Edmund G. Sieracki

Edmund G Sieracki, known as “Ed” to his friends, “Dad” to his kids and “Generous tipper who constantly wants more lemons” to servers across the Detroit area passed away on the 23rd of March, 2022 after 88 years of life well lived. From his first day on Sunday, the 13th of August 1933, he made an impression on everyone he met; starting with his parents, Helen Kuras and Edmund J Sieracki, who decided after meeting him that they could only handle one child.

His early education was at the hands, and possibly rulers, of Felician nuns. By the time he reached High School he developed a taste for competition, lettering in football and tennis, and though he excelled in academics he was reportedly never on time for his classes. He was the first in his family to continue their education, albeit in a way that foreshadowed his approach to life. He enrolled at Penn State University where he studied engineering, but didn’t finish immediately. He moved back to Pittsburgh picking up physical jobs that he “was lucky to survive”, like demolishing a smoke stack from the top, with a sledge hammer. That luck showed up again after he decided to enroll at Pitt University to complete his degree. A chance encounter after an evening class led him to meet the love of his life, and partner of 63 years Rosemary Stroud. They eloped and were married in 1958, sending a telegram back to his parents with the words “Got married be home Friday” followed by a traditional wedding mass a month later.

Engineering degree in hand, Ed went about what would be his lifelong work: trying to build the best family that he knew how. He had a sharp mind that was built for tackling new problems and he constantly sought new challenges and opportunities. This drive took Ed and Rosemary all over the country in search of the next thing. They lived in a host of cities: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Auburn, Alabama, White Plains, New York, Wheeling West Virginia, Indianapolis and Bloomington Indiana, and both Ann Arbor and Canton, Michigan. The story of hops from opportunity to opportunity is filled with colorful tales of winning bridge tournaments, sneaking into tennis clubs, starting a Knights of Columbus council, the secret mysteries of magnetic tape, the optimal alloy of magnesium to balance lightness and resistance to leaks in sharp edge orifices on transmissions (it’s AE42, by the way), climbing up the funnel of a cruise ship to get to a bar, getting a picture with Pele, and maybe a run in with a caribbean dictator. If you met Ed, it would not take long for him to tell you one of these stories. You probably won’t notice that as a young man he overcame a very strong stutter. You would learn very quickly, however, that he loved food. In fact many of his stories would start with the culinary cue that he’s associated with the memory. He had an uncanny ability to recall what and where he ate, from the Reuben sandwich in New York, the crab cakes in Baltimore, the Chili before a Steelers playoff game, the VERY LIGHT tempura batter in Japan, or the strawberries and cream at Wimbledon you were sure to hear how that morsel made that experience or event so much better.

The stories he was most proud of, however, were about his three children: Mary Elizabeth (Beth), Mary Catherine (Cathy), and Edmund Joseph (EJ). As his children grew, so did his pride for who they had become, and relished his time with their families. Each son or daughter-in-law was a new person for him to have a friendly, or not so friendly, debate with; while each grandchild was a new opportunity to share his favorite stories. Throughout everything, his family provided him with a deep sense of pride and love.

We are eternally grateful to the amazing team at the University of Michigan Hospital who cared for Ed in his final months. The level of compassion and understanding (and probably patience) that they exhibited was nothing short of extraordinary. They’d often greet a family member recounting a story that Ed told about them. “Aren’t you the one who crashed a car by defying physics?” or “Aren’t you the baker?”. If it wasn’t a story, they would tell us that Ed was the unit favorite, always making jokes and being kind. We could not have asked for better people around him.

Ed will be remembered with tears, slowly shaken heads, but mostly with laughs by his wife Rosemary, his children Beth, Cathy and EJ, their partners Matt, and Katie as well as their children Chris and Megan Przybylski, Noah Laurenz, and Liv and Luke Sieracki.

In lieu of flowers, please consider honoring his Polish heritage that he cared so much about by donating to either one of these charities supporting Ukrainian refugees in Poland: World Central Kitchen or Catholic Relief Services - Help Ukrainian Families - (see links below).

There will be a public viewing at Neely-Turowski Funeral Home in Canton MI on Sunday the 27th from 4-7pm. There will be an additional viewing on Monday the 28th at 10:30am followed by a funeral mass at 11. Both at St. John Neumann Catholic church, also in Canton. Lunch will be served following mass, Pierogi may, or may not, be present.