Warren resident celebrates 100th birthday

WARREN — Eleanor Stepanski felt “fantastic.”

She was surrounded by the people who love her the most when they gathered to celebrate her 100-year birthday.

A party was held Jan. 9 — one week before the centenarian’s actual Jan. 16 birthday — at Arbor Inn, the assisted living community where Stepanski has resided since March.

Wearing a fashionable sash and matching tiara, Stepanski grew emotional when she entered the dining room decorated with balloons, table centerpieces and not one, but two cakes in her honor. Disc jockey Tony Thomas cued “Happy Birthday” as family, friends, residents and staff sang along.

“I’ve been fortunate I’ve lived a long time,” she said. “Thank you, everybody, for the memories. I love you all.”

The party continued with snacks and sweets as Thomas played some standards that included Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York,” “In The Mood” by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and “Beer Barrel Polka.”

 

‘He pulled out this big diamond, and I mean a big diamond’
Eleanor Guminski was born Jan. 16, 1926, in Detroit. She had one younger brother, Savern, who was known as “Vern.” They grew up on Detroit’s east side with their mother Eleanor Guminski, whose maiden name was Minkwic. Her five uncles on her mom’s side were very involved in her childhood, and another role model was her grandmother, Helen Laskowski Minkwic.

“My grandma was something else,” Stepanski remembered. “In Bay City, she had a saloon, not a bar, but a saloon. She was very fussy who came in. If she didn’t like the way the women were dressed, they couldn’t come in.”

Stepanski giggled when she said that her grandmother “played the mutuals,” which basically meant she held onto other people’s money for the bookie when they gambled.

Her mother was insistent that the children receive a Catholic education. Stepanski and Vern were both students at St. Augustine Catholic School in Detroit. Vern then went on to Detroit Catholic Central High School, and Stepanski enrolled at Dominican High School.

Vern was a skilled engineer. When employed with Chrysler at the Detroit Tank Arsenal in Warren, he was on the team that designed a military tank for World War II.

Eleanor Guminski was a young adult when she first spotted a World War II soldier named John Stepanski. She knew his sisters but kept her distance from him.

“I looked at him, and he was in his uniform,” Stepanski said. “I thought, ‘Oh, he’s stuck up on himself,’ and I never bothered with him. But he kept calling me until I finally broke down and said, ‘OK, I’ll go out with you.’”

Their first date was “at one of the nicer restaurants.”

“He wasn’t cheap, that’s for sure,” she said. “I had a good time with him. He called me a few times after that, and I said I would go out with him.”

Walking along Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit was a pastime for the couple. Their relationship became serious, and John eventually asked for her hand in marriage.

“He pulled out this big diamond, and I mean a big diamond,” she recalled. “It was a karat marquise cut.”

She said “yes” to his proposal and became Mrs. John Stepanski in June 1949 at St. Augustine. The blushing bride didn’t want a big wedding and elected to hold the ceremony on a Wednesday. Once married, the newlyweds settled on Keystone Street in Detroit.

“We had a house and an income,” she said. “After the war, everyone was happy to have a job.”

Stepanski found “a nice job” at the Chrysler Corp. She was happy to stop working, though, when she became a mother to their two sons, John and Paul. Stepanski was a good seamstress and spent many years sewing outfits for herself, her husband and her boys.

The Stepanski household became a hangout for many neighborhood kids, mainly to splash around the family pool.

“I had a swimming pool in my backyard, and I had regular swings like they had at the park,” she said. “I was the babysitter for all the neighbors because they knew I was strict with the youngsters.”

It was a role she took to heart.

“I got a kick out of the kids,” she said.

 

‘She’s my hero’
Both sons attended Catholic Central. Stepanski lost the love of her life, her husband John, when he died of a heart attack at age 50 while golfing. She held onto their memories as she raised her two children. Friends and family helped out, and she also went back to work. One job was working in the office at Lumbermen Associates. She paid close attention to learn the business of selling lumber.

During her lifetime, Stepanski knitted, traveled to Europe and the Caribbean islands, and was known for her rose garden. The birthday girl also is an avid reader, especially when it comes to authors Stuart Woods and Janet Evanovich.

Sadly, her son John died at age 37 of a heart attack.

Prior to moving to Arbor Inn, Stepanski lived in a townhouse community in Troy, where she made many friends. Some attended her party as did Stepanski’s niece, Sharon Kubica, 76, and her husband Jerry Kubica of Charlotte, Michigan.

“She’s my hero. If I can be in that good of shape when I’m 100 years old, I’ll be happy,” Kubica said. “Eleanor threw the bridal shower for my husband and I in her basement. I was 21 and he was 24. She’s been pretty remarkable when you think about how independent she has been all these years.”

“The most important thing about Eleanor, her door is always open,” said Bonita Olesen, 76, who flew in from Florida to celebrate her friend’s milestone. “When you go in, she’s going to listen when you talk.”

There were a lot of block parties back in Troy. Stepanski always brought the necessities: barbecued ribs, deviled eggs, cheesecake, and Absolute Vodka and tonic.

One of the best memories for friend Kathleen Katz was the time she worked in sales. She was in the middle of making goodie bags for her customers. The problem was Katz didn’t feel well. Stepanski came to the rescue, made her a hot toddy drink and took over.

“I woke up on the couch, 125 of these things were done and she was gone,” said Katz, 70, of Troy. “She did every single one of them for me.”

Another companion later in life was Stepanski’s dog Scruffy.

“She walked miles with Scruffy,” former neighbor Sheila Ballantine, 86, of Troy, said. “I’d be coming home from work and there would be Eleanor trotting along.”

Because others wanted to wish Stepanski a “Happy Birthday,” a second party was held Jan. 10 with about 70 former neighbors at the Troy clubhouse.