John J Wojtowicz

John Joseph Paul Wojtowicz was born in Fordson (now Dearborn) Michigan, December 10th 1926. He was the son of Polish immigrants Joseph and Viktoria Wojtowicz (Filiks). John had two older sisters that preceded him in death Mary (Charlie Ross), and Cecelia (Albert Vargo).

John attended Polish Catholic Schools, where he learned all the lessons in Polish and English and maintained straight A's. His mother died very young, when he was only 9 years old, and quickly had to learn how to be independent. In his Junior year of High School he decided to join the Navy and serve his country. This was his first time leaving Michigan, he got to see much of the world including San Francisco, Hawaii, Australia and the Philippines. John was very proud of his time in service, and until his dying day he maintained he would "never give up the ship."

When he returned home to Michigan he obtained his GED and met his first wife Jean Dickinson. John and Jean were soon married and later blessed with a baby boy, David Allen. Jean passed soon there after from Leukemia. John called upon the strength and perseverance he learned as a young boy. He went back to school and pursued a career in photography. At work he met Ronni Gates who would become his second wife. He loved and cared for Ronni very much in their 55 years of marriage.

John worked hard to provide for his family. He built two homes from the ground up. The second house was a lake house where he enjoyed weekend getaways spending time on his pontoon boat, fishing and relaxing with Ronni. He ultimately worked his way up to Supervisor of the color photo lab for Ford Motor Company. He loved his job and retired after 35 years. After retirement John and Ronni moved to Tucson Arizona to be closer to their son David and their grandchildren.

John always had many hobbies including building clocks, bowling, golfing, woodworking, pottery, computers and photography. He was a caretaker at heart and felt best when helping others. He had a great sense of humor and always maintained that "levity" was important. John always treated people with kindness and respect. John is survived by his son David Wojtowicz, his grandchildren Angela (Walter Carbajal), Jeffery (Emily) and Zachary, and his great granddaughters Ysa Bella and Phoebe Carbajal. John is very well loved by all his family and many friends.

John lived a very full 88 years of life, and he will be missed dearly. We love you Dad, Dziadzia, Wielki Dziadzia (Pradziadzia)