A tree for the legendary Steve Ditko

Question

Hey, everyone!

I'm working on a tree for Steve Ditko. I've added him to the notables and I plan on adding his parents. I was wondering if people could help me find sources for his parents, Stephen and Anna. Here's their find a graves:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/191177034/steve-ditko

It's a shame I can't put Spidey's pic in. Ah well. I could, however, link this tweet by Marvel. https://twitter.com/Marvel/status/1015751112014684160

Man, that's a powerful image. How much ya wanna bet the next Spidey and Doctor Strange movies will be dedicated to Steve?

I digress. Can someone help me source his parents so I can make profiles? Thanks! I feel like making a video tribute to him. Did one for Len Wein earlier this year....

Comments

I did find that tweeted image to be a powerful one. I've liked his stuff since before Marvel. I recently found a couple of old Captain Atom comic books in  an old box I hadn't looked in forever.

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Cool. =D I really think Spidey's MCU look was based on Ditko's design. Especially the eyes.

Answer 1

Easy ones first

United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH82-WN7 : accessed 9 July 2018), Stephen J Ditko in household of Stephen Ditko, Johnstown, Cambria, Pennsylvania, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 70, sheet 7A, line 42, family 116, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2012; FHL microfilm 2,341,746.

United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQXB-KY7 : accessed 9 July 2018), Steven Ditko in household of Steven Ditko, Ward 18, Johnstown, Johnstown City, Cambria, Pennsylvania, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 11-106, sheet 12B, line 59, family 205, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 3455.

United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J27H-D27 : 20 May 2014), Stephen Ditko, May 1966; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

Comments

Thanks! Just added!

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Maybe... his grandfather could have been Stephen or Wasyl

There are census entries for each with son Stephen born abt 1900

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https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/133603302#source

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Checking out the tree on Geni. They say the grandfather was Wasil Ditko (1/10/1862) Slovakia. He died on July 2nd, 1937 in Johnstown, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States.

His wife was Dorothy Kralovsky 3/1/1867 Slovakia- Feb 26th, 1934.

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I just added a grandfather profile - feel free to make any adjustments needed. He shows up as "Joseph" on the 1910 Census and "Wasyl" on the 1920, so Wasil is just as likely to be correct. Couldn't find him on the 1930 Census - will take another look.

Not sure if I agree with the Dorothy though. Mother's name was Padorka or Annie - neither comes close to Dorothy. I'd want to see that research a bit more closely.

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Found the reference to Dorothy, but the linking string is the son Peter Ditko. Will have to recreate the research to see if Dorothy is aka Padorka (Dorka = Dorothy?) aka Annie (Possibly Padorka/Dorothy Anne/Anna?).

"Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVGX-LYJX : 13 December 2015), Wasil Ditko, ; Burial, Johnstown, Cambria, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Saint Marys Byzantine Catholic Cemetery; citing record ID 117222176, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

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OK - starting to lean towards this being accurate, although the names appear to have gone through the Americanization process, and will be hard to draw back to their correct original forms. I'm going to guess that the proper names are something like:

Josef Wasil Ditko and Padorka "Dorothy" Anna Kralovsky.

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OK - added Dorothy and both father Stephen and son Stephen's siblings that I could find that were not living. Starting to trace around for any potential directions to go for a connection but nothing is jumping out at me yet.

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Woo - went way down the rabbit hole... following a boatload of lines stemming from each of Steve's Uncles, their wives, their families and so on. Got lost once trying to find my way back to a Ditko (lol), but still no connection yet. About 40-60 profiles I could potentially add to the tree, but all unconnected (I think). But I'll keep hunting. Found at least one promising line that didn't lead back to Austria/Czechoslovakia. Still winding around on a Bidelman line that by itself might not have potential, but could connect to one that does. I'll keep looking. Once I feel like I've got a viable direction, I'll start loading profiles to build the connection.

Answer 2

Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Box Number: 2477; Certificate Number Range: 045601-048450. 

Name:	Stephen Ditko
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Age:	65
Birth Date:	17 Mar 1901
Birth Place:	Johnstown, Penna
Death Date:	13 May 1966
Death Place:	Johnstown, Cambria, Pennsylvania, USA
Father:	Vasil Ditko
Mother:	Dorothy Krawlosky
Spouse:	Anna Ditko
Certificate Number:	45942

Answer 3

OK - Balaschak line has been added - all Steve's Uncles and Aunt's with that LNAB are added. Now that I've got a good view of what we know, I can get down to the hunt for a connection.

Comments

I would love for a connection with Steve Ditko. Probably would not happen. Even a Stan Lee one would be great. I tried finding a link on Geni. No luck. Sigh...

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Well, I have loaded all "Ditko's" that I have at the moment (other than living... I only added a few of those) and now on to the spouses, where I see the most promise of a connection. Lots of additional families there to explore and potentially connect. No connection in sight so far, but I will admit that this is my first pass into this general region, and it takes me a little wrangling to get a region figured out before a connection generally shakes loose. Excelsior!

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Doing good work, Scott! Keep it up! =D We'll connect him to the world tree sooner or later.

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And there we go - the links might update tonight if I got them in time. If not - tomorrow night. Now I'm tired.

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That's a lot of Balaschaks. Then again I should talk.....

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Stephen is 36 degrees from Babe Ruth, 47 degrees from Juha Soini and 32 degrees from Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on our single family tree. Check your connections or find your genealogical relationship with Stephen.

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Not the shortest connection I've ever found, but I don't think it's the longest one either... close to it though. All the Russio-Slavic families don't have any deep roots so it's like a ping-pong ball until one of them marries a westerner with deep roots. Glad there's a connection to speak of though.

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Very cool. =) Nice work!