Margaret Woida

Mrs. Margaret Grace (Janiszewski) Woida, age 96,
entered into eternal peace on 10 February 2018
at the Rogers City, Michigan Health Center
(known to many as Tendercare).

She was born on 16 September 1921 in Detroit
to Anna(Glomski) and Joseph Janiszewski.

Grace was the firstborn of two girls (Florence ~— d. 15 July 2012) and

4 boys (Arthur — d. 25 March 2012, Harold, Joseph, and Harry). In grade
school she was advanced two grades in one year, twice, and graduated
from high school at age 16 in Prescott, Michigan in a class of 20. Asa
young woman in her early twenties, she served her country on the home
front by contributing to the tremendous industrial effort that supplied the
war abroad. As part of a workforce consisting almost entirely of young
single women known as “Rosie the Riveters,” she inspected engine parts
for military aircraft from 1941 to 1944 at a plant north of Detroit, in
Ferndale, Michigan. Her war memorial may be scen at:

Grace often rode the Detroit & Mackinaw Railroad to Orchard, Michigan,
located on Metz Highway northwest of Posen, to visit her future husband,
Henry, in 1943 – 44. On one of the train’s last runs through Orchard in
July of 2010, Grace rode from Orchard to Calcite and back, in the
locomotive with the engineer. Henry Joseph Woida proposed to her on
Christmas 1943, She married him on February 19, 1944 in Our Lady of
Lourdes Catholic Church in Turner and worked alongside him on a dairy
and potato farm in Orchard until his death on 5 April 1983. She had many
years of experience picking potatoes, hauling hay, milking cows, feeding
livestock, and performing all the other farming duties, along with cooking
and baking for her family and the large crews that helped with sowing
crops, harvesting potatoes and hay, and threshing the grains raised on the
farm in the mid-20th century. Grace often canned as many as 500 quarts
of farm and garden produce each summer and often baked up to six loaves
of bread a day. The seventh loaf of dough was reserved for her much
relished cinnamon rolls and krusciki (Polish fritters), Her home-made
bread was famous far and wide and in great demand by relatives and
visitors,
She was a life-long member of St, Casimir Catholic Church in Posen and
the church’s Rosary Society; an avid gardener, especially in her precious
flower beds; a crossword and jigsaw puzzle enthusiast; a pinochle player;
a devoted Detroit Tigers fan; and a Michigan Senior Companion Program
volunteer, She provided love, care, and companionship to the elderly at
many foster care and nursing homes over the years. Many of them were
younger than she was as she continued to do this work diligently until she
was 95. She was well-travelled, having been, to Poland, Italy (where she
saw her beloved Saint Pope John Paul II), Switzerland, Germany (where
she attended the 350-year anniversary showing of the Oberammergau
Passion Play in Bavaria), and Holland, as well as several states in the US.
She spent some of Northern Michigan’s harsh winters in Huntsville,
Alabama with her son, Carl, but always missed and was happier returning
to her farm home in Posen,
Margaret Grace leaves loving memories cherished by:

her nine children, Carl (Ruth) of Huntsville, Alabama and Grand Lake;
Michaelene (Chuck) McLeod of Bridgeport; Leo (Pam) of Posen;

Richard (Nicole ~— d. 2013) of Lincoln Park; Kathleen of Des Moines, Iowa,
Henry Jr. (Katie) of Saginaw; Andrew (Julie) of Davisburg;

Mary (Bill) Gustafson of Rogers City; and

Josephine (Wes) Thornburg of Montrose; as well as
three brothers, Harold (aka Tiny), Joseph, and Harry;
27 grandchildren: Alexander Woida, Diana (Woida) Locke,

Heather (William) Hart, Charles McLeod, John McLeod (d. 2004),
William McLeod, Dawn (Woida) Cousins, Joseph Woida,
Michaelene (Woida) Kroll, Isaac Woida, Adam Woida (d. 2007),
Richard Woida, Scott Woida, Rachel Woida, Marissa Woida,
Benjamin Woida-Clark, Janelle Woida, Henry Woida,
Jennifer (Woida) Cherry, Andrew Woida, Eric Woida,
Donald Gustafson (d, 2017), Paul Gustafson, Celeste (Thornburg) Glenn,
Ethan Thornburg, Matthew Thornburg, and Shannon (Thornburg) Bolduc;
26 great grandchildren: Taylor Woida, Glenna (Lexi) Woida,
Andrew Locke, Christopher Locke (d. 2006), John Palmer, Skye Gates,
Grace Cousins, Faith Cousins, Joshua Flory, Kenneth Flory, Simon Woida,
Marissa Vasquez, Evan Vasquez, Oakley Woida-Vasquez,
Allison (Woida) Coakley, Jacob Cherry, Vincent Woida, Jonathon Woida,
Grace Woida, Sarah Woida, Sophia Glenn, Connie Glenn, Michael Glenn,
Jubliee Grace Glenn, Eli Thornburg, Dalilah Thornburg; and
3 great-great children: Riley Locke and Easton Coakley, and
Marley Grace Woida.

Friends may visit at St. Casimir Catholic Church on Thursday from
10:00 a.m. through time of Mass at 11:00 a.m.

Interment will take place in the spring at St. Casimir Catholic Cemetery.