Honoring Tradition.
Celebrating Life.

David Czuhai

July 8, 2021
Grand Rapids, MI

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Anyone who knew or met David or Dave, could say they have a story or two to tell. That is what he did. He left people with a unique memory. He was that type of unforgettable, impressionable person. He was a hard worker and spent most of his life helping those in need and those he loved.

Born during the great depression, David was eleven of thirteen children. He was born on November 22, 1931, in Grand Rapids, MI. He used to help his father with building hand-crafted furniture, and his mother in the kitchen cooking pierogies, making mashed potatoes, and cleaning. Every week, their family would empty all the furniture out of each room and clean it floor to ceiling, wiping the wood down with oil, taking care of the home his father built.

Graduating from Union High School in 1950, he played football and went to the State Championship his junior year, 1948. After high school, Dave was drafted in the Korean War where he was stationed in Japan. After his service, he returned to the states. He traveled and went on to Davenport College to pursue an Accounting Degree. Then, introduced though his friends Gert and Carl, he met his late wife, Rosalie.

One early jobless morning, David picked up a hammer and went to a construction jobsite in search for work. He was given the day to prove himself and his work ethic by driving nails and framing for the entire day. Luckily, his father was a carpenter, and the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. For the entire day, David swung and swung that hammer. After the long workday or “interview”, David, surprising the supervisor, was offered a job on the spot and got to work building with Pioneer Inc, where he worked for over 20 years.

David was an avid astronomy enthusiast, admiring astronomers, physicists, and cosmologists like Stephen Hawking, Leonard Susskind, Michio Kaku, and Carl Sagan to name a few. He shared his enthusiasm with anyone who would allow it. His obsession with the Universe and finding answers to its mechanics never subsided and even intensified in his later years. He loved crossword puzzles, scratch off tickets, singing, Michigan football, jigsaw puzzles, and reading. David especially enjoyed spending as much time as he could with his best friend and great granddaughter Ahlia. Most of all, he loved living life.

David was preceded in death by his wife Rosalie, parents Michael and Mary Czuhai; brothers Mearl, Eugene, and George (Joan); sisters Lucy Spies and Ruth Danhof; half-sisters and half-brother Valerie Gruscuk, Stella Griffith, and Thomas Gresuk, and Stan Gresuk, son; Steven Schwander, nephew; Russel Palmquist, and granddaughter; Tonya Schwander. Surviving are his sisters and brother; Esther Barr, Vera Czuhai, Anita Phillips, and Monte (Nancy), his daughters; Sandy (Terry Burns), Robin Shelton, Crystal (Sabry Arfeen), sons; John Schwander and Nick Schwander, along with many grand and great-grandchildren.