Possibly the Most Loved "Ghost" in Chicagoland

The Legend

A young gentleman is out dancing at a local ballroom and meets a pretty young polish girl with long blond hair and wearing a white dancing dress.  She seems very quiet and actually quite cold to the touch but there is something about her that is both exciting and mysterious.  Toward the end of the evening he offers the young lady a ride home and she accepts.  On the way home they pass by a local cemetery and the girl seems very anxious and signals to the young man to drop her off.  The gentleman hesitates because it is late and there doesn't seem to be any residences nearby but because she is so persistent and agitated he reluctantly pulls over.  The young lady jumps from the car and runs toward the locked gates of the cemetery where she seems to pass through easily and  then promptly disappears. 

He does remember that the young lady had written her address down on a napkin and later the next day he proceeds to the address to insure that his date made it home safely only to be met by an older woman lamenting the loss of her daughter some years ago after being the victim of a hit-and-run driver coming home from a night of dancing.  The young man notices a photograph on the coffee table and immediately recognizes it as the woman that he danced with the night before.

I will admit that the above story is more of a conglomerate of a multitude of stories told about the "vanishing hitchhiker" along Archer Ave in Justice, IL known as "Resurrection Mary"  Some have reported seeing a young blonde girl in a white dress step out in front of their car only to disappear.  Some have seen "Mary" hitchhiking along Archer Ave near Resurrection Cemetery only to have her disappear on second glance.  Others have had very vivid recollections of actually dancing with her.

Who is "Resurrection Mary"?

Let's face it, there are probably any number of cemeteries that have a young polish girl named Mary "Something" buried there who have died as a victim of an automobile accident.  But that hasn't stopped the curious from trying to figure out who "Mary" was during her life.   Since I grew up in the Chicago area and have been a big fan of the curious, the unexplained and the creepy over the years, I have come across a number of candidates for the title of "Resurrection Mary".  I have included them here in no specific order.

Mary Bregovy (1912-1934)

Mary Bregovy was born in Chicago on April 7, 1912 to Stefan and Johanna (Kulawiak) Bregovy .  In 1930 the family was living at 4166 S. Damen in Chicago.  Mary was the older sister of Joseph and Steve Bregovy.  On the night of March 10, 1934, Mary was in a vehicle driven by John Thoel (25) from Chicago.  Also in the vehicle were John Rieker (23) of Park Ridge and Virginia Rozanski (22) from Chicago.  The vehicle struck an "L" substructure at Lake St. and Wacker Drive.  Mary died from severe head injury and shock while enroute to Iroquois Hospital ( a small emergency hospital started with funds donated from families of victims of the Iroquois Theater Fire) 

For some time, I have read that Mary was buried in an unmarked grave near her mother of the same name in Resurrection Cemetery.  There is a Mary Bregovy 1888 - 1922 who is buried at Resurrection but that is more than likely an aunt to Mary if any relation at all.  According to the research I have conducted based on U.S. Census Records, death certificates and obituaries, Mary Bregovy d: 1922, did have a daughter named Mary but she eventually became Mary Williams, died in 1987, and is buried a few graves away from her mother Mary. 

Mary Bregovy's actual parents (Stefan and Johanna) are buried at Resurrection Cemetery as well as Mary herself (according to her death certificate).  There is no listing of a burial for Mary Bregovy (who died in 1934) in the Cemetery's public computer kiosk (more than likely to discourage the disrespectful)  Her parents are buried next to each other with an unmarked  grave next to them. (It could be Mary)  

The family seemed to be no stranger to tragedy.  After the death of their daughter in 1934, Stefan lost his wife Johanna in 1945 at the age of 62 and on September 21, 1951 committed suicide by hanging himself in the family garage at 4166 S. Damen Avenue.

Definitely a tragic story but Mary Bregovy does not match the description of "Resurrection Mary" due to the fact that she had short dark hair, and was killed nowhere near Resurrection Cemetery.  

        

    Chicago Tribune Article on Mary's Death                           1930 U.S. Census Record showing 18 year old Mary living at 4611 S. Damen Ave Chicago, IL

                                           

      Grave Marker of Stefan, Mary's Father                                     Grave Marker of Johanna, Mary's Mother                                             Is the unmarked grave Mary?

                                      

 Death Cert. showing parentage and burial info                   Grave once thought to be that of Mary's Mother                    Mary Bregovy's daughter, Mary Ann Williams

Anna Marija Norkus (1914-1927)

Anna Norkus was born to Lithuanian parents, August and Anna Simkus Norkus in Cicero, Illinois on September 4, 1914.  Much of what I know about Anna Norkus and her relationship with the legend is from an article written by Ursula Bielski and posted on GhostVillage.com on March 23, 2007.  The article is excellent and I cannot do it justice here so I will let you read it for yourself. 

In a nutshell, Anna was a vibrant youth and loved to dance.  She chose to use the name Marija as her middle name because of her devotion to the Blessed Mother.  By the time Anna neared her teenage years she had grown into an attractive young woman, with blonde hair and a slender build.  According to the research of Frank Andrejasich who is credited in Bielski's article, Anna was begging her father to take her dancing for her 13th birthday (Anna was born in September so it must have been an early birthday present).  On the night of July 20, 1927, coming back from the Oh Henry Ballroom (Now the Willowbrook Ballroom on Archer Ave.), Anna's father did not see the 25 foot hole in the roadway at 66th and Harlem Ave.  Anna was crushed under the vehicle. 

Officially Anna Norkus is buried at St. Casimir Cemetery in Chicago but according to Ms. Bielski's article that may or may not be the case.  A fellow by the name of Al Churas Jr. was a grave digger who lived across the street from the gates of Resurrection Cemetery.  He was also the cousin of one of Anna's friends, Mary Nagode.  Mr. Churas stated that during the time frame when Anna died, there were several strikes by gravediggers at various cemeteries.  He remembered that many bodies that were unable to be buried because of the strike would be temporarily interred at Resurrection until the strike was over.  Unfortunately, due to poor construction of caskets and earlier embalming techniques some bodies were unable to be properly identified and may have actually been left at Resurrection (I have not been able to confirm or deny this fact but will be following up with Resurrection)

Could it be that Anna's body is misplaced and exists at Resurrection even though her burial record states that it is in St. Casimir?

Anna's case bears striking resemblance to the legend of "Resurrection Mary"  even though she was only 12 years old at the time and may not be buried at Resurrection. 


            

     Newspaper Article on Anna's death                                                                                                      Anna Norkus's Birth Certificate




         
         The Willowbrook Ballroom, Archer Ave., formerly the Oh Henry Ballroom                                Main Entrance of Resurrection Cemetery, Justice, Illinois




I had only recently become aware of this third candidate for Marydom while reading Ms. Bielski's article and by checking some of the comments and blogs of various Chicago haunt enthusiasts.  The story is one of a south side Polish girl named Mary Miskowski who was supposedly killed walking across the street while attempting to walk to a Halloween Party.  I conducted a search of local papers, Illinois State death records and Cook County death records and there was no person by that name who died between 1916 and 1950.  I did notice a blog on Weird Chicago Tours from October 2008 that mentions the possibility of the misspelling of the Miskowski name as Mary Muchowski who died on November 5, 1930.  I did check on that and the name was not a misspelling.  Mrs. Muchowski did die on November 5, 1930 but was 67 years old at the time and buried at St. Adalbert's in Niles, IL

More than likely there was either an inaccurate recollection of the name or it was just another urban legend.  Chances are that Ms. Miskowski eventually married and died under a different name.

Mary Petkiewicz (1915 - December 25, 1932)

I have to be honest that I have not heard this name mentioned as a possible candidate for "Resurrection Mary" but I came across this person while I was conducting the research on the above candidates.  Mary Petkiewicz was a young bride of 17 years.  (I do not know if she was of eastern European descent yet because Petkiewicz is her married name and  I have not found any marriage documents or obituaries as of yet)  She was living at 5815 West 64th Street and was married to Casimir Petkiewicz.  On Christmas night 1932, Casimir (21) was driving a car containing his wife Mary, his brother Alex, Anna Guoinovich (19), Adeline Ruzzis(18) and Alcy Neal (16).   On a dark corner at 55th St. and Cicero Ave, a car driven by Steve O'Donnell, who was the brother of south side beer boss, Edward (Spike) O'Donnell, swerved and Petkiewicz's vehicle rolled over on top of Mary, killing her. 

I have not begun to fully research this candidate for Marydom but will continue to do so.  I will keep fellow haunt enthusiasts up to date on my findings.

Case Still Pending

We may never really know the in-life identity of Resurrection Mary.  It may be that all of the above plus more yet unknown are different incarnations of Mary since the story has changed so many times over the years.  It may be ,as many skeptics speculate, that the witnesses themselves have created Mary out of a combination of hallucination or overactive imagination coupled with the ever popular "hitchhiking ghost" story to come up with who we regard so dearly as Resurrection Mary. 

Whatever the outcome, if you find yourself driving alone down Archer Avenue on a cold, dark, blustery Chicago night, keep an eye out for hitchhikers.  If you happen to pick up a young blonde one with a Polish accent, tell Mary I said, "cześć!"