John Bukowicz, 97, passed away peacefully surrounded by family September 28, 2023 at Angela’s Hospice in Livonia, Michigan. John died two days after what would have been his 70th wedding anniversary with his recently deceased wife, Lucille (Szelc), and is survived by his six children: Barbara (Michael) Slubowski, Colette, Donna, Annette (Michael) Packey, John Bukowicz and Lucille Cardasis; his eight grandchildren: Alicia (Justin) Erskine, Lauren (Patrick) Keenan-Devlin, Alexandra Packey, Michael (Lauren) Packey, Lucy Mastellar, and Jonathan, Nicholas & Evan Cardasis; and his four great grandchildren: Elena & Alice Keenan-Devlin, Myles Packey and Sasha Lucille Erskine, all of whom he deeply loved.
The only son of George and Helen (Josefczyk) Bukowicz of Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, John was born a strong, determined fighter, who, even in his youth, helped support his mother and five sisters during the depths of the Great Depression, quitting school to pick coal from the railroad tracks and work in a cigar factory.
At 17, he was drafted to serve in the US Navy during WWII, surviving — despite his injuries —a dual kamikaze attack on his ship, the USS Ticonderoga. John witnessed the historic surrender of Japan and land-patrolled Hiroshima while waiting for the Army and Marines to arrive after the atomic bomb drop. For his service, John received numerous honors, including a Purple Heart, 4-Star Pacific Theatre Ribbon, American Theater Ribbon, Victory Medal and Philippine Liberation Ribbon.
After the war, John moved to Philadelphia where he went to school on the GI bill and apprenticed as a furniture and frame maker. He brought those talents (with $20 in his pocket) to Detroit in the early 1950s.
There, he met and married Lucille (Szelc), moved to Roseville and started a family, supporting his growing brood with his Books Furniture and Frame Company, where he built and designed furniture. He later worked as a tool & die maker and upholsterer.
John was a voracious reader, talented furniture designer and pencil artist. He was a gifted self-taught musician on the harmonica, accordion and piano. He was also an incredible handyman who was skilled in just about everything, including electrical, plumbing, and carpentry.
When he retired, John and Lucille enjoyed weekly senior trips to the casino, and were active in church bingos and the VFW. They enjoyed spending time with their grandchildren and helped wherever and whenever they were needed.
John’s family was the most important thing in his life, and he saved and sacrificed so they would never know the poverty he had lived in his youth. He stressed education, hard work, saving money, and the importance of family and faith. He prayed daily all his life and had a special devotion to St. Jude.
When he lost his vision due to macular degeneration in his 60s, John faced the challenge head-on, spending three months at the Chicago Institute for the Blind, learning how to live the rest of his life without sight.
He confronted other health challenges with courage and pragmatism, doing what he could in any given situation and trying his best to accept what he couldn’t. When he fell getting out of a car in 2013, his medical challenges added up, and he spent the last ten years of his life in a wheelchair at a 24 hour care facility. Even then, he still focused on the small joys in life: hot food, cold beer, Hawaiian pizza, Cheese puffs, Werther’s candies and always a stick of gum. And not a day went by when he didn’t think about and pray for his family.
John was a smart, devoted, dry humored man, a member of the Greatest Generation, a humble man who never realized how truly special he was and how his legacy of love, education and dedication extended three generations deep. He has left an indelible impression on his family. He will be sorely missed.
Visitation for John will be held Monday, October 2, 2023 4 p.m. - 8 p.m. at D. S. Temrowski & Sons Funeral Home, located at 30009 Hoover in Warren. John will lie in state 10:00 a.m. until time of funeral mass at 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, October 3, 2023 at Holy Innocents Catholic Church in Roseville, MI.
In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or Angela’s Hospice Care Center in Livonia.
SHARE OBITUARYSHARE
v.1.11.6