John J. Kastner was a saloonkeeper in Chicago in the early 1900s. One can infer by what appears to be his somewhat early retirement between 1920 and 1930 that his livelihood may have been interrupted by Prohibition, though it seems he still did well for himself financially.
He was first married in 1889 to Marie Skvor with whom he had at least four children who survived infancy. Marie died in July of 1898 but just a few months later, in December 1898, John remarried to Emma Sladek with whom he had two children.
Marie is buried at Bohemian but not with her husband. As John passed away before Emma, we can likely credit her with this decision. It’s also possible, due to Marie’s young age at the time of her death (27), that she was buried with her parents as often happened in those sad circumstances.
The mausoleum the couple shares is quite small, large enough for three tiers, but the bottom berth is shared by their youngest son George and his wife Lucille.
John passed in 1940 at the age of 72. Emma outlived her husband by sixteen years, joining him in 1956 at the age of 80. Both George, who went on to be a successful hotelier, and his wife Lucille passed in 1986.
RIP Kastners
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