Ante Vidaković (Sošina) & Franjka Vrban

The one document in hand is the grave marker itself, and it already answers part of Robertina's question and complicates another part of it.

Robertina — this is what would move things forward

With that in mind, here's what's actually left, in the order it can genuinely help:

1. Finding Marko Vidaković. He's alive, he knew this family personally, and — as Josip and Jelka's son, raised in the same village — he's by far the likeliest person left to actually have or know of photos of houses 326 and 284. Robertina doesn't have an address for him and has asked whether he's findable on Facebook. This is worth David or Robertina searching directly (Marko Vidaković, likely emigrated with his family, wife named Giovanna, sister Katarina/"Cathy" Vidaković) rather than something to route through an institution.
2. Photos or memories of houses 326 and 284, or of the Vidaković/Vrban plot in the Sveti Rok cemetery itself — the two things Robertina asked for from the very first message on this page, and still the actual goal. Sanja's contact with the parish priest is the one channel already in motion for this.
3. Does "Miletić gaj" match what you were told about "Miletić grove"? The register names a real hamlet by that name, with houses 12, 24, 27, 29, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 44, 48, 50, 56, and 63 — does any of that match a house number your family mentioned? A one-line answer, no institution involved.

Resolved already: Jakov's and Marija's birth years, Luka and Marko Vrban's identities, and Manda's own place in the family — all covered in the sections below. No need to reply anywhere else — anything Robertina knows can go straight onto this page, or be passed along however's easiest.

The family, as Robertina named it

Robertina's own message to the village names the generation above Ante, and the two house numbers and two family names the request turns on:

"Dear citizens of Svetoroc, please if anyone knows anything about the family of Ante Vidaković Vidaković Sošina, his parents Jakov Vidaković Sošina and Mariju Miletić from Miletić grove from house number 326 and Vrban Franjko from Sveti Rok from house number 284, and if there are pictures of their houses and graves in the cemetery in Sveti Rok. Respectfully, their granddaughter, great-granddaughter Robertina Kozarić." — as posted, lightly re-punctuated for English readers

Robertina's update — vital dates, siblings, and the family's history

A further reply from Robertina, on the same Sveti Rok Facebook thread, answers several of the open questions above directly — and adds something this page didn't have before: the reason the family left Sveti Rok at all.

"Hvala Sanja tebi i tvojoj nećakinji. Bilo bi mi drago ako nađe grobove moga pradjeda Luke Vrbana i žene Mande Vrban, njihova sina Marka Vrbana ako je upisan negdje jer je odveden od kuće i ubijen. I ako može pitati svećenika da li mu može pokazati slike kuće br. 284 Jakova Vidakovića Šoše i Marije Miletić, te kuće pradjeda Luke Vrbana i Mande Vrban. Jakov Vidaković je rođen 25.7.1894, roditelji Ivan i Marija Vidaković. Marija Miletić rođena 22.12.1890, ne znam kad je umrla. Moj dida Ante Vidaković je rođen 25.7.1910, umro i sahranjen u Sl. Brodu 10.9.1991, a baka Franjka Vrban, udato Vidaković, rođena je 27.8.1913, umrla 5.5.2003. Sahranjeni oboje u Sl. Brodu. Te da li može kod svećenika pitati, ne trebam izvod, samo odgovor na upit kada su rođena i umrla braća dide Ante — Grga, Nikola, Jeka Vidaković ud. Dukić, živjela u Bizovcu, Ika Vidaković, Manda Vidaković ud. Milošević — te nakon brat Marko Vrban, Kata Vrban udato Modrić, živjela u Brdovcu gdje je i sahranjena, Marija Vrban ud. Sporer, živjela u selu Radovanje u Slavoniji. Puno puno hvala ako mi što nađe. To će biti uspomena i mojoj mami koja je bila svjedok tragedije i bijega preko Velebita." — Robertina Kozarić, reply on the Sveti Rok Facebook page (lightly reformatted; translation below)

Translation:

"Thank you, Sanja, to you and your niece. I would be glad if she could find the graves of my great-grandfather Luka Vrban and his wife Manda Vrban, and their son Marko Vrban, if he is recorded anywhere — he was taken from the house and killed. And if she could ask the priest whether he could show photos of house no. 284, of Jakov Vidaković Šoša and Marija Miletić, and of the house of great-grandfather Luka Vrban and Manda Vrban. Jakov Vidaković was born 25 July 1894, parents Ivan and Marija Vidaković. Marija Miletić was born 22 December 1890, I don't know when she died. My grandfather Ante Vidaković was born 25 July 1910, died and is buried in Slavonski Brod on 10 September 1991, and my grandmother Franjka Vrban, married Vidaković, was born 27 August 1913, died 5 May 2003. Both are buried in Slavonski Brod. And whether she could ask the priest — I don't need a certificate, just an answer — when the siblings of grandfather Ante were born and died: Grga, Nikola, Jeka Vidaković (married Dukić, lived in Bizovac), Ika Vidaković, Manda Vidaković (married Milošević); and then brother Marko Vrban, Kata Vrban (married Modrić, lived in and is buried in Brdovec), Marija Vrban (married Sporer, lived in the village of Radovanje in Slavonia). Thank you so much if she can find anything. It will be a keepsake for my mother too, who witnessed the tragedy and the flight across Velebit."

And separately, in reply to this page itself:

"Thank you very much. Is Marko Vidaković, son of the late Josip Vidaković, on Facebook? I met them many years ago — he was with his sister Katarina, his wife, my mother's cousin the late Josip Vidaković, and his wife Jelka, and Tomislav Merčep, for the feast of St. Roch 23 years ago. I have a lot to translate into Croatian to read. About the Vidaković Šoša family — my great-grandfather Jakov Vidaković Šoša, who died tragically, killed on his own doorstep, father of my grandfather Ante, who therefore left with his family across Velebit to Slavonski Brod. That is why we are researching: great-grandfather Jakov Vidaković, his wife Marija Miletić, great-grandfather Luka, his wife Manda Vrban née Vrban, and other members of the Vidaković and Vrban families." — Robertina Kozarić, direct reply about this page

What this adds, confirmed directly by the family rather than inferred from a register:

Robertina's reply — her own place in this family, and a living relative

A further message from Robertina, written directly in English, adds where she herself fits into this tree, names a living relative who might actually have photos of the two houses, and is plain about what she does and doesn't want going forward.

"Hello David, Thank you for your help and effort in searching for my family Vidakovic Sosa and Vrban from Sveti Rok. Marko Vidakovic is the son of late Josip Vidakovic and Jelka who are buried in Sv. Rok cemetery. Josip (born July 5, 1938 Sveti Rok - died Nov 21, 2025 Hamilton) was a cousin of my mother Manda Vidakovic born 17.4.1941 in Sveti Rok. I met them 23 years ago for St. Rok feast with Marko, his sister Katarina (Cathy), his wife Giovanna, late Josip and Jelka, and Tomislav Mercep. I checked your page, there is not much about my Vidakovic Sosa house 326 and Vrban house 284. I cannot write to Marko because I don't have his address - is he on Facebook? I already wrote to all parishes and Gospic-Senj library, but I will not anymore. I am 100% disabled with tumor prosthesis in right thigh, on disability pension from Sisak. I don't need official extracts and will not pay for them - I only want info and memory - pictures of houses Vidakovic Sosa 326 and Vrban 284. I don't want to argue with anyone. I wrote honestly and got no answer. It is not nice to be treated like that. I wanted to have memory of my ancestors - Jakov Vidakovic Sosa (1894) who was tragically killed on his doorstep, father of my grandpa Ante 1910-1991 who left across Velebit to Slavonski Brod, his wife Franjka Vrban, my mother Manda Vidakovic born 17.04.1941 in Sv. Rok. She lives with me and my father in Sisak. Thank you very much. Respectfully, Robertina Kozaric from Sisak - Croatia. Kuća 326 Vidaković Sosin & Kuća 284 Vrban - Sveti Rok - Lika - Velebit" — Robertina Kozarić, lightly re-punctuated for readability; nothing reworded

Two things fall out of this directly:

Found: Josip's obituary — and a real way to reach Marko

Robertina followed up asking specifically for help contacting Marko. Rather than searching for a private Facebook profile, his father's public obituary (Markey-Dermody Funeral Home, Hamilton, Ontario) turned out to be the better find — it's public, recent, names the family precisely, and has a built-in way to leave a message the family will actually see.

"We announce the death of Josip Vidakovic, who passed away peacefully on Friday, November 21, 2025, at Hamilton General Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, at the age of 87 years.

Josip was a beloved husband for over 57 years, to his late wife Jelka, who passed away in 2024. He was a cherished Father and survived by his daughter Cathy, son Marko, daughter-in-law Giovanna and loving Grandfather to Daniella and Lily.

Josip was born on July 5, 1938 in Sveti Rok, Lika, Croatia to his late parents Franjo and Marija. He was a loving brother to his late siblings Nikola, Marko, Kajca and Petar. Josip will be greatly missed by his brother-in-law Vlado and all his nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends in Canada, Australia, United States, Germany, Colombia and Croatia.

Josip moved to Australia in his mid-20s, where he met and married his late wife Jelka. Shortly after his daughter Cathy was born, he immigrated with his family to Canada in 1970. After settling into Hamilton Ontario, he became a certified welder and worked at National Steel Car until his retirement. He loved both his adopted and native homes while remaining an active supporter within the Croatian community, to bring independence, democracy and peace to his native Croatia.

A very special thank you to the nurses and doctors at Hamilton General Hospital, 8-South, Acute Medicine.

Cremation has taken place. Prior to cremation, a small private Roman Catholic service was held at Markey-Dermody Funeral Home, 1774 King Street East, Hamilton. Josip will be travelling back to Sveti Rok, Croatia to be buried with his beloved wife Jelka." — Josip Vidaković's obituary, Markey-Dermody Funeral Home / Dignity Memorial, quoted in full

A resource Robertina found herself: Croatia-in-English.com

Robertina sent through croatia-in-english.com/gen, a long-running English-language hub for Croatian genealogy research, and asked for a Croatian summary of it.

Sažetak na hrvatskom, za Robertinu:

Pogledali smo stranicu koju si poslala. To je stara, ali ozbiljna stranica na engleskom o hrvatskoj genealogiji — objašnjava kako se čitaju matične knjige, kako se piše župama, itd. Većina toga je upravo ono što si već radila i ne želiš više raditi.

Jedna stvar je drugačija: stranica navodi profesionalnu istraživačicu Sanju Frigan-Ciuhu iz Zagreba (sanja@rodoslovlje.net), koja je specijalizirana za Hrvatski državni arhiv u Zagrebu — tamo se nalaze mikrofilmovi matičnih knjiga za cijelu Hrvatsku, uključujući i one koje nismo mogli naći online. Ona bi to mogla potražiti umjesto tebe, ali je to plaćena usluga, pa navodimo samo kao mogućnost, ne kao nešto što moraš učiniti.

Njihov stari "registar prezimena" više ne postoji — sada samo preporučuju da se objavi na hrvatskim genealoškim forumima, što si zapravo već napravila na Facebook stranici Svetog Roka.

Two follow-up checks prompted by Robertina's account

Two things in Robertina's message were worth checking against outside sources rather than taking at face value: whether a birth register (as opposed to the marriage registers already read) exists anywhere online, and whether Jakov's and Marko's deaths are independently documented. Both were checked directly.

The Slavonski Brod grave, confirmed directly — and a live, tended photo

Everything so far has focused on Sveti Rok, where the family came from. But Ante and Franjka lived out their lives and are buried in Slavonski Brod — a modern city with its own online cemetery records, which turned out to be exactly the kind of source the Lika research kept running into a wall on. Slavonski Brod's municipal utility runs a public cemetery lookup (e-Groblje Slavonski Brod), and it has both of them.

Trying the same trick in Bizovac and Radovanje — a clean negative result

Slavonski Brod's e-Groblje worked because it's a city with a well-resourced municipal utility company behind it. The same approach was tried for Jeka's town (Bizovac) and Marija's (Radovanje, in the Oriovac municipality) — and came back empty, for a specific, explainable reason rather than a dead end.

Checking whether the siblings' marriages are hiding in the Lika registers after all

A fair question: the four marriage registers were read cover-to-cover looking for "Vidaković" and "Vrban," but Robertina's sibling names — Jeka, Kata, Manda — only came to light afterwards, married into Dukić, Modrić, and Milošević. Could one of those marriages be sitting in Sveti Rok or Lovinac's own register, filed under a groom's surname nobody was watching for at the time?

Two checks, both quick, neither requiring a re-read of the register images themselves:

The spine — what's confirmed, what's candidate

Kept up to date as research continues. Solid, filled boxes are confirmed — from the grave card or Robertina's own message. Dashed boxes are candidates found in Sveti Rok's own records: same surnames, same village, plausible generation, but not yet linked to this family by a document that names the connection.

What the parish-register lead actually offers

A reply to Robertina's post pointed at the Sveti Rok marriage registers and an image of the Zagreb archive's holdings:

"Robertina Kozarić, pronašla sam na internetu matične knjige vjenčanih za Sveti Rok. Nažalost, snimke nakon 1930. godine su mutne i loše skenirane. Crkvene matične knjige vjerojatno se vode pod Lovincem, a mogu se pronaći i u arhivu u Zagrebu." — "I found the marriage registers for Sveti Rok online. Unfortunately, the scans after 1930 are blurry and poorly digitised. The church registers are probably kept under Lovinac, and can also be found in the archive in Zagreb."

Two concrete facts sit inside that reply, and they are the actual next steps for anyone continuing this from Sveti Rok or Zagreb:

Family records found in Sveti Rok — same surnames, not yet confirmed as this family

Sveti Rok Cemetery is real and documented (296 memorials on Find a Grave), and it does hold Vidaković and Vrban burials — distinct from the Slavonski Brod grave above. None of the people below has been confirmed as Ante, Franjka, Jakov, or Marija specifically, but they are the same surnames, in the same village, in the right generations, and every one is kept here in case a name, house number, or date connects on closer review.

Vrban — house 284 cluster, the exact house number Robertina gave, and now confirmed as Franjka's own family (see "Robertina's update" above):

Vrban — house 282 cluster, next door to 284:

Vrban — earlier, house 191:

Miletić — read directly from the marriage register, not Find a Grave. Robertina said Ante's mother, Marija Miletić, was "from Miletić grove." That place is real: the register itself names it, in Croatian, as "Miletić gaj" — exactly "Miletić grove" — with its own house numbers, separate from the main Sveti Rok numbering. This is the strongest single confirmation found so far that Robertina's family story matches the documentary record, even though the exact marriage of Jakov Vidaković and this Marija Miletić hasn't turned up yet.

Vidaković — a separate household, one generation above where Jakov Vidaković would sit:

Where to look next

• The Find a Grave transcriptions above — the contributor (listed as "BN" / "MC - 1") appears to be working directly from the Sv Rok parish birth, marriage, and death books held at the civil registry office in Gračac (Kneza Branimira 1, 23440 Gračac, Croatia), which is more complete and far more legible than the archive.org scan. Contacting that office directly, or the Find a Grave contributor, is likely the fastest route to the actual Ante × Franjka marriage entry and to Jakov × Marija's.
• archive.org — two registers, not one: "Sveti Rok marriages 1878–1940" and the separate "Lovinac marriages 1878–1940", which also includes Sveti Rok households. See the coverage log just below for exactly which pages have been read in each, with a link to every page cited; most of both registers still hasn't been. OCR text search is useless on either — the handwriting doesn't transcribe — so it has to be read page by page.
• Hrvatski državni arhiv (Zagreb) — holds microfilmed church and civil registers for this area, searchable in part through the ARHiNET portal; a written enquiry naming Sveti Rok, houses 326, 282, and 284, and the approximate decades would let an archivist point to the right signature/volume.
• The Lovinac parish office, which holds the registers this parish keeps in current use.
• Locally, in Sveti Rok itself — someone who knows the village can say directly whether house 326, 282, and 284 still stand or are remembered, and can confirm whether Luka and Marko Vrban connect to Franjo.
• Acta Croatica — an independent Croatian genealogy site that confirms Vidaković as a real, if uncommon, historical Sveti Rok surname, and lists 78 mentions of the surname across 9 sources dating to 1749. The individual entries sit behind a free account; this session didn't create one, but it's a live lead for anyone willing to register and dig through the per-person detail pages.
• Državni arhiv u Zadru (Zadar State Archive) — ruled out for this parish cluster. A later session got past the earlier HTTP 403 block (it only affected automated browsing; an ordinary browser loads the site fine) and checked directly. The archive's own analytical inventory of its civil-registry collection (HR-DAZD-378, ~2,400 books) states its scope explicitly: coastal Dalmatia "from Rab in the north to the islands of Hvar and Vis in the south." Sveti Rok, Lovinac, Gračac, Ričice, Donji Lapac, and Gospić are all inland, in Lika — outside that scope — and a systematic check of the inventory's full parish list (all ~340 place headings) confirmed none of them appear anywhere in it. The "Lovinac christening register" mentioned in an earlier version of this page was a false lead; this archive simply doesn't hold Lika material. Not worth searching again.
• Državni arhiv u Gospiću — confirmed to hold the right material; now the strongest remaining lead. Its own site states its jurisdiction explicitly: Lika- Senj County (except the towns of Senj and Novalja), plus Gračac municipality and Srb from Zadar County — exactly our parish cluster. Its published holdings list (Fundus) includes, under collection HR-DAGS-109, "Zbirka matičnih knjiga" (Collection of Civil Registry Books), a span of 1793–1998 — well past 1940, the point where every archive.org scan on this page stops. There is no online browsing (unlike Zadar's dazd.hr): access is by written request or in person. Contact: info@arhiv-gospic.hr, +385 53 560 440, Kanižka 17, 53000 Gospić, Croatia — arhiv-gospic.hr. A written enquiry naming Sveti Rok parish, house numbers 326/282/284, and the approximate decades (1905–1910 for Ante × Franjka; earlier for Jakov × Marija) is the most promising single next step on this whole page.
• Two more sibling registers, now fully read: Gračac marriages and Ričice marriages, both read cover to cover this session (see the coverage log below). Neither contains the Ante × Franjka or Jakov × Marija marriage, and neither has a Vrban entry at all — but Ričice turned up three genuine Miletić marriages tied to Sveti Rok households, reinforcing that the "Miletić grove" detail points to a real, locally prominent family. With Sveti Rok's own register, Lovinac, Gračac, and Ričice all now checked without finding the target marriages, the civil registry office in Gračac (see above) and the Zadar state archive (below) are the strongest remaining leads.
• Stare hrvatske novine (dnc.nsk.hr) — checked; one genuine find, no direct hit on either family. This is the National and University Library's full-text search portal for digitised historical Croatian newspapers (despite one description elsewhere saying it stops at 1900, results here actually ran through 1940). Searching "Sveti Rok" returned 16 hits, almost all false positives — the phrase is also the Croatian name of Saint Roch, so it turns up inside an unrelated 1920 translation of a Giovanni Verga short story and a 1937 Lika dialect humour sketch. One hit was genuinely useful: a serialised 1935 Lička sloga article listing officers of the historic Lika Grenzregiment (1746–1861) by home village. Under Sveti Rok specifically, it names Lieutenant Marko Miletić (died 1849) and First Lieutenant Joso Miletić (died 1813) — an independent primary source tying the Miletić surname to Sveti Rok village itself, decades before Jakov Vidaković × Marija Miletić's generation, and consistent with the "Miletić gaj/njiva/Njivić" locale names found in the marriage registers above. Searching "Vidakovic" separately returned 7 hits, all confirmed false positives on inspection — a Vienna trading company ad ("F. Vidakovic & Comp."), a 19th-century Serbian novelist of the same surname, and a Trieste lawyer/ politician's obituary — none connected to this family. Worth a repeat search if the site adds more titles or years, but not a source that will resolve Ante × Franjka or Jakov × Marija on its own.

Draft enquiry — Državni arhiv u Gospiću

A ready-to-send starting point for the written enquiry recommended above — now updated with the exact dates and siblings Robertina confirmed directly (see "Robertina's update" above), which makes this a much more specific request than the first draft. Fill in a name and contact address and send it to info@arhiv-gospic.hr. Written in Croatian, since that's what archive staff will act on fastest, with an English translation underneath for reference.

Subject: Upit o matičnim knjigama — župa Sveti Rok (obitelji Vidaković i Vrban)

Poštovani,

Bavim se obiteljskom poviješću i tražim podatke iz matičnih knjiga župe Sveti Rok. Prema Vašem popisu gradiva (Fundus), zbirka HR-DAGS-109 "Zbirka matičnih knjiga" obuhvaća razdoblje 1793.–1998., pa se nadam da biste mi mogli pomoći ili uputiti me na pravi način postupka.

Tražim sljedeće zapise:

1. Rodni list Jakova Vidakovića (rođen 25.7.1894., kuća br. 326, Sveti Rok, nadimak "Šoša"), roditelji Ivan i Marija Vidaković, te rodni list Marije Miletić (rođena 22.12.1890., iz zaseoka "Miletić gaj"), i njihovo vjenčanje, vjerojatno oko 1908.–1910.
2. Vjenčanje Ante Vidakovića (rođen 25.7.1910., kuća br. 326) i Franjke Vrban (rođena 27.8.1913., kuća br. 284), vjerojatno kasnih 1920-ih ili ranih 1930-ih.
3. Rodne i/ili vjenčane listove, ako postoje, za braću i sestre Ante Vidakovića — Grgu, Nikolu, Iku, Jeku (udato Dukić) i Mandu (udato Milošević) Vidaković — te za brata i sestre Franjke Vrban — Marka, Katu (udato Modrić) i Mariju (udato Sporer) Vrban.
4. Rodne listove Luke Vrbana i njegove supruge Mande Vrban (kuća br. 284), roditelja gore navedene Franjke.

Bila bih / bio bih zahvalna/zahvalan za informaciju o tome:
— postoje li ovi zapisi u Vašem arhivu,
— koji su uvjeti i trošak pristupa/preslika (poštom, e-mailom ili osobnim dolaskom),
— te koliko bi otprilike trajao odgovor na ovakav upit.

Unaprijed zahvaljujem na pomoći.

S poštovanjem,
[Vaše ime]
[Vaš e-mail / adresa] Draft — fill in name and contact details before sending

English translation, for reference:

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am researching family history and am looking for records from the civil registry of Sveti Rok parish. According to your holdings list (Fundus), collection HR-DAGS-109 "Collection of Civil Registry Books" spans 1793–1998, so I hope you may be able to help or direct me to the right procedure.

I am looking for the following records:

1. The birth record of Jakov Vidaković (born 25 Jul 1894, house no. 326, Sveti Rok, nickname "Šoša"), parents Ivan and Marija Vidaković, and the birth record of Marija Miletić (born 22 Dec 1890, from the "Miletić gaj" hamlet), plus their marriage, likely around 1908–1910.
2. The marriage of Ante Vidaković (born 25 Jul 1910, house no. 326) and Franjka Vrban (born 27 Aug 1913, house no. 284), likely in the late 1920s or early 1930s.
3. Birth and/or marriage records, if they exist, for Ante Vidaković's siblings — Grga, Nikola, Ika, Jeka (married Dukić), and Manda (married Milošević) Vidaković — and for Franjka Vrban's brother and sisters — Marko, Kata (married Modrić), and Marija (married Sporer) Vrban.
4. Birth records for Luka Vrban and his wife Manda Vrban (house no. 284), the parents of the Franjka named above.

I would be grateful for information on:
— whether these records exist in your archive,
— the conditions and cost of access/copies (by post, email, or in person),
— and roughly how long a response to such an enquiry typically takes.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Kind regards,
[Your name]
[Your email/address]

Four more drafted enquiries — kept for reference, not for Robertina

Four more contacts, drafted the same way as the Gospić one above: who to write to, what to ask for, and why each one matters. All four are modern civil offices, not historical archives, so a phone call often works as well as an email — the draft text below can be read out loud or pasted in either way.

1. Ante's and Franjka's death certificates — the fastest way to confirm Jakov and Marija's names from an official record

Croatian death certificates name the deceased's parents. A certified copy of Ante's would very likely give Jakov Vidaković and Marija Miletić's names directly from a 1991 civil record — independent of any parish register, and possibly resolving the 16-year age-gap question flagged earlier.

Poštovani,

Tražim izvatke iz matice umrlih za dvije osobe, pokopane na Gradskom groblju u Slavonskom Brodu (Starokatoličko, grobno mjesto P:8 – R:07 – G:01):

1. Antun (Ante) Vidaković, umro 10.9.1991.
2. Franjka Vidaković, rođ. Vrban, umrla 5.5.2003.

Bavim se obiteljskom poviješću i posebno bih zamolila/zamolio da izvadak, ako je moguće, sadrži i podatke o roditeljima pokojnika.

Molim uputu o postupku, troškovima i mogućnosti dostave poštom ili e-mailom.

Unaprijed hvala,
[Vaše ime i kontakt] Draft — fill in name and contact details before sending

2. Who tends the grave — a possible living relative

Someone photographed and visited this grave with fresh flowers as recently as October 2022. Whoever holds the burial rights (grobno mjesto) is very likely a contactable relative.

Poštovani,

Bavim se obiteljskom poviješću. Zanima me tko je trenutni nositelj prava korištenja grobnog mjesta P:8 – R:07 – G:01 na Gradskom groblju (Starokatoličko), gdje su pokopani moj djed Antun Vidaković (um. 1991.) i baka Franjka Vidaković (um. 2003.). Bila bih / bio bih zahvalna/zahvalan na bilo kojoj informaciji koja bi mi pomogla stupiti u kontakt s obitelji koja se brine o grobu.

Unaprijed hvala,
[Vaše ime i kontakt] Draft — fill in name and contact details before sending

3. Marija Vrban (married Sporer) — Radovanje, Općina Oriovac

Radovanje's own civil registry office, not the cemetery utility company — the right office for birth, marriage, and death records.

Poštovani,

Bavim se obiteljskom poviješću i tražim podatke o Mariji Vrban, udatoj Sporer, sestri Franjke Vidaković rođ. Vrban (rođene u Svetom Roku 1913.), koja je, prema obiteljskim podacima, živjela u Radovanju. Zanima me postoji li zapis o njezinu vjenčanju, smrti, ili mjestu pokopa u Vašim maticama.

Molim uputu o postupku i mogućem trošku.

Unaprijed hvala,
[Vaše ime i kontakt] Draft — fill in name and contact details before sending

4. Jeka Vidaković (married Dukić) — Bizovac

Bizovac's own civil records are kept at the Valpovo office of the Osječko-baranjska county administration, not by the municipality itself.

Poštovani,

Bavim se obiteljskom poviješću i tražim podatke o Jeki (Jeleni) Vidaković, udatoj Dukić, sestri Ante Vidakovića (iz Svetog Roka, obiteljski nadimak "Sošina"), koja je, prema obiteljskim podacima, živjela u Bizovcu. Zanima me postoji li zapis o njezinu vjenčanju, smrti, ili mjestu pokopa u Vašim maticama, odnosno kojem matičnom uredu pripada Bizovac.

Molim uputu o postupku i mogućem trošku.

Unaprijed hvala,
[Vaše ime i kontakt] Draft — fill in name and contact details before sending

Archive.org coverage log

The register runs 270 pages, 1878–1940, roughly 4–5 pages per year. This is the running record of what's been read by eye, kept precise so no future session re-covers the same ground by accident. The Sveti Rok book itself is now read completely, cover to cover — see the "complete" summary row below.

Sveti Rok book (sveti-rok-marriages-1878-1940):

Lovinac book (lovinac-marriages-1878-1940) — a separate register, 265 pages, same 1878–1940 span, discovered this session. Sveti Rok households appear in it too (e.g. an "Ana Nogan, Sv Rok" entry, 1905). Originally sampled at intervals (rows below); now read completely, page by page, the same way Gračac and Ričice were — and, like both of those, it does not contain the Ante × Franjka or Jakov × Marija marriage.

Gračac and Ričice registers — a full, page-by-page read

At Robertina's request, these two sibling registers were read completely rather than sampled — every name-bearing page, not spot checks. Both are now finished in full: Gračac (225 pages) and Ričice (354 pages). Neither turned up the Ante × Franjka or Jakov × Marija marriages, but Ričice added three genuine Miletić marriages tied to Sveti Rok households.

Gračac book (gracac-marriages-1878-1940, 225 pages, 1878–1940). Format note: unlike the Sveti Rok and Lovinac scans, each archive.org page here is one physical page, not a two-page spread — names and parents sit on the even-numbered pages, witnesses on the odd ones, so this read focuses on the even pages.

Ričice book (ricice-marriages-1878-1940, 354 pages, 1878–1940). Same format as Gračac — odd pages hold names here.

What the names themselves mean

Not genealogy, just background — where these names come from, and how common they are.

Vidaković is a South Slavic patronymic — "son of Vidak," a pet form of Vidoje or Vida, from the old Slavic root vid, "to see" or "to know." About 3,300 people carry it in Croatia today, mostly from the Senj area — the same county Sveti Rok sits in. Worth noting: one of the surname's largest modern concentrations is Slavonski Brod (120 people) — the same city the grave card names for Ante and Franjka's actual grave, which fits a family that moved there and simply carried the name with them. Croatian onomastics scholarship (Petar Šimunović) traces the surname's earliest documented appearance to the 13th century, in Kotlenice near Dugopolje, inland from Split — but that's the name's earliest known root anywhere, not a claim about this specific family. Patronymics like "son of Vidak" arose independently in different villages, and the name has several other, clearly unrelated branches on record (a noble line from the Bunjevac migration into Bačka, a separate one from Montenegro's Nikšić clan) — sharing a surname proves nothing on its own without a document connecting the generations. A handful of notable Vidakovićs, none known to connect to this family: Milovan Vidaković (1780–1841), a prominent early Serbian novelist; and Albe Vidaković (1914–1964), a Croatian composer, Catholic priest, and musicologist.

"Sošina" — the by-name attached to Ante's branch — fits a well-documented Lika naming pattern rather than being unique to this family: house or family nicknames there were commonly formed by adding the possessive suffix -in/-ina to an ancestor's personal name or nickname (so "Sošina" would read as "belonging to Šoso/Sošo's household"). These nicknames were never formally registered — they lived in speech, not in parish books — which is itself part of why they're hard to trace on paper.

Vrban comes from vrba, "willow." About 1,300 people carry it in Croatia today, historically concentrated around Pag, Primorje, Lika, and western Herzegovina — squarely the right region. First documented in Croatian parish records in 1691. One flag worth raising directly, since a search will surface it: there is a historical Ante Vrban (1908–1948) on Wikipedia — a Ustaše officer executed for war crimes after WWII. He is not connected to this family in any way found so far — different generation, different branch of a fairly common surname pairing, and nothing here places him in Sveti Rok. Named here only so it doesn't turn up as a nasty surprise on a later search.

Miletić — the surname behind "Miletić gaj" — is a patronymic from Mile or Mileta, itself a pet form of names like Milan or Milenko, built on the Slavic root mio/mil, "dear" or "beloved." Literally, then, "Miletić gaj" reads as something like "the beloved ones' grove."

The given names, for completeness: Ante is the Croatian form of Anthony (Latin Antonius); Franjka is the feminine of Franjo, Croatian for Francis (from Franciscus, "the Frenchman," ultimately "free" — and it recurs in this same family cluster: Tomo Vidaković's mother-in-law was a Franjica Budak, the same root name again); Jakov is Jacob/James (Hebrew, traditionally "supplanter" or "may God protect"); and Marija is Mary (Hebrew Miriam, meaning debated, often given as "beloved" or "wished-for child").

What this page is, and is not

This is a starting point built from two sources: the memorial card supplied by the family, and the leads already offered in reply to Robertina's post in the village group. It states plainly what is confirmed (the couple's names, dates, house numbers, and the Slavonski Brod grave reference), keeps the parents' names exactly as Robertina gave them, and does not claim to have read any parish register itself. If new information comes in — a marriage date, a photograph of house 326 or 284, or confirmation of a grave in Sveti Rok — this page can be updated to hold it.