Lois C. Parynik

Hailing from the thumb-area town of Mayville, Michigan, Lois loved to reminisce about the joys of growing up in small-town life, surrounded by her parents, siblings, all four grandparents, aunts, uncles, and large tribe of cousins. She met her future husband, Frank, at a girl scout picnic in Caro. They exchanged letters throughout WWII and upon his discharge from the Army Air Corps., they promptly married and moved to Kalamazoo, where they enjoyed newly married life among the community of GIs and their wives, living in the “hut-muts” on Western Michigan’s campus. Later moving to Lincoln Park, Frank, Lois, and their rapidly growing family became an entrenched part of St. Francis Cabrini Church. As a convert to Catholicism, Lois found a deep faith on which she would lean throughout the vicissitudes of life. She taught catechism, joined the Daughters of Isabella and was a long-term Catholic League bowler at the Thunderbowl Lanes with her group of “lady-friends.” She worked for many years as a photographic retoucher for Crane’s Studios, retouching blemishes and painting portraits, ensuring each person looked their best to mark life’s great events. Each summer, she would pack up the station wagon and the family would make the great migration northward to Arbutus Beach, where Lois enjoyed the companionship of her adopted downriver family (the Uzarski, Sharky, Isenogle, Coats and Howe families). Lois was a good friend to many, a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and “GG.” She spent her later years in Allen Park as the grande dame of Regina Avenue, holding court on the front porch with the neighbors, and appreciating social visits from relatives and friends. She will be missed by all.

Expected to die shortly after birth, Lois outlived all of her contemporaries, passing at the age of 96. She was preceded in death by her loving husband, Frank Parynik. She was the loving mother of Paul (late Anita) Parynik, Mary Catherine Parynik (Richard Howell), Christine (John) DeWitt, Carol Anne Rozewicz (late Paul), Cynthia Herald, and Caryn (Dan) Prather. Beloved grandmother of Heather (Kyle) Higgins, Joshua (Tracy) Smith, Nicole (Ryan) Leffew, and Aaron Prather. Proud great-grandmother of Ian Hanna, Claire Darnell, and Luke Prather.

Funeral mass on Friday, March 17, 2023, at 10 am (in state at 9:30am) at St. Frances Cabrini Church, 9000 Laurence, Allen Park, MI 48101. Interment at Michigan Memorial Park. A luncheon will follow at the Holy Family House.

Lois was a great supporter of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in Detroit and suggested donations made in her honor should be directed there (https://www.cskdetroit.org).