Marvin Would Just Pee on the Couch Anyway

In a lonely corner or Prairie Center Cemetery in Osage County, Kansas, lies the grave of Joseph Dolifka. Born in Hungary, on March 5, 1838, Dolifka married Josephine Groman and they had five children--Agatha, Joseph, Philip, Julius, and Mary. In 1884, the family left Hamburg, Germany for New York City. Their ultimate destination, though, was Kansas. They settled on 80 acres in the Grand Haven neighborhood on the Shawnee-Osage county line where they raised livestock. Grand Haven was just a collection of farms with a post office on the property of W.H. Sears about a mile and a half west of the Dolifkas. Grand Haven was located northwest of Burlingame and southwest of Auburn. The post office, initially established in Osage County, existed from 1875 until 1901.

Dolifka farm in Auburn Township, Shawnee County, Kansas.
From Atlas of Shawnee County, Kansas (1898)

Little is really known about the Dolifkas. On December 15, 1890, Joseph died at the age of 52. No obituaries of Joseph are available if any were printed in local newspapers. A Facebook post mentions that he may have been kicked in the head by a horse or mule but that could just be speculation. His family continued in the Auburn area until about 1895 when they moved to Hanover in Washington County, Kansas. Agatha (1869-1938) married baker Henry Kraushaar but the two divorced and he moved to Kansas City, Missouri and remarried. She is buried in Marysville, Kansas. The younger Joseph (1876-1905) was a photographer in Hanover until moving to Colorado for his health, passing away in Colorado Springs. Philip (1878-1968) was a farmer in the Hanover area. He married Katie Dusch in 1904 and had eight children. He died in Lawrence of bronchial pneumonia and is buried in St. John's Cemetery in Hanover. Julius (1880-1956) originally went to Hanover with his family until about 1904 when he moved to Flagler, Colorado and started a ranch. He married Amy Anna Banner in 1906. He is buried in Akron Cemetery in Akron, Colorado. Mary (1883-1971) married Roy Pangborn in 1906. They also moved to Colorado but after Roy died, Mary moved to California where she was buried.

Josephine Dolifka was born in Vienna in 1843. She had been visiting in Hanover the evening before her death and was feeling fine. The next morning, Philip went to her house to do some work, and upon entering the house, found his mother feeling sick. A doctor was called but she died mere hours later. Services were held at the St. John's Church and she was buried in Pecenka (Bohemian) Cemetery south of Bremen, Kansas.

Joseph Dolifka gravestone in Prairie Center Cemetery.
May his soul rest in peace.

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Ripley's Believe It Or Not

I gotta give some accolades to today's Believe It Or Not of not only opening today's comic with a beautifully detailed illustration of Hitler but also telling us, while we're eating our breakfast cereal before heading to church, that he had rotting gums, bad breath, and fake teeth. This is quite a kneecap for those who love Nazis.

You know who you are.

Marvin

That "couch" doesn't look like it would fit two people anyway.

Blondie

Were Dagwood and Herb out on a date? Are they using Christmas lights as some kind of code? Is this an open marriage scenario or are they on the down-low? Dagwood also looks like they maybe broke up.

Mother Goose & Grimm

Lassie hasn't had a live-action TV show since 1999 and network TV shows haven't had designated sponsors since the early 1980s but sure, go on.

Kitty Korner from Heathcliff

Where the hell is Adelaide and Figaro watching "Heathcliff"? Does she have DVDs? Does she pull them up on YouTube? Is "Heathcliff" on some streaming site I don't know about?

The Born Loser

Going to dinner and a movie isn't special. Although I guess it could be considering Mother Gargle believes they never go out at all. Did Brutus go into the movie thinking it would be good? It's a melodrama, those are never good. The only worse would be if it were a period piece.

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