Ivan Skrnich, who was known as “John”, immigrated to the United States from Milna, on the Island of Brac, in the Austrian/Hungarian Empire. He left the island at the age of nineteen arriving at Ellis Island aboard the steamship “Hudson” in 1907. Arriving with no money, John went to work as a “mucker” for the New York Water Supply Board, laboriously hauling loads of mud and debris in the efforts to provide water to New York City from the Catskills. He endured this hard work with two goals in mind: to fund his trek to Biloxi, joining his friend, Luka Kuljis, and to bring his fiancé Antonia Kuljis (Luka’s sister) over from Brac. He accomplished both of these goals as he married Antonia in 1911 at the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral in Biloxi.
John who was raised to be a fisherman in his native Brac, worked in the seafood factories for the first several years after his arrival, and later worked for his brother-in-law Luka on his fishing boat.
Together, John and Antonia would raise twelve children, ten of whom also worked in the seafood industry. After saving money for many years, John was able to have his own 37 foot fishing lugger built which he named “Dolores S.” after his youngest daughter. In 1947, a fierce hurricane hit Biloxi and, not wanting to lose his boat, John boarded the vessel, untied it from the pier and rode out the storm managing to keep it from hitting obstacles and being damaged or destroyed. He worked the boat, shrimping and crabbing in the summers and oystering in the winters until his health eventually would not allow such rigorous labor. He sold the “Dolores S.” to his son-in-law, “Captain Bill” Cosmich, the husband of his eldest daughter, Clara, who had worked the boat with him for many years prior. Leaving the boat life, John worked at Marinovich Trawl as a net mender, repairing nets damaged by underwater debris.
Ivan “John” Skrnich was a peaceful, soft-spoken and hard working man. He was one of the founding members of the Slavic Benevolent Association, attended St. Michael Catholic Church (The Fisherman’s Church) and enjoyed a good game of Bocce Ball. He and Antonia instilled in their children a strong faith and a hardy work ethic. John passed away in 1968, one year prior to their family home sadly being lost in Hurricane Camille.
As part of the generation of Slavic fisherman who helped make Biloxi the “Seafood Capital of the World”, we honor John Skrnich in the Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum’s Heritage Hall of Fame.
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