There were some Petko's buried in Old St. Stephen's cemetery. There was a John or Charles Petko who died in 1929. The death notice appeared in Wednesday's paper, as Charles Petko; Thursday the obituary mentioned his name as John Petko; and the services notice he was called Charles, again. This John/Charles was born abt 1888 and married about 1913. He died in Joliet. His parents were Peter and Mary (Lesko) Petko. Some of their children: John, Peter, Andrew, Charles? and Joseph. Did your mother collect Social Security? If so, how did she prove her eligibly? My uncle, born in 1891, had to get a delayed birth certificate. To do that he had to provide at least three "proofs". He did not have a birth certificate, and his baptismal certificate had his real father's last name. I guess it was quite a hassle. Was your mother baptized as an infant? The father's name might not be on the baptismal certificate, but might be on the church records. If the home issued her a birth certificate, they might have his name on their records. Since it has been 90 years, they might be willing to give out the information. Good luck, P.S. A friend of mine finally found her father's family after years of looking. Her father had already passed on, but had talked about the daughter that he never knew. His siblings welcomed her into the family and she attends their reunions. Sometimes, there are happy endings. Joanie > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237