Ethel Pochocki Marbach

Dana K. White from A Slob Comes Clean says that finishing a project IS decluttering. So I am going to finish this blog post from last July!!!

I have a homeschool consulting client who is currently working on preparing for the Saints block, a classic Waldorf 2nd grade block. A theme in the curriculum for the 8 year old child is the struggle between opposing forces, so we study fables (Aesop's Fables and Buddhist Jataka Tales) as well as traditional stories of Saints around the world. Modern day Heroes such as Helen Keller, Dr. King, and Gandhi are also often included in this block.

I have many notes in my blog and on my website as to what Saint stories I've used in the past, but I noticed something strange when I went to recommend a particularly beautiful retelling of the story of Martin of Tours.

I couldn't find the book link on Amazon.

A Note About Something Which Further Adds to the Confusion

So... something came up while I was searching all over for this old book.

The book series I have by Ethel Marbach seems to have the same exact titles as a book series by Ethel Pochoki (and Ethel is not a common name) but the saints included don't seem to match. So are they the same books? And is she the same person?

I spent an inordinate amount of time researching this question.

The upshot of the story is that Ethel wrote two books (Once-Upon-a-Time Saints and More Once-Upon-a-Time Saints) back in the 1970s using the last name Marbach and they were published by St. Anthony Messenger Press. These books are wonderful!

Decades later, these books were significantly reorganized and republished by Bethlehem Books, this time using the last name Pochocki.

All of that to say that, yes, there's just one Ethel.

Below I've put the table of contents of each of the original books, and marked in red any legends that didn't make the cut when they were republished later on. Sadly, the story of Martin of Tours -- which got me started on this entire project -- seems to be out of print completely!

Once-Upon-a-Time Saints: Faith-Tales for Children
© 1977 St. Anthony Messenger Press

Germaine
Felix
Kentigern
Hubert
Joseph of Arimathea
Dorothy
Swithin
Hyacinth
Clement
Comgall
Benedict of San Fradello
Martha
Edward the Confessor
Zita
Longinus
Brigid
Barnaby of Compiegne
Joseph of Cupertino
Margaret of Scotland

More Once-Upon-a-Time Saints: Faith-Tales for Children
© 1978 St. Anthony Messenger Press

Joan Delanoue
Philip Neri
David of Wales
Catherine (Kateri) Tekakwitha
Martin of Tours
Elizabeth of Portugal
Christopher
Rose of Lima
Francis de Sales
Teresa of Avila
Anne
Adauctus

And here's the table of contents of each new book. I've put the original copyright dates of the St. Anthony Messenger Press stories beside each chapter from Bethlehem Books. Note that things look all mixed up, but that's because Bethlehem Books decided to put the saints in alphabetical order!

It is important to me that we be able to find her old stories, because they are written so beautifully! Let's see where we can find these stories today.

Once Upon a Time Saints
© 1996 Bethlehem Books
includes four new stories

Alice
Ambrose
Anne (1978)
Barbara
Barnaby of Compiegne (1977)
Benedict of San Fradello (1977)
Christopher (1978)
Clement (1977)
Comgall (1977)
David of Wales (1978)
Dorothy (1977)
Edward the Confessor (1977)
Elizabeth of Portugal (1978)
Felix (1977)
Genevieve
Hubert (1977)

More Once Upon a Time Saints
© 1998 Bethlehem Books
includes eight new stories

Hyacinth (1977)
Joan Delanoue (1978)
Joseph of Arimathea (1977)
Kentigern (1977)
Longinus (1977)
Martha (1977)
Melangell
Moses the Black
Nicolas Postgate
Pharaildis
Rigobert
Servulus
The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus
Simeon the Stylite
Swithin (1977)
Zita (1977)
Adauctus (1978)

One last book that I purchased... and greatly regret.

Saints & Heroes
© 2011 Bethlehem Books

I do NOT recommend this book as it contains significant edits of her original chapters, covered up by the innocuous words "Further revisions in 2020."

So it does include several of the stories that are marked in red above, but I continue to have them marked in red because they are NOT THE SAME.

One More Note About Ethel

It is my belief that Pochocki is her maiden name. (In her obituary in the Bangor Daily News, Ethel's last name is listed only as Pochocki [with no née] but all of her sons have the last name Marbach. Neither her marriage nor her husband is mentioned in the obituary. So my guess is that Pochocki is her maiden name and that she had an acrimonious divorce and chose to resume the use of her maiden name. Of course, I don't know that for sure.)

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