Floyd WACHOWIAK

12 APR 1926 - 27 AUG 2009

• BIRTH: 12 APR 1926, South Bend, IN
• BURIAL: Chapel Hill Gardens, Osceola , IN
• DEATH: 27 AUG 2009, South Bend, IN

• MARRIAGE: 27 NOV 1948, St Joseph County, IN

1.  Marsha WACHOWIAK
2.  Marlene WACHOWIAK
3.  Barbara WACHOWIAK
4.  Konnie WACHOWIAK
5.  Penny WACHOWIAK

INDEX

[N2174] Floyd Wachowiak
April 12, 1926 - Aug. 27, 2009
GRANGER - Floyd was the 12th of 14 siblings of John and Mary (Frydrych) Wachowiak. He was born at their home on Grant Street in South Bend before moving to the family's farm in Walkerton. It was there where he and all of his siblings learned the importance of hard work and a strong work ethic, which he passed on to his own children. At 17 he got a welding job at Bendix in South Bend. Before his 18th birthday he enlisted in the Navy. He served his entire two years aboard ship during WWII. He was then employed at Studebaker until he started his own cement business, Floyd & Al Cement Contractors, Inc. Al was his brother and cohort, who often tried to keep him in line. Keeping Floyd in line was often next to impossible. He loved to have a good time! On November 27, 1948, he married Mary Stella Kujawa who died in June 2001. They renewed their vows in the spring of 2001. If Mary could have danced that day, they surely would have; as they made quite the pair on the dance floor. However, on that day he settled for a twinkle in her eyes instead of the twinkle in her toes. In the toughest of times the two of them worked side by side at odd and end jobs to provide for their family. They had seven children: Konnie (Ray) Beasley-McQueen, Barbara (Dan) McCurdy, Marsha (Ernie Evans) Wachowiak, Marlene (Kirk) Bonner, Penny (Dave) Coleman and two sons who are deceased: Frederick and Jeffrey Wachowiak. He is also survived by 14 grandchildren, 2 great granddaughters, 1 great-great grandson and two sisters: Clara Luczkowski and Sylvia Butchko and many nieces and nephews. Floyd loved to sing, dance and play! He cherished his children and showered them with toys. He built a pool, sandboxes, go-carts, playhouses and stilts. He provided sleds, bicycles, animals of all sorts and even a pony. Mostly, he enjoyed the out-of-doors. Fishing and camping were his favorites; we fished from piers, boats, bridges and on ice. (Oddly he didn't like to eat fish.) He had grand vegetable gardens and great crocks of dill pickles. We dug potatoes, picked tomatoes and collected walnuts by the bushel. His flower gardens (peonies for sure) were glorious. He normally had a tool of some sort in his hand. He spent hours in "the shop," where he puttered and repaired every imaginable motor or what-not. Floyd was truly a jack-of-all trades well into his 70's. He built the homes we lived in, taking the same pride and patience as he did tying the bows on his daughters' dresses on Sunday mornings before church. Even though he was sometimes thought to be a little rough around the edges, his last gift, and perhaps his greatest gift by far, was his offering of a prayer to and for his daughters via conference call the day he made his final journey to see his "sweetheart" and two sons. He continued with a promise: that the day was going to be a very good day, a very good day indeed. We ask that instead of flowers, memorial contributions be made to Hospice Palliative Care or to any charity of your preference. On Saturday, September 19, at St. Pius X Catholic Church a calling will be held at 9:00 followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10am. Entombment will follow at Chapel Hill Gardens in Osceola with the family and guests returning to the Church for a gathering and meal. Condolences: www.McGannHay.com.
Published in South Bend Tribune on September 17, 2009