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On April 8, 1919, Hynek's wife of twenty years died. Anna
can be seen lying in her coffin, probably in the parlor of
the Dostal home located on Nebraska Avenue. Her death
certificate lists breast cancer as the cause of death. She was buried in S.S. Peter and Paul cemetery in St. Louis.The job of caring for the six other children fell on young Ludmila. Ludmila was my grandmother. She grew up amid the turmoil of the first world war. In several photographs, she can be seen wearing traditional Czech costumes that were owned by her mother. Hynek often was away on business, and the 20-year-old Ludmila was forced to carry the burden of raising the children. 
Later that year in December of 1919, Hynek and his brother
Vaclav, set out for the new Czechoslovakian Republic. The
trip was sponsored by the National Catholic War Council.
The men were ranked as captains of the United States Army,
and they wore their uniforms during the entire trip. The purpose
of the trip was to supply the war council with information
about the condition of the Catholic church and people in
war-torn European countries.Hynek's brother, Vaclav, came to America around 1899 at the age of 7. He joined Hynek and Joseph in Spillville. He received his elementary education in Spillville and his secondary training at St. Procopius Academy in Lisle, Illinois. He went on to earn his B.A. degree at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1914. He then attended St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland, and St. Paul's Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was ordained on June 12, 1917, by Archbishop John Ireland of St. Paul and sang his first solemn mass at Protivin, Iowa, the next day. 
While in Europe, Hynek delivered more than 100 lectures in
only four months. He also met with political leaders and
attended numerous conferences. The group primarily visited
Czechoslovakia, but also made stops in Austria, Italy and
France. While in Czechoslovakia, the Rev. Vaclav Dostal visited two
of his sisters who were serving in the Charity house of the
Holy Cross. Sister Emanuela and Sister Ignatius were both
teachers and talented musicians. Rev. Dostal wished for his
sisters to come to America and help in the education of the
Bohemian, Moravian and Slovakian children. The two sisters
were enthusiastic because it had been some time since they
had seen their mother and siblings in America. With some
persuasion, permission was granted by the General Mother
house in Ingehbohl. On April 20, 1920, the two sisters left Prague and
after four weeks arrived in America. They recovered for a
short time and began work in the Hessoun Orphanage in St. Louis. Neither
Sr. Emanuela nor Sr. Ignatius spoke English.Hynek stayed in Europe for another month and in May 1920, he was received in private audience for one hour by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XV. They consulted on religious and cultural affairs such as the relationship between Catholics and the Czechoslovakian government. The entire conversation was in Latin. Early the next year on January 31, 1921, Sr. Emanuela died of a brain inflammation. She was buried next to Anna in the S.S. Peter and Paul cemetery in St. Louis. In 1922, Hynek returned to Czechoslovakia and was among the commissioners who, at the request of Archbishop Stojan of Olomouc, journeyed to Poland to study the conditions among the Czech emigrants. He then travelled to Slovakia to lecture. Hynek returned to St. Louis in December 1922 and resumed his journalistic work. In 1923, he was sent to Moravia, as head of the Catholic Sokol delegation, who took part in the Catholic gymnastic congress in Brno. After the congress, Archbishop Stojan delegated him to do reconstruction work in Volyn, located in western Russia, where he lectured and arranged for the creation of Catholic missionaries. By 1926, his strenuous schedule had taken its toll on his health. He became seriously ill from an intestinal problem. After several temporary cures, he yielded to his friends' persuasions and made another trip to Czechoslovakia, where he underwent a successful operation. While he was recovering at the clinic in Brno, he received a special recognition from Rome for his work in literature, apologetics and science. He received an honorary doctor's degree of letters and was made a corresponding member of the Pontificia Accademia Tibernia. He also was decorated by Pope Pius XI with the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Cross. 
After some period of recovery, Hynek moved to Italy. He had
a conference with His Eminence Peter Cardinal Gasparri and
eight other Cardinals. He was present at the laying of the
corner-stone of the Czechoslovak Papal College in Rome in
May 1927. His travels then took him through Florence, Milan,
Venice and Prague before returning to America.A newspaper clipping, probably from a paper in Iowa, dated February 22, 1925, reports on Hynek's decoration by Pope Pius XI. Another newspaper report appeared in Chelsea, Iowa. In part the article reads... "Mr. Dostal is well known to all the Bohemian Catholics not only in this country, but also abroad. His great work for the Bohemian Catholics in this country is very extensive... He was among the first who through his periodicals, worked with all his enthusiasm for the freedom of Czechoslovakia. During the war, his newspaper readers gathered thousands of dollars for this cause. When the war was over, Mr. Dostal was sent with others to lecture on American Democracy. His reconstruction work there was very valuable." 
In 1929, Dr. Dostal returned with a group of pilgrims who
were traveling to Czechoslovakia for the 1000th anniversary
of the martyrdom of St. Wenceslaus. Dr. Dostal had begun a
collection of jewels that had been donated by the Bohemian
Catholic women in America for the purpose of making a golden
crown. The crown weighed 16 lbs. and was to adorn the skull
of St. Wenceslaus. During the ceremonies, the honor of
carrying the crown was given to Dr. Dostal. A picture of
the crown appeared in the September 1993 edition of
National Geographic.On April 15, 1930, Hynek Dostal penned a letter to the sisters in Choryne. "The sisters Emanuela, Paduana and Azela are dead. Sister Ignatia is in a sanatorium. Her body is not ill, but she is melancholic, does not speak and can do nothing. We are unable to change anything. God has permitted it." Sr. Ignatius went on to live many more years. She died June 15, 1952, in Merill, Wisconsin. In June 1928, Dr. Dostal received notification from Pope Pius XI that he had been made a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great. The Order of the Knighthood of St. Gregory the Great was instituted by Pope Gregory XVI on September 1, 1831. It is the highest honor that a layman in the Catholic church can attain. It represents a recognition by the Holy Father of special virtue and unusual labors for the Church of God and country. On February 5, 1933, Bishop Kucera of Lincoln, Nebraska, visited St. John Nepomuk to present Dr. Hynek Dostal with the Knighthood of St. Gregory from the Holy Father. 
A St. Louis Globe Democrat Article dated September 18,
1934, announced the Knight of St. George award being
presented to Hynek. During his lifetime Hynek Dostal received many awards
including the Knight of St. Gregory, Knight of St. George,
Commander of Fort St. Rufina, Doctorate in letters from the
University of Tiberia, the Pro Pontifice et Ecclesia and
Pro Fide et Ecclesia medals.The years following the war were busy for Hynek Dostal. He remarried, but there was little time for family life. Scenes with the children were rare. Many hard years were spent reconstructing the new Republic of Czechoslovakia. From his humble beginnings in Borsice, he had met many great leaders of his time, and his desire to serve his homeland had finally been realized. |