Anne Kochan

She came to the United States with her mother, Mary, and was reintroduced to her father, John, who had arrived before them. Anne lived and attended school in Detroit, learning English along the way, and going to St. Nicholas Byzantine church, which her father helped found.

When Anne entered her adolescent years, she met a handsome, blue-eyed boy named Paul – or rather, they caught each other’s eye – and her destiny changed forever. She wrote to him throughout her teen years while he served overseas in the Signal Corps, and married him soon after he came home.

The two went on to have six beautiful children. While Paul worked at the car wash he owned, Anne was a steady homemaker, caring for their kids and Paul’s mother, Josephine, who also lived with them. Anne’s husband was an artist as well and painted the ceiling of their home with murals that, according to some of their children, rivaled the Sistine Chapel.

When Anne was tragically widowed at 35 years old, she dug into the strength that she cultivated as an immigrant child, working full-time at labor-intensive jobs, and raising her six kids with the help of her mom.

As her children grew and had families of their own, Anne was a constant presence in their lives, opening her door and heart to them – all while caring for her aging mother, and for a time, her brother-in-law, too.

Throughout Anne’s grandkids’ lives, her house was the epicenter of Sunday, after-church lunches and holiday gatherings. Anne’s grandchildren remember the Easter egg hunts in her backyard, the special chocolate ornaments that hung on her crystal lamp, and the quiet anticipation at the end of each holiday, when their grandmother would slip into the back room and return with a special envelope for each of them.

Anne was beautiful, she was strong, and above all, she was generous – both in spirit and in life. She was the adored wife of the late Paul Kochan, the cherished daughter of the late John and Mary Birovcak, and the beloved mother of Patti (Bob) Mellas, Joanne (Jim) Price, David (Sharon) Kochan, Karen (Bill) Abraham, Mark (Sherri) Kochan, and Greg Kochan (partner Michele Dunski).

She was the loving – and celebrated – grandmother of 34 grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Visitation for Anne Kochan is at A.H. Peters Funeral Home, 32000 Schoenherr Rd., Warren, MI 48088 on Tuesday, December 16th, 5–8 pm (family hour 4–5 pm), and Wednesday, December 17th, 1–8 pm with a Byzantine Panachida at 5:30 pm led by Rev. Mykhailo Solianyk, followed by a Rosary service.

The family will be in-state and in-prayer on Thursday, December 18th, 11 am at the funeral home, until the Funeral Mass at 12 pm at St. Basil the Great Catholic Church, 4700 Metropolitan Pkwy, Sterling Heights, MI 48310. Anne’s burial will take place following the mass at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, 17100 Van Dyke Ave., Detroit, MI 48234.