Michael J Veneskey's Obituary
Michael Veneskey, age 87, passed away peacefully on Saturday, October 29 2022, after a long illness.
He is survived by his beloved wife Rita Veneskey (née Brawley) of 66 years. Michael was the loving father of Kathryn King (Lorne), James Veneskey (Julie) and Diane Jandi (Jeffrey). He had five grandsons whom he loved dearly: Brandon (Audrey), Michael (Marie), Jonathan, Justin and Alexander. He also had one great grandson Owen (Brandon). He was a brother to numerous siblings and uncle to many nieces and nephews.
Michael, along with his brothers and sisters, were raised on a family farm in Pennsylvania - but he soon married Rita and they moved to the big city (Cleveland).
Michael was employed by Chevrolet in Parma as a tool and die maker for 52 years. Michael loved to build and to fix things, his humble beginnings instilled within him a "fix it instead of tossing it" philosophy. He also encouraged his son and grandsons to adopt this same philosophy by gifting them tool kits as soon as they were old enough to use them.
When Michael's children moved into homes of their own, he was always willing to help them with their inevitable home projects no matter how large.
Soon after retiring, Michael joined "Habitat for Humanity" where he could help build housing for the
underprivileged, something that appealed to both his generous nature and his joy of building things.
In his early 80s, Michael became a trail monitor for the Cleveland Metroparks - a park that he has
enjoyed visiting since he first moved to the Cleveland area.
He loved to play bingo on the weekends with family, and did so for about 11 years. He was always available to help his extended family in any projects they were involved in or with any automotive issues that came up. He very rarely would raise his voice, he never complained and nothing seemed to ever bother him. He was definitely a "Doer" as opposed to a "Sayer".
Michael wasn't a man of many words, but his words were always sage advice. Even though he was originally from Pennsylvania, Michael quickly became a fan of the Cleveland Browns; however when the Steelers played the Browns, he always rooted for the Steelers.When visiting family in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania or wherever, he would always enjoy joining in the inevitable card games and play long into the night.
In lieu of sending flowers, take a walk outside and enjoy nature - he would have wanted that.
If you wish to make a donation, please make it out to Cypress Hospice via https://www.generationshcm.com/tree-of-life-donations or to the Metroparks via https://www.clevelandmetroparks.com/parks/support/donate
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