Frank Milanoski, (1906-1907)

Headstone GPS Coordinates: Burial location unknown.

Birth: 23 October 1906, Seabeck, Kitsap County, Washington

Death: 8 January 1907, Seabeck, Kitsap County, Washington

Relatives in Seabeck Cemetery: None.

American Revolutionary War Patriots*: None

In the “Register of Deaths in Kitsap,” it is recorded that an infant named Frank Milanoski passed away from “convulsions” on January 8, 1907. His date of birth was listed as October 23, 1906, which means he was 77 days old when he died. The family’s residence was noted as Seabeck. Given the prevalence of post-neonatal deaths (infants older than 28 days) from water and foodborne diseases in that era, it is highly likely that Baby Frank succumbed to one of the many infectious illnesses that tragically claimed the lives of countless babies before the advent of modern public health measures like water sanitation and pasteurization.

It is highly probable that Baby Frank was born in the home of his maternal grandparents, Bernard and Martha Kaiser, as they were living in Seabeck at the time. His grandfather, Bernard, was working as a merchant in a retail store, suggesting the Milanoskis may have been residing with Mary’s family when their second born son was born and died. 

Baby Frank was likely buried in Seabeck Cemetery. It’s unknown where in the cemetery he is buried. 

Baby Frank’s parents, Frank Sr. and Mary, carried a history of migration and change. Frank Milanoski Sr. was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1885, into a Polish immigrant family. He married Mary Kaiser in Minnesota in 1903. Mary, born in either Poland or Germany, was part of a family that had also migrated to the United States. Their first son, John, was born in Minnesota in 1904.

Sometime between 1904 and 1906, the young family moved west, settling in Seabeck, following Mary’s parents and siblings who had all moved to the Seattle area.

By the 1910 census, Frank and Mary were living in Seattle, where Frank worked as a motorman alongside his brother, John. Another son, Stanley, was born there in 1912.

Following Stanley’s birth, the Milanoskis returned to St. Paul, Minnesota. Their daughter, Helen, was born there in 1918, and by 1920, Frank Sr. had become a respected St. Paul policeman.

Life was stable and happy until tragedy struck a second time, shattering the family once more. While he was off duty and out driving with his wife and young children, Frank stopped his car to confront a former deputy sheriff for a traffic violation he had witnessed. An altercation erupted, and Frank was struck, fell backward, and suffered a fatal skull fracture on the sidewalk. The former deputy sheriff was arrested and charged with murder, and Frank Sr. is now listed in the United States Officer Down Memorial database.

Distraught and traumatized, Mary quickly moved back to Seattle with her young children to be near her siblings, possibly residing with her older brother, Bernard Kaiser. However, a third and final tragedy would soon follow. Mary Milanoski died in 1928 at the young age of 42 from lobar pneumonia and epilepsy. She was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Seattle. Her younger sons and her daughter were taken care of by her parents who were now residing in Seattle.

Baby Frank’s siblings grew up and lived their lives. Several moved to other states, but they probably wondered about their brother buried in Seabeck, Washington.