Norman Francis Podgorski's Obituary
Norman Francis Podgorski, age 92, ex-Marine, devout Catholic, and expert crossword puzzle solver, ate his last stuffed cabbage on December 8, 2022 at home in Madison Heights, Michigan. He was born on October 3, 1930 to Edward and Anna Podgorski and was the oldest of three children. He was preceded in death by his two sisters, Sandra and Lori, his only son Ken, and granddaughter Emily.
He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Patricia; children, Janice (Gene) Polan, Cindy (Ken) Ramm, Cindy (wife of the late son Ken), Laura (Mike) Geboski, daughter Marianne, and his only fur child, Isabella Rose; grandchildren, Julie (John) Barnett, Geoff (Christa) Polan, Jeremy Polan, Eric (Kristina) Ramm, Angela (Kyle) Rice, Amy (Alex) Naharodny, Aaron Podgorski, Alicia (Charles) Jones, Alyson (Andrew) Dixon, and Jacob Geboski; and 10 great grandchildren.
Norm has lived a wonderful and full life, exploring the world around him. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1951-1953. Although he never saw any actual combat, he did participate in many bar fights and came face to face once with a grizzly bear. The stories he could tell never failed to entertain.
Through the years, Norm enjoyed his comic book collection, bowling, going to church functions, and a love for the accordion. He loved taking vacations with his family, watching baseball and football, fishing, and playing the lottery.
He met his soon-to-be wife Patricia at a church gathering and it was love at first sight. They were married on October 1, 1955 and welcomed their first bundle of joy, Janice, in January of 1957. In short, the family grew to seven with the births of Cindy, Ken, Laura, and Marianne. The loving couple would fill their house with the sound of little feet and laughter for decades later.
Together, he and his wife toured the country. Family vacations turned into summer months of fun. Camping was a great pastime of his, when he wasn’t trying to burn the campsite down. He also splurged a few times and took his wife on spectacular ocean cruises and visited many tropical settings. When they weren’t galivanting around the United States, they were often found sitting in front of slot machines at the local casino or at a table yelling “Bingo”.
Growing up and living in the Detroit metro area, he started the family trend of becoming part of the Automotive Industry. From an amazing job as a shoe salesman to a music instructor to working at one of the ‘big three’ Chrysler Corporation for 30 years, where he started as an entry level electrical technician, utilizing his education from Cass Tech and RETS Electronic School. While at Chrysler, he had the unique opportunity to work at the Missile Command in Huntsville, Alabama, on the Army Redstone Missiles for the NASA Mercury Spacecraft program. He retired in 1990 as a Supervisor of the Electrical Instrumentation Labs and a member of their Management Club, to enjoy the finer things in life with his spouse, Pat, family and grandchildren.
Norm was very active in the church, was an usher and participated in all of the family events that took place at St. Vincent Ferrer in Madison Heights. He became a significant member of the Knights of Columbus as an officer and Grand Knight and became a State District Deputy. He could be seen hosting or assisting at events like their annual Anniversary Dinner, the Tootsie Roll Drive, Ladies Appreciation Night, or Friday night dinners.
In his younger days, he would jump on board his son’s boat and they would spend lots of time searching the open lakes of Michigan for their next big catch. Sometimes he would end up in the water at the boat launch, attempting to stop it and the trailer from floating away.
Many times, he would enjoy a leisurely flight in a small aircraft that his son was piloting. At least once he could be seen hanging on for his life when his door opened up in mid-flight. But nothing stopped him. He was a fearless soldier on the outside; a kind, gentle deer on the inside.
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