Marie Eleanor Klasny was born in Detroit on February 17, 1937 to Michael and Helen Klasny. She was the youngest of three children. She had two older brothers, George, who died before he was born and Edward who passed away on Marie’s birthday in 2009 as well as sister-in-law, Lois who passed away in 2007. Marie is survived by her nieces Lisa (Daryl) Hall, great niece Sara (Kevin) Sosa, niece Lori Hensley, great nieces Morgan and Mckenna Hensley and nephew, John Klasny.
Marie and her family lived on the east side of Detroit for most of her early years. She attended Marion Lower Grade school, Wilkins Middle School, Pershing High School and attended the University of Detroit for two years earning a secretarial service certificate. Her father was a builder on the east side of Detroit in the Harper and Van Dyke area and built many of the homes in that area. He sold the homes through a real estate office he opened on Van Dyke as a real estate broker, usually on land contracts, collecting the payments at his office, insuring them and doing income taxes. Marie became interested in becoming a secretary when she would visit her dad’s office and talk to his secretary. After college, her dad went into semi-retirement and for a year and a half, she worked in his office typing contracts and insurance policies, answering the phone, collecting payments and doing tax returns. When her father decided to officially retire, he sold the business to a man who had an insurance agency working out of his home. He wanted to have an office so he bought the Klasny agency. His wife was his secretary who asked Marie to stay on for a while to show her how the business was run. The wife was so impressed with Marie’s skills, she asked her what she was going to do next. Marie said, “Get another job.” She applied at GM Headquarters taking the entrance exam, passed, and was hired on January 2, 1959. Her brother, Ed, warned her that legal work was a tough, high stress career and told her not to feel bad if she “washed out” after a couple of months. Marie proved him wrong and retired from the GM legal staff 43 years and 3 months later on March 31, 2002. Needless to say, her brother was very proud of her. She survived several G.M. employee layoffs due to her ability to excel in any assignment she was given, her can do spirit and gratefulness for having a job and work ethic based on biblical principles. Marie stopped working and adjusted to retirement and took on other pursuits. She was a member of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Roseville participating in Sunday school classes and singing in the choir for many years.
Instate will be held on November 27, 2021, at A.H. Peters Funeral Home, 32000 Schoenherr Road, at Masonic, in Warren, from 1:30PM until the time of the funeral service at 2:00PM.
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