Jablonski v. Jablonski

• Decision Date: 09 December 1958
• Citation: 188 Pa.Super. 337,146 A.2d 813
• Parties: Walter JABLONSKI v. Verna JABLONSKI, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

Page 813

146 A.2d 813

188 Pa.Super. 337

Walter JABLONSKI v. Verna JABLONSKI, Appellant.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Dec. 9, 1958.

Rehearing Denied Jan. 8, 1959.

Ferdinand F. Bionaz, Portage, for appellant.

James H. Brennan, T. Robert Brennan, Brennan & Brennan, Harry Shapera, Pittsburgh, for appellee.

Before RHODES, P. J., and HIRT, GUNTHER, WRIGHT, WOODSIDE, ERVIN and WATKINS, JJ.

WRIGHT, Judge.

On October 14, 1953, Walter Jablonski filed a complaint in divorce against his wife, Verna Jablonski, on the ground of indignities to the person. On September 23, 1955, the complaint was amended to include a charge of desertion as of September 23, 1953. The action was thereafter proceeded upon solely on the ground of desertion. In a well-prepared and persuasive report, filed October 30, 1956, the master recommended that the complaint be dismissed. On May 22, 1958, the court below handed down an opinion sustaining the husband's exceptions, and entered a final decree. The wife has appealed.

Walter Jablonski and Verna Krisko were married on May 23, 1953. They were then in their late twenties. At the time of the marriage Walter was living with his parents on a farm near MacDonald, Allegheny County, but promised to promptly build a separate home. Verna agreed to live temporarily in the home of Walter's parents. Naturally enough, this mode of existence was unsatisfactory and, according to the finding of the master, animosity arose between Verna and Walter's mother. Walter kept postponing the establishment of a separate home upon the ground that he was too busy. On September 23, 1953, just four months after the marriage, Walter came home late at night and lay down on the couch in the dining room, refusing to occupy the marital bed. An argument ensued and Verna said she would leave if Walter did not want to sleep with her. Verna testified that Walter said, 'Go to your mother'. In any event, Verna did leave after midnight and walked several miles to the home of a neighbor. The next morning she called Walter to come and pick her up and he said 'No, to go home'. Verna wrote several letters but Walter did not answer her correspondence or make any effort to contact her. A female child, Carol Jablonski, was born on June 1, 1954, and is presently in Verna's custody. Later that year Verna instituted an action for support in the Court of Quarter Sessions of Cambria County, as a result of which an order of support was entered in the amount of $65 a month. The record plainly discloses that Walter was unwilling to leave his parents. His attitude is perhaps best illustrated by his startling admission that he did not love Verna when he married her.

In the recent case of McElroy v. McElroy, 185 Pa.Super. 78, 138 A.2d 299, 301, we reiterated several fundamental general principles, as follows: 'It is our duty to make an independent investigation of the evidence in order to determine whether in truth it does establish a legal cause for divorce * * *. While we are not concluded thereby, the master's appraisal of the testimony is entitled to the fullest consideration especially when, as in the instant case, his report presents a searching analysis * * *. The Commonwealth is a party to all divorce proceedings and a decree of divorce must be founded upon compelling reasons, and upon evidence that is clear and convincing'. In the case at bar, the burden was upon Walter to establish Verna's desertion by clear and convincing evidence, Donald v. Donald, 155 Pa.Super. 90, ...