Marie Kodim Born: March 9, 1883 Grünau Parish, Humpolec, Czech Republic
Died: May 17, 1933 in Saranac Lake
Married: Marie Zita (Born in Caslav, Kutna Hora, Mosty Kamenne, Parish Zleby) May 1, 1884) Married Joseph Kodim Sr., June 8, 1908 in Austria. Marie Zita Kodim is the mother of his 5 children. Marie Kodim died of Pulmonary Tuberculosis after 2 years on May 3, 1925.
2nd Marriage: Adolfine Fromm (Born in Germany March 27, 1884) in New York City on September 4, 1926. Adolfine Fromm Kodim went back to Germany in July 1927 and married and became Adolfine Bockmaier. Adolfine died June 2, 1947.
3rd Marriage: Elise Steiner (Born in Germany November 15, 1892)Met and married while at the Cure Cottages in Lake Saranac on May 28, 1928. No Children.
Children with Marie Zita:
- Emily Kodim (Born in Austria September 19, 1905)
- Rudolf Kodim (Born in Austria January 14. 1908 - Died January 20, 1915 in NYC from a fractured skull) No photos available to us of Little Rudolf.
- Joseph Raymond Kodim (Born in Austria, March 17, 1909)
- Olga Dorothy Kodim (Born in New Jersey June 20, 1911)
- Fred Kodim (Born in New York City March 24, 1914)
Emily Kodim
Joseph Raymond Kodim
Olga Dorothy Kodim
Fred Kodim
Joseph Kodim, Sr. son of Ferdinand Kodim and Mary Villa Kodim. Joseph Kodim Sr. his wife Marie Zita Kodim immigrated to the United States and arrived in New York City in 1910. The first 2 years in the United States, Joseph Sr. and Marie lived in New Jersey before moving to German Town - Yorkville section of Manhattan. Joseph Kodim's trade was a Decorative Painter. Joseph became a US citizen 1918. Joseph Sr. was diagnosed with Pulmonary Tuberculosis shortly after his marriage to Adolfine in September 1926. By November 8, 1926 he was in Saranac Lake hoping for the cure. Joseph Sr.'s youngest son Fred Kodim who was 12 years old at the time accompanied his father. Fred Kodim was fostered out to a family until he was 18, that part of Fred Kodim's life is a still a mystery to his family as to who took care of him and who he was living with during that time. (1926-1932/33). We do know he was a speed skater during his foster years. We will welcome any information on Fred Kodim during those Saranac/Placid years.
Joseph and Adolfine Kodim had no choice but to end their short marriage not knowing what the future would hold. Joseph met Elsie Steiner at the cure cottages. Elsie traveled to Lake Saranac from New York City in 1929 for the cure. Elise Steiner Kodim was cured and lived to be 88 years old and died at the Moongate Nursing Home in Canton, New York on July 18, 1981. Elsie Kodim is buried with her brother Alivin Steiner at Pine Ridge Cemetary in Lake Saranac.
Elsie Steiner Kodim and Joseph Kodim Sr. lived at the Jackson Cottage, 23 Cedar Street in Franklin County and the Carson Cottage located at 8 Virginia Street in Essex County.
After suffering 7 years from the ravages of Pulmonary Tuberculosis, the stigmatization, the isolation, his fate and his final resignation..."Will Not Be Cured," at his very last stage of human misery Joseph Kodim Sr. succumbed May 17, 1933, nineteen hours after taking a barbiturate overdose.
Joseph Kodim Sr. is also buried at Pine Ridge Cemetary at Lake Saranac. His grave to this day is unmarked. We believe because of the circumstances of his death and his wife's religious beliefs. His story was finally uncovered and his grave site was recently discovered by his grandchildren and great grandchildren. We hope to honor his life in the near future with a grave marker. Joseph Kodim Sr.'s family is very desperate for a photo of him. We do not know what he looked like.
Where there is great love there are always miracles. Now know what became of our grandfather and great grandfather and the family has now come together at last, through endless research and DNA.
"If I commit suicide, it will not be to destroy myself but to put myself back together again. Suicide will be for me only one means of violently reconquering myself, of brutally invading my being, of anticipating the unpredictable approaches of God. By suicide, I reintroduce my design in nature, I shall for the first time give things the shape of my will." -Antonin Artaud
THE FAMILY IS DESPERATELY SEEKING A PHOTO OF JOSEPH KODIM SR. WE DO NOT HAVE ONE NOR KNOW WHAT HE LOOKED LIKE.
Report of a Case of Tuberculosis
Joseph Kodim Present Address: 8 Marshall Street Former Address: NYC Age: 43 Occupation: Painter Advanced T. B. Present Saranac Lake, N. Y. 11/8/1926 Edgar Mayer, M. D., Attending Physician No other cards for the name "Kodim" were in the file, and no Elise or Elsie Steiner was listed, either. Checked by M. Hotaling, 1/7/2011
Joseph Kodim Sr.'s TB Card
1930 Federal Census Lake Saranac
Joseph Kodim Sr.'s Death Certificate
