Waner shares memories of Father Emil Kapaun
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Patsy Waner of Marion was seven years old when she participated as an attendant in Father Emil Kapaun's First Solemn High Mass at St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church at Pilsen.
The daughter of Joseph and Margaret Meysing, Waner and her family lived less than two miles from Enos and Bessie Kapaun and their two sons, Emil and Eugene. The two families visited each other frequently.
The Meysings attended Father Kapaun's ordination in Wichita on June 9, 1940. He later was assigned to the Pilsen church as an assistant to Father John Sklenar.
Father Kapaun conducted his first Mass June 20. It was a special time for Waner because she was chosen to be one of the attendants.
In those days, the days of the Great Depression, clothing often was made from printed flour sacks. But this occasion required formal wear. Accompanied by nuns from their school, Waner and Margie Vinduska (Stroda) went to Wichita and found dresses at Buck's Clothing Store. Both dresses were identical. Waner preferred the pink one but was given the blue one.
The nuns decided the girls' arms shouldn't be visible, so they purchased matching taffeta and the girls' mothers added long sleeves.
Waner said her mother was ahead of the times because she just extended each sleeve with a "leg of mutton" sleeve.
"I didn't like them," Waner recalled. "I would rather have had new long sleeves like Margie's mom made for her."
The morning of the first Mass, at 9:30 a.m., two marching bands accompanied the procession into the church. It was packed with local parishioners and many visiting priests and nuns. The crowd was estimated at 1,200.
Waner and others in the "wedding" party were among those who led the procession into the church. She sat in the front row during the ceremony.
A church hall stood out to the west of the church, and after Mass, everybody went there to enjoy a large meal. The meal was served in shifts because of the large crowd.
Because Waner was an attendant, she took part in the first sitting. The centerpiece at the priest's table was a cake sculptured in the shape of a lamb. It was decorated in white frosting and sat on a bed of green-tinted coconut.
Waner said the cake was not eaten, and she later saw it several times in the Kapaun home.
Waner said all the food was brought in by parishioners and the "best" food was served to those seated at the priests' table.
As was the custom at special occasions, the meal began with an appetizer of saffron-flavored noodle soup, made with thin-sliced homemade noodles.
The meal included all the Czech traditional breads: rohlicky, dinner rolls of rolled-up raised dough; kolacky, baked rolls with fruit, poppy seed, or cottage cheese centers; kobliky, deep fried poppy seed or prune-filled donuts; listy, fried powdered sugar pastries; and ruzice, rosettes.
Refrigeration wasn't readily available in those days, so strawberry Jell-O with bananas, instead of ice cream, was served with angel food or layer cakes. Free soda pop was available.
A gazebo stood between the church hall and the church. There the bands played all afternoon, as everyone stayed to visit and enjoy the day. A supper was served at the end of the day, followed by a short program honoring the young priest.
"It was quite a glorious day in Pilsen," Waner said.
Her strongest memories are of the times Emil Kapaun helped with summer threshing of crops.
The Kapauns rented land from the Meysings, and the two families joined together in the harvest using a threshing machine owned by Waner's father.
Waner noticed Emil as he scooped wheat from a wagon into a bin during the heat of the summer. Her mother gave her the task of bringing him a cool drink of water. This continued for several days during at least two summers in the late 1930s.
"Someday I'm going to do something for you," he told her. She was impressed with his friendly, kind manner.
The harvest crew was comprised of Waner's father and three older brothers and the three Kapaun men. When they were at the Kapaun farm, Waner enjoyed riding there on her bike to assist Bessie Kapaun with the large, noon meals. They included several meats, fresh-baked bread and rolls, and various fruits and vegetables.
In mid-afternoon, the two prepared sandwiches that were delivered to the crew. Waner said she enjoyed working with Bessie because she always was pleasant and happy and laughed easily.
"The Kapaun family was a happy family, very religious, and modest," she said.
Emil Kapaun served as a priest at Pilsen for four years before becoming a chaplain in the U.S. Army. He was captured and died in a North Korean prison camp in 1951.
His sacrifice and service will be honored Sunday during the second annual Kapaun Day celebration at Pilsen.
