Vivian Liebeck

Vivian Liebeck was a woman who never did anything half-way. From the cookies she baked, to the letters she wrote, to the home she so lovingly decorated, Vivian found such pride and joy in the things she did. She put her whole heart into the life she led, and those she loved. More than anything, Vivian was a loving wife, mother and friend, a good Christian, and a great lady.

Vivian’s story began on a cool fall day in 1923, in the bustling city of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Those were exciting times in this country, as the Roaring 20s began to roar, when Big Bands were the backbeat of a generation, and Prohibition was the law of the land. On November 16, 1923, Herman and Slema (Nawrot) Kurdelski had even more to celebrate, with the birth of a baby girl at their home, a daughter they named Vivian Marie.

Vivian was later joined by her little sister Patricia in the family’s home in Grand Rapids, where her father worked as an auto mechanic for the City of Grand Rapids, while her mother was a devoted homemaker.

The Kurdelskis were a good Catholic family, and Vivian and her sister attended St. Adalbert’s School as girls as a result. Vivian enjoyed school, and got involved in many activities when she arrived at Mt. Mercy Academy for high school. She had a natural gift for the interior design classes she took, and became a member of the Art Club. She was a very creative, talented young woman, and collected beautiful postcards, too. Vivian was also on the school’s tennis team for a time, too, but decorating was her true passion even then. In fact, her senior yearbook listed two of her favorite decorative tastes, the chrysanthemum flower and the color yellow.

After she graduated in 1942, Vivian took her artistic talents to Evans Printing, where she worked in the office. She would later go to work in the Treasurer’s office of the City of Grand Rapids for a few years, but it was her personal life that was about to get more interesting.

Vivian had many friends as a young woman, and she loved going to the many operettas playing at Ramona Park, where they played all the polkas and Big Band music she loved so much. She also loved going to the movies with her friends in those days, during cinema’s golden era.

Some of Vivian’s friends had joined a club that wrote letters to GI’s overseas during World War II. Vivian wasn’t a member of the club, but she agreed to write letters to one soldier, whose name she got from a friend of hers. The GI’s name was Roman Liebeck, a young soldier from Grand Rapids who joined the National Guard in 1940.

So Vivian began writing Roman, writing about his bravery, and about the happenings in their hometown. And unlike the soldiers her friends wrote to, Vivian actually got letters back from him. As the months went by, a love slowly bloomed, a love shared in paper and ink, stamped, sealed, and delivered.

When Roman was discharged and returned home, the couple had their first official date, going to a Novena at St. James Church, followed by a quiet dinner together. They fell in love, and two years later they were married, on May 17, 1947, in the Basilica of St. Adalbert. The newlyweds honeymooned in Niagara Falls, and later settled into a little home on Fruitwood Street NW, in the old section.

The couple became parents in 1953, when they celebrated the birth of their only child, a beautiful baby girl they named Suzanne. When her daughter arrived, Vivian left her job at the City, excited to devote her whole energy to caring for her family and home.

Vivian was a wonderful wife and mother, and especially loved being a Mom. She was also an incredible cook, whose Polish cabbage rolls and Swiss steak were out-of-this-world. She loved collecting recipes, and excitedly tried out new ones she’d found.

Vivian and Suzanne loved to take day trips-especially trips by Amtrak to Chicao for holiday shopping. When Roman was alive, they would travel annually to Frankenmuth , along with good friend Sam Grimes to shop at Bronners and enjoy chicken dinners at Zehnders. After Roman passed away they also began to take neighbor Lou Vander Have as well. Vivian bought a new ornament for Suzanne every year for Christmas ever since she was born.

Vivian also loved to bake, and she and her daughter, Suzanne, would team up to bake cookies for the Catholic Chaplain, Father Bill Langlois, who took the cookies to patients in local hospitals. Their cookies were such a big hit, one year they baked 800 dozen (that’s nine-thousand-six-hundred) cookies!

That was Vivian, though: She was a woman so generous with her time, her money, and her love for those in need. Vivian was a devout Catholic, and a lifetime member of St. Adalbert, as well as the Altar Society and the Mt. Mercy League, too, and helped out wherever she could. She never did anything half-way, or half-heartedly, especially when it came to her faith, her family and her home.

Vivian’s home was always her most prized possession, and she took great pride in decorating it beautifully. The family moved to Westmont NW in the late 1950s, before building a beautiful home on Fruitwood N.W. in the 1960s, the very first home in the new section. Vivian loved that home, the home she lived in the rest of her days.

Christmastime was an especially wonderful time to her, and she went all out in decorating. Practically as soon as the Thanksgiving plates had been cleared from the table, Vivian was busy decorating for Christmas, and had 30 completely-decorated Christmas trees in their home! It was truly a sight to behold, a magical, indoor winter wonderland.

Eventually, though, Vivian’s health began to decline, and on August 1, 2007, she developed a blood clot and went into the hospital. She battled infection over the next few months, and even got to come home. Sadly, Vivian died that very morning, on Thursday, October 4, 2007 at her home she loved so much, at the age of 83.

Vivian was a wonderful woman, who lived a wonderful life, a life she truly lived in full. She never did anything half-way, or half-heartedly, from the help she gave, to the home she loved, to the family who meant everything to her. She will be so greatly missed.

She was preceded in death by her husband Roman and her parents Herman and Selma Kurdelski. She is survived by her loving daughter Suzanne, sister and brothers-in-law, John and Patricia Farmer, Edward Liebeck; nieces Mary and Dennis Zak and Maureen and Michael Sullivan. Also surviving are her great nieces and nephews, Sara, Dana, Christopher, Kevin and Steven Zak and Ryan, Kyle and Luke Sullivan along with special neighbor and friend Lou Vander Have. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Monday, October 8, 2007 at 10AM at the Basilica of St. Adalbert, corner of Fourth St NW and Davis NW with Fr. Tom DeYoung celebrant. Interment in Holy Cross Cemetery. Friends may meet the family at the Heritage Life Story Funeral Homes-Alt & Shawmut Hills Chapel, 2120 Lake Michigan Dr NW on Sunday from 2-4 and 7-9PM where the Rosary will be recited at 7:30PM or at the church one hour prior to the Mass. Memorial contributions may be made to Basilica of St. Adalbert Restore the Glory Restoration Fund (c/o the Basilica). You may read Vivian’s Life Story, sign the guestbook or make memorial contributions by visiting www.lifestorynet.com.