Immaculate Conception Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Immaculate Conception Cemetery, out in Hidalgo County. Now, to understand this cemetery, you've got to go back further than McCook, further even than Hidalgo County. You've got to go back to the oldest Polish colony in America, a place called Panna Maria, Texas.

That's where the Silesians first put down roots on this continent. And it was their descendants, carrying that same pioneer spirit, who began arriving in McCook in 1926, coming as farmers and ranchers, working the land the way their people always had. They built a community out there.

And like any community worth its salt, they needed a church. In 1936, the Dallas Joint Stock Land Bank donated four acres to make that possible. Now, four acres is a gift, but a church is a project, and this one took time.

The Gothic-Revival style church wasn't dedicated until 1950. That building was worth the wait. Before the church was even dedicated, though, the community had already turned its attention to something just as necessary.

In 1949, Sylvia and August Skloss donated the land that would become the cemetery. The Skloss family weren't just generous neighbors. They were direct descendants of the Leopold Moczygemba family, the very family credited with beginning the move to America in the first place.

That's the kind of thread that runs straight through a people's history, from the old country to Panna Maria to McCook, and right into that donated ground. The first burial in the cemetery is that of Nancy Prukop, in 1953. And from that beginning, the cemetery grew to hold veterans of World War I, World War II, and the Korean War.

Generations of the same families that broke the soil in McCook. The marker calls this place a testament to the pioneer settlers of the McCook area. And when you consider what it took, descendants of Silesian immigrants, carrying a lineage that stretches back to the oldest Polish colony in America, building a church, donating land, burying their dead with care and continuity, well.

That word testament doesn't feel like an overstatement. It feels exactly right.

What the marker says

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CEMETERY DESCENDANTS OF SILESIANS THAT SETTLED THE OLDEST POLISH COLONY IN AMERICA, PANNA MARIA, TEXAS, BEGAN SETTLING McCOOK IN 1926 AS FARMERS AND RANCHERS. IN 1936, THE DALLAS JOINT STOCK LAND BANK DONATED FOUR ACRES TO ESTABLISH A CHURCH. THE GOTHIC-REVIVAL STYLE CHURCH WAS DEDICATED IN 1950. LAND FOR THE CEMETERY WAS DONATED IN 1949 BY SYLVIA AND AUGUST SKLOSS, DIRECT DESCENDANTS OF THE LEOPOLD MOCZYGEMBA FAMILY WHO BEGAN THE MOVE TO AMERICA. THE FIRST BURIAL IN THE CEMETERY IS THAT OF NANCY PRUKOP IN 1953. VETERANS FROM WORLD WAR I, WORLD WAR II AND THE KOREAN WAR ARE BURIED IN THE CEMETERY. THIS HISTORIC CEMETERY IS A TESTAMENT TO THE PIONEER SETTLERS OF THE McCOOK AREA. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY - 2010