Sarah Ann Stroik

Sarah Ann Stroik, 71, of East Lansing passed away after an 8-year battle with metastatic breast cancer on December 2, 2022. She was the loving wife of her high school sweetheart Gary Lee Stroik with whom she had just celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary.

Born in Saginaw on February 9, 1951, she was the second child of the late Wallace Alexander Sr. and Leona (Peplinski) Mackiewicz. She graduated from St. Mary’s Saginaw and worked at the Hoyt library and later at Luxton Drugs. She married Gary on November 29, 1969, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Saginaw. She was a wonderful homemaker and mother of four. As her family grew, she ran an in-home daycare and went on to become a self-taught accountant working with her husband. She was meticulous in everything that she did and was well-known in the home office to be the most accurate field accountant in the company during her tenure.

Gary’s work allowed them to make moves from Saginaw to Lawrence, KS, then to Bismarck, ND and finally, they returned home to Michigan in 1984. Sarah thoroughly enjoyed volunteering and did so for many organizations including her children’s schools, churches, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts where she became a lifetime member. For over 30 years she made meals for the funeral luncheons at her church often with very little notice which was never a problem as she always had the needed ingredients on hand. She also regularly cleaned the pews, made stolls for the priests and christening bibs for baptisms as well as participated in numerous service projects with her children and Scouts. In Girl Scouts, she served in numerous leadership positions. For years prior to and up to her death, she was the Girl Scout Chair of the Diocese of Lansing Catholic Committee on Scouting. She spent countless hours training leaders and mentoring young girls who were earning their religious Scouting awards as well as reviewing applications, ordering awards and helping to organize and plan the annual awards ceremony for the Scouts.

Sarah was known for her tremendous sewing skills which she learned from her mother. She made most of her children's clothes when they were small and used her creativity to make dresses, curtains, pillows, aprons and more. Later, she acquired an embroidery sewing machine and made monogrammed towels for wedding gifts and graduations and beautiful blankets for newborn babies. Sarah was a charter member of the Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Club and a member of the local Spirit of Hallmark Club. She collected hundreds of ornaments over the years and loved giving them as gifts to her family and friends. She would shop sales and find treasures to tuck away. Whenever she needed a little gift, she could always pull something perfect out of her stash. She loved writing letters and sending cards and never missed a birthday, graduation, holiday, anniversary or any other special occasion. She always wrote thank you notes to everyone who gave her a gift or did an act of kindness toward her. She was known for her beautiful handwriting and in her last few days, she still managed to write out some Christmas cards as she did yearly. Many will remember her by the beautiful cards and notes that they received from her over the years.

Sarah was preceded in death by her parents Wallace and Leona Mackiewicz; siblings, Wallace, Dennis and Bernadette Lewis and niece Shannon Brace. Surviving to cherish her memory are her husband of 53 years Gary Stroik Sr.; children Jennifer (Ronald) Kramer, Mary Beth Stewart, Gary Jr. (Angel) Stroik and Elizabeth (Christopher) Basala; siblings David Mackiewicz, Kathleen Mackz, Paul (Sharon) Mackiewicz, and Michael Mackiewicz; sisters-in-law Judy Mackiewicz and Laurie (Ron) Lupu; grandchildren Emily (JD) Manning, Jake (Tiffany) Brooks, Jessica (Geoff) Sparkes, Tiffany Jensen, Daniel & Kaitlyn Cadle, Jacob Kramer, Caleb Jones, Joshua Bean, Nathan, Zachary and Nicholas Stroik; great-grandchildren Cheyenne, Dakota, Landen & Max Manning, Odin, Freya & Lilith Brooks, Tyler & Abel Wheaton and Savannah & Keith Sparkes; 12 nieces and nephews and 8 great-nieces and nephews.

Donations or gifts in lieu of flowers may be made to the Diocese of Lansing Catholic Committee on Scouting, 228 N Walnut St, Lansing, MI 48933 or to the family. The family will receive friends at Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes, 1730 E. Grand River Ave., East Lansing on Thursday, December 8 from 2-4 pm and 6-8 pm, with a rosary being held at 7:30 pm. A funeral mass will be celebrated on Friday, December 9 at 10:30 am at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, 955 Alton Rd., East Lansing with one hour of visitation prior to mass and a luncheon immediately following. Rite of Committal will follow at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Saginaw MI. Condolences may be shared online at www.greastlansing.com.