What was happening in the world at the time of Priscilla’s birth? The Irish Free State came into existence and months later, the Irish Civil War began, Warren G. Harding is president of the U.S., Egypt begins self-government as UK releases its protectorate, Joseph Stalin gains power in the Soviet Communist Party and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic comes into extstence, hyperinflation was happening in Germany, the Waste Land by T.S. Eliot is published, Benito Mussolini becomes prime minister of Italy and the Ottoman Empire is abolished, after ruling for 600 years.
Born 9 Jun 1922 in Detroit, Michigan to Walter Casimer Lasecki (26 yrs) (tata) and Helen Josephine Moraniec (25yrs.) (mama). Regarding her name: Mom was named Priscilla Helen Lasecki, but when she was going to be baptized (according to Sue P.) the priest would not baptize her as Priscilla, since it was not a saint name. So, she was actually baptized as Helen Priscilla. Since then, we have found that indeed, there is a St. Prisca. She was the second and last child born to Walter and Helen. Gladys, Pris’ older sis by two years, became very close to Pris over the years.
Pris, as her direct line maternal ancestors (i.e. her mother’s mother’s mother, etc.) belongs to Haplogroup H mtDNA. This is a very widespread European haplogroup.
At the time of her birth, the family lived at 929 E. Canfield in Detroit. It was across the street from St. Josaphat’s Church (which today is combined with Sweetest Heart of Mary Church — where Walter and Helen were married — and called Mother of Divine Mercy Parish).
In 2021, the Lasecki home was very close to I-75 and is a vacant lot. Guessing that when the freeway went in, the property values tanked.
The photo at right is of Helen with her daughters.
Photo at left is Pris beginning to stand, dated 11 August 1923.The other photo of Pris in that fluffy hat was dated dated 1 September 1923.
At some point the family moved because the 1930 US census lists them living at 4690 Bewick Avenue in they owned,worth $7000. They also owned a radio and everyone spoke English. Walter (35) was a trimmer (upholstery) in the auto factory, Helen (33), Gladys (9), Priscilla (7). Also living with them was Helen’s 26 yr. old brother, Alec Moraniec, who was a polisher in the car factory, currently unemployed. Unlike Walter, Alec was not a veteran.
They lived on Bewick Avenue for a time until they moved to 4487 Townsend Street on Detroit’s East Side, a very old Polish neighborhood. This 1 bathroom home has 1,466 square feet and was built in 1909. In 2011, the home was for sale with an assessed value of $5,644. The lot size is 6969. The East Side had been settled with a large influx of Polish immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century. Walter worked as an upholsterer in the burgeoning car industry. Helen was a stay-at-home Mom.
Photo at left is Pris, and Gladys on the front steps of their Bewick Avenue home..
The photo to the right is of Gladys, their gramma (babcia) Michalina Dych Lasecki, and Pris. We have very few photos of Michalena. If you have any, please share them. Dziękuję bardzo!
Life was pleasant for the young family. The two sisters didn’t want for much. As Mom always said, “We were fairly well-to-do.” She loved to play paper dolls with her sister and to visit her Uncle Alec’s farm on weekends. At Pris’s death, her cousin, Mary Louise Pokriefka Peters wrote that she remembered walking over to the house on Townsend (they lived with their Gramma and Grampa Pokriefka then) and on Pris’s vanity was nail polish and cologne set up so very pretty that Mary Lou couldn’t wait to grow up and have a similar set-up….which she did!
As children, the Lasecki girls often spent time with their Aunt Mary Moraniec Kuzckowski and Uncle Stanley (Kuczkowski)’s boys, Leo b.1918 and Joe b. 1916 in Hamtramck. Photo at left shows Joe with Pris, Leo with Gladys.
In 1927 Priscilla began school in kindergarten in Detroit Public School, Marxhausen, Rm 212. The tuition was $0.50 cents per month. Her teacher was M.Barber. Marxhausen is closed today. Marxhausen was located in Detroit’s eastside neighborhood of Conners Creek.
This was an exciting time in Detroit’s history. A burgeoning population, fueled largely by the expanding automotive industry.
By 1929, Priscilla attended St. Margaret Mary School (5075 Lemay St.) for 2nd and 3rd grades. These were run by the Sisters, S.S.J. These were the Sisters of Saint Joseph, an order originally founded in 1650 in LePuy, France. The nuns are still working in Detroit in 2022. Their mission states:” Responding to the unmet needs in our church and world, we serve in education, healthcare, pastoral and parish ministry, social work, spiritual care and faith development, and in other ministries that respond to spiritual, social and physical needs.” For the rest of her life, Priscilla maintained a deep reverance and often prayed to Saint Joseph. The school was built in 1920 at the edge of Old Detroit. There were many new homes being built and settled in the area as Detroit grew. I am drawing here from the blog, NAILHED, if you would like to learn more about Priscilla’s early neighborhood.
If you are interested in what has happened to this school, there is an amazing short video series, by a brave, Anton Daniels, –a must watch! Anton talks a little about the current neighborhood as well.
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Cousins Bobby and Jimmy Moraniec lived on a farm with Aunt Angeline (Lasecki Moraniec) while Uncle Alec lived during the week with Walter’s family and he worked at the factory. Pris and Gladys visited the farm quite a bit as a girl and always felt very close to those cousins. Helen was easy going, never arguing with Walter. Theirs was a very hospitable and welcoming home. Pris learned this lesson well. I rmember her advising me when a rebellious teen, that “you can catch more bees with honey than you can with vinegar.“
Photo at left of the cousins: Seated are Joe (b. 1916) and Leo (b.1918) Kuczkowski, Chester Moraniec b. 1918 (Lucy’s son), Robert (b. 1932) and Jimmy (b. 1934) — Alec and Angeline’s sons. Standing are Priscilla (1922), and Anita Breycha (b. 1923) Aunt Marie (Lasecki) and Uncle Frank Breycha daughter and Gladys (1920). Not sure of the order, or even if these are the correct cousins. If you can identify definitely, please let me know or when and where the photo was taken.
Aunt Sophie (Moraniec Pryzbylski) and Uncle Frank also lived for a time with Helen and Walter. Frank was very sick. Mom remembers that he was a nice man, though he drank quite a bit, too. He died at their house she thought. Frank served, as did our Walter in WW1. There are photos of he and Walter as Doughboys and at Chateau Thierry. They were gassed.
Mom would tell stories about how her Daddy would race homing pigeons, and if they weren’t fast enough, they would become dinner. There was a bedroom of their home that was converted to an aviary. Walter also raised canaries. Many years later, Walter’s granddaughter’s Marie and Carolyn had a canary pet in Ann Arbor. His great-grandkids, the Gradys also had a pet budgie. I guess birds are in our blood because many of the grandkids are avid birders today.
Pris always felt she had a very good life, an easy life. She said she never had to do chores and that her mom (Helen) never taught her how to cook, so when she married Dad she did not know how, but had to learn very quickly, and boy did she. However, her First Communion was during the Depression, so she had to wear black shoes instead of white, which they couldn’t afford. Her elder sis, Gladys, was able to wear white shoes because her Communion was before the Depression started.
When the girls were young, their parents took them regularly to a chiropracter. Very forward thinking! Priscilla never had back issues until the last year of her life.
The 1930 US census lists the family living at 4690 Bewick Avenue in Detroit’s District 803. The home is listed as worth $7,000. The family owns a radio. Walter (35) is an automobile trimmer, Helen (33), (Gladys (9) and Pris (7). Helen’s brother, Uncle “Alec” Anthony Moraniec (26) lived with them. He is a polisher at the car factory.
The photo at left is of Prissy and Anita as flower girls at Aunt Angeline and Uncle Alex’s wedding.
Grade Four (1932) she transferred to St. Anthony School, run by the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Her report cards always had straight A+ in penmanship, politeness, neatness etc. She would say she never really liked school though.
The family had moved, probably in 1932, to their Townsend street home. 
Photo is of Pris and their dog at the Townsend home. Gladys is looking out the upper window.
In 1936 Pris started high school at St. Anthony’s, located in Northeast Detroit, at Field Street and Frederick Street.
In 1969 several other catholic schools merged with St. Anthony to become East Catholic High. Unfortunately, St. Anthony’s, aka East Catholic, which began in 1918, closed in 2005, and was demolished in 2012.
Photo at right is of Pris, Helen and Gladys and puppies! Dated 6 June 1937.
The 1940 US census lists the family living now at 4487 Townsend in Detroit’s 17th Ward. Walter (46) is now earning $1440 as a trimmer at the auto factory.
She remained at St Anthony’s with her elder sister, Gladys, until graduating in 1940. Mom would always tell stories about what a goody two shoes she was in school. All the nuns loved her. Her seventh grade report said that Pris was “A very fine girl and excellent pupil.” She was in Rank I. Tuition was $0.65 cents per month. But by 8th grade, it was up to $1.00 per month. In 9th grade, Pris participated in Sodality, Crusade, Voice, and Athletics; she had As in all of her academic subjects. 11th Grade it became $2.00 per month with a $5.00 fee assessed. One of her favorite books was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. It doesn’t appear that she was sick very often, because she was almost never absent from school.
She carried the lead role in her Senior high school play, LENA RIVERS. Click the title for a You Tube version. That is Priscilla sitting on the far right.
Pris was 18 when she worked as a cashier at the Fine Arts Theater, 2952 Woodward Avenue and had what must have been a terrifying incident.
Priscilla graduated from St.Anthony’s High School in Detroit Graduated High School 9 June 1940.
After high school she worked as a secretary in Detroit, Michigan at Plant Protection since, as she said, “I never was very good at school. I never really liked it.” This is where she started to get into theatre and joined a community theatre group.
Photo below right of Priscilla, Helen, and Aunt Hedy 1941 Union Picnic
Photo at left of Union Picnic in 1941 – Pris up to bat
Pris said that she wanted to see the world and travel though. After war broke out, the government was offering scholarships for women to go into nursing, so Pris decided to take advantage and get a degree that she thought would open doors for her.
1942 Photo at left is Hudson Naval Ordnance. Pris is far left on third row.
Priscilla was always a sun worshipper. Oh how she loved nothing better than to lay quietly on the beach! Photo at left shows Priscilla in 1944 Augusta Ga with some servicemen.
The 1945 and 1947 Polk city Directories for Ann Arbor list Pris as a student living at 1200 E Ann Street, University of Michigan: before attending the School of Nursing at the University of Michigan. She wasn’t all work though as we see her bicycling in Rouge River Park, 1945.
She was able to travel to California during the summer of 1945. Here is a photo of Pris (left rear) with friends at Laguna Beach in July.
Bicycling River Rouge Park in 1945
1946 and 1947 Pris was a senior cadet at Winter General Hospital in Topeka, KS. This was the famous MennigerClinic. Pris is in the front row, center facing right. In the spring of 
1947 she was notified that she had passed her boards and was a licensed Registered Nurse. In 25 April 1947, Pris graduated University of Michigan Nursing School. Left is a photo of the Class of ’47 Picnic. That’s Pris in the right front corner. Below is Priscilla having fun, feeding the pigeons….perhaps thinking of her father’s racing pigeons.
