Eddie Glowicki.......remembering a hero.

Obituary for Edmund Joseph Glowicki.

TRAVERSE CITY - Edmund Joseph Glowicki, 92, of Lake Leelanau, passed away on August 12, 2016 at the Grand Traverse Pavilions.

Edmund was born in Detroit on April 24, 1924 to the late Martin and Stephanie Glowicki.

After graduating from high school he enlisted and honorably served his country in the U.S. Army. He served in World War II in both the European and North African theaters. He participated in the Omaha Beach and Normandy invasions as well as the Battle of the Bulge. He received both the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.

He married the late Mary Genevieve Morrow in Detroit on August 5, 1950.

Edmund graduated from Wayne State University with degrees in Liberal Arts, Business and Pharmacy. He was a registered Pharmacist in the Detroit and Traverse City areas. The family relocated to the Traverse City area in the 1970s. He especially enjoyed fishing and was a member of the Lake Leelanau St. Mary’s Catholic Church, American Legion, VFW, DAV.

Edmund is survived by his son, Mark (Denise) Glowicki , and grandsons, Martin Glowicki and Evan Glowicki, all of Suttons Bay.

He is preceded in death by his parents, wife Mary Genevieve (2014) and brother, Theodore Glowicki.

Visitation for Edmund will be held from 2-4pm at the Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home on Sunday, August 14, 2016 with the memorial service commencing at 4pm. Burial will take place at Arlington National Cemetery at a future date.


I knew Eddie for many many years because I worked with his wife Mary. Mary always loved horses and so did I. Eventually I bought a horse and we had many adventures together. Eddie was her husband. Mary didn't have a lot of respect for a lot of people but she was fiercely loyal to Eddie. She talked of him with much pride. He was a very smart and very kind man, and VERY patient. One would have to be to be married to Mary. Oh the stories I could tell and maybe some day I will. For now this is about Eddie. After the war was over he still suffered his entire life from the injuries he sustained. He was injured on Omaha Beach and his life was diminished somewhat by those injuries, or would have been had he been a lesser man. For a time he was a quadriplegic and spend a lot of time in and out of hospitals. He overcame, he was eventually able to walk again, mainly with crutches or sticks but he was determined and did what he wanted to do. I think his bravery was more in the life he led after the war. He never talked about the war as most people who were in that war did not. My Dad was a POW in Japan, and he never talked about that much either unless he remembered something funny or interesting, but not about his own ordeals. That was Eddie too. His pain did not end there, he suffered from Kidney cancer. Lost a kidney but survived and overcame that too.
Eddie loved to fish, they had a modest home on Lake Leelanau and he had a boat and enjoyed that time when he could get away and relax and fish. Mary would be at the barn with her horses and he would do his own thing. They were socially active for many years and we would see Eddie often at friends gatherings or bank parties. There is one story Mary told of Eddie showing up at a home party one Christmas and Mary was very late. So after a drink and some snacks he had sat chatting with everyone and finally asked if anyone had heard from Mary....................no one knew who Mary was. Eddie was at the wrong house. Their party was down the road a bit. It just went to show how amicable he was that no one noticed that they didn't know him. Eddie looked just like Ed Asner if you remember him?
My boys both liked Eddie very much and only lost contact during their Marine Corp days. Justin went to see him soon after he got out but Eddie didn't really remember him by then.
Eddie ended his days in The Pavilions in Traverse city with his family with him. By then he had cancer in the spine and had last I heard lost at least one of his legs. For a time Mary was also there and shared a room with him until she died. The nurses there loved him from what friends have said. He was a decent and good man, he bore his pain without complaint and to me was more of a hero after the war. A good man has left this world and I hope he has a new body and crowns of glory in the next. If anyone deserves the peace that passeth all understanding it is Eddie.