Frances Jakabcin

Frances Jakabcin
Jakabcin, from a 1930 publication
Born
Frances Barnak

November 2, 1875
Poproč, Slovakia
DiedJune 19, 1933 (age 57)
Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Other namesFranciska Sepesi, Frances Sepsie, Franciska Jakabcin, Frances Jacobcin
OccupationsCommunity leader, insurance executive

Frances C. Barnak Jakabcin (November 2, 1875 – June 19, 1933) was an American community leader and insurance executive. She was president of the First Catholic Ladies Slovak Union (FCLSU), a fraternal benefit society.[1]

Early life and education

Jakabcin was born in Poproč, Košice-okolie District, Slovakia, the daughter of Franciscus Barnak and Catherina Jaszany Barnak. She emigrated to Pennsylvania as a child.[2]

Career

Jakabcin was president of the Women's Slavonic Union of the United States and Canada,[3] and later of the First Catholic Ladies Slovak Union, a fraternal benefit society[4][5][6] from 1911[7] until her death in 1933.[8][9] She succeeded Anna Hurban as president, and was succeeded by Helen Kocan.[10]

The FCLSU provided life insurance to its members, supported an orphanage, aided the families of striking miners, and raised scholarship funds, in conjunction with the First Catholic Slovak Union. Under Jakabcin's presidency, the FCLSU had over 50,000 members,[11] and established its headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio.[12][13] They also raised funds to build a girls' school and a widows' residence.[14][15][16] She promoted Americanization, but urged Slovak immigrant parents "against giving their offspring too much freedom in the American way".[17]

Jakabcin also served on the executive committee of the National Fraternal Congress of America.[18][19] She was credited with pioneering the "juvenile movement among the fraternal benefit societies", when she became the FCLSU's Junior Order Secretary and more than doubled the young membership of the society.[20]

Personal life and legacy

Barnak married twice. Her first husband was John Sepesi; they married in 1890, and lived in Scranton and Dunmore, Pennsylvania.[11][21] Sepesi (or Sepsie, or Sepse) died in 1906, a few days before their fifth child was born. She married her second husband, John Joseph Jakabcin, in 1914, and had two more sons. Her second husband died in 1931,[22] and she died in 1933, at the age of 57, after falling out of a third-story window at her home in Reading.[21][23] In 1934, her daughter Frances Sepse was convicted of killing a doctor, Paul R. Hess;[24][25][26]

The FCLSU, now known as the First Catholic Ladies Slovak Association, remains in operation, and celebrated its 100th year in 1992. Its district in eastern Pennsylvania was named for Jakabcin in 1941.[27][28]

References

  1. ↑ "Mrs. Frances Jakabcin to Lead Convention of Slovak Ladies' Union". Reading Times. 1928-09-01. p. 8. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ 1900, 1910, 1920 United States censuses, via Ancestry.
  3. ↑ "Too Young for Marriage Says Girl, 17, in Hiding". Reading Times. 1920-01-15. p. 10. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "500 Delegates of the First Slovak Ladies' Union Will Open Conclave Here Sept. 24". The Evening News. 1928-08-31. p. 8. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Slovaks to Pick Officers Today". The Tribune. 1926-09-24. p. 3. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Slovak Ladies are Addressed by Michael J. Bosak". The Times-Tribune. 1925-09-24. p. 23. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Mrs. Frances Sepsie Honored". The Times-Tribune. 1911-06-20. p. 4. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Slovak Union Supreme Officers Meet Here" The Catholic Universe Bulletin (January 4, 1929): 5; via ATLA: The Catholic News Archive.
  9. ↑ Kulp, Margaret Becker (1928-09-25). "News of Women's Clubs: 300 Delegates Attend Slovak Union Sessions". The Patriot-News. p. 10. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "History of FCSLA Life: 1892 to Present". FCSLA Life. Retrieved 2026-07-04.
  11. 1 2 "Proposed Merger Again Discussed by Slovak Boards". The Times-Tribune. 1929-01-26. p. 3. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "First Catholic Ladies Slovak Union Dedicates New Home Office at Shaker Heights, Cleveland" The Fraternal Monitor 41(1)(August 1930): 10.
  13. ↑ "Slovak Union Conducts Drive". The Cleveland Press. 1927-11-29. p. 15. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Academy for Girls Will be Built in Danville". The Danville News. 1927-12-13. p. 1. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Slovaks to Map Out Plan for College Drive; $1,000,000 Structure Will be Built in Northeastern Penna". Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, the Evening News. 1927-07-25. p. 3. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Academy for Girls Planned at Danville". Shamokin News-Dispatch. 1927-12-13. p. 1. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Mrs. Jakabcin Highly Lauded; Ladies' Slovak Union Leader Urges Curfew Law at Fraternal Congress". The Cleveland Press. 1927-09-02. p. 6. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "N.F.C. of A. Officials and Society Officers Present at International Juvenile Gathering" The Fraternal Monitor 40(1)(August 1929): 29.
  19. ↑ "Four Congress Executives Snapped Between Sessions" The Fraternal Monitor 40(2)(September 1929): 35.
  20. ↑ "Junior Order, First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union, Pioneer Juvenile Department, Observes Silver Anniversary" The Fraternal Monitor 41(5)(December 1930): 13.
  21. 1 2 "Mrs. Jakabcin, Slovak Leader, Death's Victim". Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, the Evening News. 1933-06-20. p. 7. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ "Death of John J. Jakabcin". The Fraternal Monitor. 41 (7): 25. February 1931.
  23. ↑ "Dr. Hess Killed by One Bullet". Reading Times. 1934-01-10. p. 2. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "Estate of Mother of Sepse Sued". Reading Times. 1934-06-20. p. 6. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ "Stenographer Found Guilty; Pleaded Insanity in Killing of Physician". The Miami Herald. 1934-03-18. p. 1. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ↑ "Frances Sepse Dies in Insane Hospital; Convicted Killer of Reading Doctor Had Sought Chair". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1938-04-26. p. 30. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ↑ "Eastern PA District #4". FCSLA Life. Retrieved 2026-07-04.
  28. ↑ "Catholic Slovak Ladies Union Meets Here". The Morning Call. 1945-04-30. p. 5. Retrieved 2026-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
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