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Chmiel and his wife, Dawn, celebrate with his son, Griffin, after his team performed well in a hockey tournament this past December.
Photo provided by Michael Taylor
HUNTINGTON WOODS — The Huntington Woods community has been in mourning after the passing of Department of Public Works Supervisor Doug Chmiel.
Chmiel died on March 13 at the age of 43 after a tragic accident while working to clear a road during a severe windstorm. A large tree branch fell and hit him in the head. He is survived by his wife, Dawn, and his three children: Penelope, 12; Elinor, 9; and Griffin, 7.
Michael Taylor, Chmiel’s brother-in-law and Dawn’s brother, has known Chmiel since he was 11 years old. Taylor looked up to Chmiel like an older brother, and did so even more when Chmiel started dating his sister when Chmiel and her were 16.
“He was one of the kids that had a ton of friends on the block, always making people feel welcome, always laughing with people,” Taylor said. “He was always the guy that everybody always wanted to be around, which is why this is such a massive loss and we’ve had such a massive response.”
A native of Redford who graduated from Redford Union High School and attended Central Michigan University, Chmiel would go on to serve in the Michigan Army National Guard and the 119th Field Artillery Regiment.
Anywhere Chmiel went, whether it was the military, college or the Department of Public Works, Taylor said he made friends everywhere.
“Every quadrant of life, he was always kind of larger than life and always had a lot of friends,” he said. “He was just always a lot of fun.”
Phillip Garrett, a lifelong friend of Chmiel, met him growing up in Redford at the age of 11.
From riding together on the bus to inviting him into his friend group, Garrett remembered Chmiel as the centerpiece of their block and the glue to many friendships.
“He really welcomed me into the neighborhood and he probably — I don’t know if he even knew he was doing it — but really brought me into the fold and connected me with everybody,” Garrett said. “Many years later, I had left and gone to Catholic Central High School, and I came back two years later to Redford Union High School, and I was disconnected and he did the exact same thing again in high school. I came in, he introduced me to all these people I had never met before and really plugged me in, and he was great at that.”
Garrett and Taylor both said Chmiel continued to be like this as they grew into adults: someone who could strike up a friendship with anyone immediately.
“He doesn’t have any guards or borders up,” Garrett shared. “He’s the type of guy that’s an open book. He’s honest; he’s approachable; he’s jolly.”
“You could never be in the room with him and not feel included,” Taylor added. “Everybody’s been saying this, so I didn’t coin this, but it rings true for all of us: to know him was to love him.”
Chmiel also had a love of hockey, board games and woodworking. He also was a man of faith, as both Taylor and Garrett said Chmiel’s relationship with God was something very important to him.
As they remember their friend and family member, Chmiel was someone that you could have a good laugh with, a lot of smiles, but also someone you could be deep and open with.
“I saw him grow in his faith over the years,” Taylor said. “He’s a devoted follower of Jesus. He attended Faith Covenant Church and he was active members with his wife and kids, and just an even better father and husband. He just got better as life went on, and he was awesome to begin with.”
“(He was) a guy that was always going to make you laugh and smile and make you feel loved, and you can see that from the outpouring of notes and fundraising and all these things. People just loved Doug because he loved that. … He really just reciprocated it.
Chmiel’s funeral service was held on March 20. In lieu of flowers, a GoFundMe has been made to help support the family, which has raised more than $255,000. It can be found at gofundme.com/f/sup port-dawn-3-children-after-loss-of-husband-and- veteran.
