franta of Abie attended the funeral service for their son, Lt. Henry F. Schlueter, interment at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.
Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Franta of Abie celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on Sunday, April 23. They were married on April 25, 1901, in Omaha. Mrs. Franta has often remarked that their honeymoon was their trip from Omaha to North Bend on the train after the ceremony. Mr. Franta owned a farm near Morse Bluff, and they went from North Bend to the farm by team and buggy rented from the livery stable.
To this union was born one child, William. The family lived on the farm until 1919, when they went into business. They have lived in Abie, and were in business from 1924 until 1954, and retired due to poor health. Both loved serving the public.
About 150 guests spent Sunday afternoon with them. There were relatives and friends present from Morse Bluff, Weston, Prague, Lincoln, Omaha, North Bend, Schuyler, Wahoo, Bellevue, Fremont, Clarkson, Crete, Bruno and Linwood.
Mr. Franta's only living sister, Mrs. Louise Dolezal, was here from Schuyler. Mrs. Franta has one sister living in Lincoln, who was unable to attend due to illness. She is Mrs. Anna Grimm, age 89. The oldest people here were Mrs. Lena Pabian of Morse Bluff, who is in her 80's, Joseph Dolezal of Omaha, who is 83. Mr. and Mrs. Edward C. Brt, formerly in the bank at Abie, were present from Crete. Gladys Fujan, a grandniece of Mrs. Franta's, poured the coffee, and Mrs. Wm. J. Franta served the cake.
This information and photo were supplied by
Genelle Starbird (GStarbird@aol.com)
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