Kotara Family - White Deer, TX
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 35° 26.387 W 101° 10.593
14S E 302439 N 3923991
The huge churchyard cross is the memorial erected in the Polish Family Honor.
Waymark Code: WMMRPH
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 10/30/2014
Views: 1
County of memorial: Carson County
Location of memorial: 615 N. Main St., Sacred Heart Catholic Church lawn, White Deer
Memorial erected by: Tracy Kotara
date erected: 2007
Memorial text:
In Honor amd Loving Memory of
The Kotara Family
Donated by Tracy Kotara
2007
"The most interesting person (that I know of so far) to begin this family search with is with John Kotara, Sr., originally born May 12, 1880 in Czestochwa, Texas. His parents were Francis Kotara (Frank, born 1844 in Poland, [possibly Selesia, Poland]) and Marcella Kyrish Kotara born in Texas.
In an interview with John that appears to have been printed around 1965-66, John said:
"I wanted to come to the Panhandle of Texas in 1900 and I said 'if I ever get married, I'm going there'. It was over ten years before I made my first trip to the Panhandle. I came May 28, 1912 and bought 160 acres of land. I told people I was going to stay if I had to eat my shoe soles.
"The first night we got to Amarillo, it was very cold. Mr. Meaker, Mrs. Ben Haiduk's father, met us and took us to St. Anthony's Hospital to spend the night. The hospital was pretty small but we had a good supper and a drink. Oh, my it was good! Then we went to bed. I'd been in rooming houses before. I had seen an electric light in San Antonio and knew you pulled the cord to put the light out. I pulled the cord over my bed. It sounded an alarm and the whole hospital came running. I jumped up and put on my pants. Today a six month old baby can put the light out. I was thirty-three and sure green......" ~ Kanre Kotara Kwiatkowski