Dave Jankoski’s family story traces a journey from west-central Poland to New Jersey and, ultimately, Stanley. His ancestors sought work, security and a better future, turning years of sacrifice into lasting community roots. Their experience also frames Jankoski’s decades of work as a social worker, mayor and historical leader preserving the stories of those who built the region.
According to the Jankoski family history, the family’s American story began with Dave’s great-grandfather, Ignatius Jankoski. Around 1890, Ignatius left Poland for America and found work in New Jersey. Over the next decade, he traveled between America and Poland, working and saving so his wife and other family members could join him.
By the early 1900s, most of the family had reunited in America and moved to Stanley, Wisconsin, drawn by jobs in the logging region. Their experience followed a common chain-migration pattern: relatives went ahead to earn and save money, and others followed when the family could afford the journey. The process required sacrifice and offered no guarantee of success. In Stanley, family members found work at places such as the tannery, establishing a foothold from which they could pursue greater independence.
Family history records that Dave’s grandfather, Nicolaus “Nick” Jankoski, was born in west-central Poland in 1884 and came to America at about age 16. He settled near Stanley and first worked at the old tannery, a demanding industrial workplace that gave newcomers an entry into the local economy. After operating a saloon for a time, Nick bought a farm near Stanley and became a farmer. For a young immigrant who had arrived with little, owning and working his own land represented the American dream and created a foundation for the generations that followed.
Nick’s path from tannery worker to saloon operator and, finally, farmer resembled the experiences Jankoski described among Polish settlers in north-central Wisconsin. Families such as the Jankoskis left poverty, limited freedom and scarce opportunity behind, then accepted demanding work in mines, tanneries, mills, forests or railroad construction as a first step toward land or businesses of their own. Family ties, shared language, faith and a willingness to help the next relative begin again turned individual journeys into lasting communities.
For immigrant families, independence often took years. Relatives, churches and ethnic associations helped newcomers find work and housing, while children learned to navigate both family traditions and American schools. That support gave later generations opportunities in education, public service and community leadership.
Dave Jankoski embodies that intergenerational success. A Stanley native and the son of U.S. Army veteran Clayborne Jankoski, he earned an undergraduate degree from UW-Eau Claire and a master’s degree in social work from UW-Milwaukee. He served as a social worker at the former Northern Colony in Chippewa Falls and later brought that experience home during 14 years as Stanley’s mayor.
Each stage of Jankoski’s career kept him close to people and their needs. Social work required careful listening and respect for individual experience; public office demanded attention to the whole community. He brought both habits to historical preservation. By safeguarding documents and encouraging spoken accounts, Jankoski has kept immigration history connected to real lives rather than reducing it to dates and statistics.
Over the past six to eight years, I have met Jankoski many times at history-related events throughout Clark County. His encouragement, practical support and example have inspired my work as a historian, preservationist and educator, extending his influence beyond the Stanley museum.
Jankoski’s most visible legacy is his leadership of the Stanley Area Historical Society, which he has served for years as president. With his wife, Patricia, a retired teacher, he has celebrated the family’s Polish heritage, including a visit to Poland. The couple also supports local events and mentors people preserving their communities’ stories. His life carries the family journey forward: the search for opportunity that led Nick to a Stanley-area farm has become, in Dave’s generation, education, professional service, civic leadership and stewardship of regional memory. Part Two moves from one family’s journey to the music, food, faith and fellowship that brought Stanley, Wisconsin’s 2026 Polish Heritage Day to life.