The Zvolaneks and Coufals of Stare Ransko

My new friend (possibly cousin) Frantisek Coufal has sent me many old photos of his Zvolanek ancestors, who Grandpa John Zvolanek surely knew while living in Stare Ransko.


First of all, here is a photo of the Vaclav Zvolanek family in front of #6 Stare Ransko, where Kirk and I visited with the Coufal family. If you compare with our photos taken in May 2011, you can see the similarity between the old house and the present Coufal home.

This is Rose (b.1873) and Vaclav Zvolanek (b.1866) with their daughter Ruzena. Mary Zvolanek-Coufal (pictured below) is also Rose and Vaclav's daughter.

Daughters Mary and Ruzena would have been of the same generation as our Grandpa John, so this may be how the house appeared to Grandpa while he lived in Stare Ransko.


When John Zvolanek listed Frantisek Coufal in his ledger, it was probably because Frantisek Coufal was the husband of Mary Zvolanek, the Grandmother of the Coufal family that we visited in Stare Ransko.

Mary Zvolankova Coufalova
August 26, 1899 - August 25, 1988

Frantisek Coufal,July 9, 1893 - June 15, 1950
husband of Mary Zvolanek.