Mary Ann Chojnowski

Mary (Nagy) Chojnowski was born in Detroit, MI on July 10, 1922, the second youngest of six born to John and Theresa Nagy. She had four brothers: John, Tony, Steve and Pete (all deceased) and one sister Camilla, whom she was very close. She was raised in Lincoln Park and attended St. Henry High School through the ninth grade. Mary married her husband, Chester (Birch) Chojnowski, in 1943 at St. Henry’s Church in Lincoln Park. After their marriage, they moved to Wyandotte which is where Mary resided until moving to Southgate Manor. Chester and Mary never had children of their own but they had plenty of nieces, nephews and great nieces and nephews. Mary and Chester had been married 41 years when Chester passed away in 1984. Mary did factory work at Karmazin in Wyandotte until 1964 when she went to work in the Environmental Services Department at Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital. She had perfect attendance from 1981 to 1986 and she retired in 1987 the same year she was Employee of the Month. To quote some of what was said in her Employee of the month article at the hospital, which was titled, Putting the Patient and Neighbors First, “Mary’s attitude at work extends to her home life. She helps neighbors clean their homes and on occasion she will assist in running errands or driving neighbors to an appointment.” Mary’s quote: “If anybody needs me, I’ll try to help. If I’m busy, I will do my best to be there. Our entire family is like that. We always try to help others.” After her husband died, Mary went to live at Wyandotte Co-op Apartments where she was very involved in many of their senior activities. Her hobbies included bingo, embroidery and was very involved in the Senior Olympics for many years. During the period of 1994-2005, she won four gold medals and several silver and bronze medals. Mary was a member of St. Elizabeth church until she could no longer drive and then she walked to St. Patrick’s so she would not miss a service. While she resided at Southgate Manor, she was serviced by St. Pius Church. Mary had resided at Southgate Manor since 2009 where she enjoyed having meals with her sister Camilla, who also resides at Southgate Manor, playing bingo, attending parties, doing word search puzzles and watching TV with her headphones on. Mary enjoyed going on walks with her nieces Patty and Teresa and great nephew Matthew and K.C. the Fur Angel.

Mary Ann Chojnowski

July 10, 1922 - April 26, 2015