Jacqueline Pilarski

Jacqueline Marie Pilarski 84 of Rogers City passed away peacefully at home on January 6, 2020 following a two-year battle with cancer, with her loving husband at
her side.

The daughter of Joseph and Agnes (Macfalda) Wozniak, Jackie was born August 16, 1935 in Posen, MI and was the youngest of 12 children. Jackie resided in Posen during her childhood and attended St. Casimir Catholic school. After graduation she worked at Farley Fence company in Posen, and later in Bay City when the company moved offices. She met her husband Walter at the local Rogers City ice rink, and they wed on June 18th, 1955, with Walter’s brother, the late Rev. Raymond Pilarski, officiating – his first as a pastoral officiant. With her husband’s enlistment in the Army, Jackie found herself moving to Anchorage, Alaska for just over a year. It was there they saw the birth of their first child, Gary, using a dresser drawer as their first baby crib. Upon Walter’s discharge, they returned to Michigan in 1956 and the couple set up home in Rogers City to raise their growing family. Their home on Main (Third) Street became familiar to the community for its beautiful geraniums, planted  religiously every spring in their front flower beds for all to see. Jackie was an avid gardener and in addition to her geraniums she loved her roses. But flowers of many varieties, along with other annual and perennial plantings, dotted the everchanging garden landscape of their property over the 60+ years they resided there, and she loved to watch the hummingbirds and many other feathered friends that were drawn to the blooms and feeders. Jackie also loved to camp and travel, taking the family on many adventures across the country with tent or camper trailer in tow, ready to set up at the next interesting destination. She never complained of the effort required to pack all the provisions for the family, and often told the story of how she became hooked on camping with the first family trip where they were forced to set up camp in pouring rain. Game-playing was always a component of any family gathering, and Jackie was often a challenge for her opponents, especially when word games were involved. She loved playing Scrabble and Words-with-Friends, and doing crosswords, but also enjoyed assembling puzzles, playing cards, or engaging in most any other game whether privately or as a family. As an ardent Detroit Tigers fan, Jackie rarely missed a televised broadcast, and she was known to often turn the broadcast off when the game appeared a loss, and watch the recorded video the next day, hoping to forestall the inevitable or be pleasantly surprised by a comeback. Jackie regularly attended St. Ignatius Church and was a member of the Rosary Society and a supporter of St. Ignatius School, but her pride was always her family. She was keen on a formal education, sending all her children through St. Ignatius grade school and Rogers City High School, eventually seeing all six of her children graduate from university. She was also an accomplished seamstress, sewing everything from clothes to jackets, sleeping bags to a wedding dress, all at the request of her children. And she especially enjoyed spending time with – and spoiling – each and every one of her grandchildren, making numerous trips around the state every year to visit them and attend many of their school and sporting functions, birthdays and other important celebrations and events.

Jackie is survived by her husband, Walter R. Pilarski Jr., six children Gary (Mary Therese), Robert (Chet Domitz), William (Shelley), Cathryn (Greg) Haines, Mary Jo (John) Monroe, and Jennifer (Jim) Tilton; 12 grandchildren, Eric (Kristina) Pilarski, John Pilarski, Hannah (Jake) Asbury, Thomas Pilarski, Daniel Haines, Rebecca Haines, Lauren Haines, Emily Monroe, Megan Monroe, Sarah Monroe, Cole Tilton, and Kate Tilton; sister Rosemary Putnam and  brother Gerald Wozniak; sister-in-law Anne Wozniak and brother-in-law William Aron.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph and Agnes; siblings, Leon (Berna) Wozniak, Louis (Loretta) Wozniak, Alice (Eugene) Daly, Frances (Gordon) Lewandowski, Helen Aron, Joseph (Evelyn) Wozniak, Donald (Mary Ellen) Wozniak, Henrietta (Elmer) Karaim, and Robert Wozniak; sister-in-law Loretta Wozniak; and a brother-in-law James Putnam.

Friends may visit at the Beck Funeral Home on Thursday, January 9th from 5-8 p.m. where the Rosary will be recited at 6:30 followed by the Parish Wake at 7 p.m. with Deacon Scott Landane officiating. Visitation will resume on Friday  at St. Ignatius Catholic Church from 9 a.m. until time of Mass at 10 a.m. with Fr. Rolando Silva officiating. Graveside Services will take place in the spring at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Rogers City.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to St. Ignatius Catholic School’s Angel fund or McLaren Hospice in memory of Jackie Pilarski.