Hildegard Olivia Mikulik

Hilda Olivia Mikulik 1911-2011

Hilda Olivia Schwartz was born November 2, 1911 in Moravia, Texas, the 15th child of Joseph and Sophie (Loika) Schwartz.

Before Hilda started school in Moravia, she spoke only German. As a result of World War I, she was not allowed to speak a word of German as the other nationalities were very antagonistic toward anyone of the German race. Hilda learned to speak Czech by listening to neighbors and older brothers and sisters who learned to read and write Czech in their catechism lessons, which were taught by a Czech priest.

It was through Brother Joe (who was a teacher) that Hilda became excited about going to school to become a teacher. He encouraged her and even loaned her the money for her tuition. Hilda studied home economics at Southwest Texas State College in San Marcos, where she was in the Newman Club in 1929 and sang. After she started teaching, she paid her debts to her brother. The first year, Hilda was paid $116 a month for eight months, and later she received $120 a month. She lived in a boarding house at Henry Spaniel's in St. John's and walked a mile to school in Krupala each day.

The white wooden home

Willie (or "Bill" as he is now called) and Hilda married in November 1933 and went to West Texas on their honeymoon, not knowing that someday they would make a home here. In two weeks, they bought the farm that they lived on. Hilda had some money saved from teaching, and Bill had some from home. Hilda and Bill paid $32 an acre and had enough money to pay for half of the land. They borrowed the rest of the money from her brother Otto, who already lived in West Texas. They went back to Moravia to farm Willie' s father's place but moved to San Angelo the following year in September 1934. Bill and Hilda bought a tractor and began farming. By 1937, they had paid off their farm.

Hilda was a hard working woman. She was happiest being outside of the house, working in the vegetable garden or her yard. She loved preserving pickles, tomatoes, corn, apricots, vegetables and fruits of all sorts. She canned sauerkraut, pickled eggs and pig’s feet, and made her own pepper sauces, catsup and jellies. In the late 1940s, Hilda and Bill purchased South Oakes Drive Inn in San Angelo, a purchase that helped them survive the drought in the 1950s. In 1958, the two of them began making Mikulik Sausage and selling produce and canned goods from Mama’s half-acre garden, which she chopped with her two hands and chopping hoe. (Mikulik's Sausage is now owned by her grandson, Michael Mikulik, and is still open for business in 2025.)

The Mikulik homestead

In 1967, the wooden house was removed and a new ranch style home was built on the site. Wood form the original home was used in construction of the new house. Hilda was a tremendous caretaker of that home and surrounding gardens. At 79 years of age, she still was climbing into pecan trees thrashing her pecans. As late as her mid to late 80s, Hilda could be seen in her garden at the break of dawn, changing water or hoeing weeds. At age 85, while on the roof of her home picking pecans, she had to shimmy down a dead cedar tree because the wind blew her step ladder down. Including her 90th year, she was extremely happy plowing on her small tractor, which she bought at the age of 85. Bill died of pneumonia on September 29, 1994, in Shannon Hospital at the age of 85, one month shy of his 86th birthday. Seventeen years after his death, Hilda also died of pneumonia. She was 99 years, six months, and three days old. Their home is now owned by one of the 53 first cousins, their daughter, Barbara Mikulik.

Map/Location: 8408 Mikulik Road, San Angelo, TX 76904 This is PRIVATE PROPERTY Do not enter

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