Henry Edward Polityka

Archive source links added October 6, 2026: signed compensation application [WEB-20261006-170255-a478f1c8]; original draft card [WEB-20261006-170457-a7d24883]; original 1950 census [WEB-20261006-170643-66cc135a]; qualified 1947 marriage index [WEB-20261006-170729-71051326]. Original research narrative retained below.

Added October 6, 2026. Henry Edward Polityka is identified as the son of Alex Charles Polityka and Ida Stransky and brother of Leo Leonard Polityka through correlated original and indexed records. The original 1940 census places Henry, age 17, as son in Alex and Ida's Shenandoah household with Leo, age 21. [WEB-20261006-033532-d4c6eef4] Henry's signed 1950 veterans' compensation application names mother Ida Polityka at the established 431 W. Lloyd Street family address and records father deceased. His Michigan marriage index explicitly names father Alex Polityka and mother Ida Stransky. The matching birth, family address, mother and wife distinguish him from unrelated men of similar name.

Born March 26, 1923, Shenandoah, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, according to his signed draft registration and compensation application. The application corrects an overwritten day to 26; the draft clearly gives March 26. No birth certificate has yet been examined.

Registered for the draft June 30, 1942, Philadelphia, Local Board 71. Residence on the main line is 3314 Almond Street, Philadelphia; contact Mrs. Alexander Polityka, 431 W. Lloyd Street, Shenandoah. Employer reads Exide, 19th and Allegheny Avenue, Philadelphia. A handwritten address above the heading is not confidently transcribed. This registration alone is not proof of service. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2238/images/44033_05_00375-00683?pid=7771043

Actual Coast Guard service is separately documented by his signed Pennsylvania WWII compensation application: entered January 4, 1943 at C.G. Training Station, Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, New York; separated November 19, 1943 at the recorded ODCGO 3rd ND, New York City. The reverse lists training station January 4–March 30, 1943, then COTP CG Barracks, Jersey City, New Jersey, March 30–November 19, 1943. The form declares discharge under honorable conditions. Coast Guard is the marked branch; Navy is not marked. Foreign service is recorded as none. Application sworn in February 1950 (day handwriting uncertain), received April 26, 1950, approved for $110 August 28, 1950. It names wife Hazel Irene Polityka, no minor living children at that time, mother Ida, and deceased unnamed father. Absence of minor children in this application does not prove lifelong childlessness. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/3147/images/43191_2421401574_0706-03075?pid=1343674

Michigan's marriage index records Henry Edward Polityka, 24, born Shenandoah, resident Allegan, marrying Hazel Irene Commons on December 27, 1947 in Allegan, Allegan County, Michigan. County file 440; state file 3 6370. This is an index inspection, not an original marriage certificate. The application independently identifies Hazel Irene as his wife in 1950. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9093/records/2468888

The original 1950 census, Michigan, Allegan, ED 3-13, callback sheet 71, lines 1–2, records Henry E. Polityka, 27, Pennsylvania-born, married head, tool grinder in a machine shop, with wife Hazel I., 23, Michigan-born, telephone operator for a telephone company. No children appear in this two-person household. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/62308/images/43290879-Michigan-188433-0020?pid=173797902

Recorded deceased under Joe Stuart's standing instruction for persons born before 1935; Henry's death date, death place and burial have not yet been established. No precise death date is inferred. Next research: death or obituary, original 1947 marriage, later children and Hazel's identity and parents. Preserve unresolved earlier Stransky household candidates separately.