Stanley J. Sekerka

Update: A gathering of family and friends will be held on Saturday, August 8, 2020 between the hours of 9:30 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. at the Robison-Bahnmiller Funeral Home in Saline. We will ask all who attend to adhere to the social distancing guidelines and masks will be required. Following the visitation, a graveside service will be held in the Oakwood Cemetery in Saline at 12:00 Noon. Pastor Tom Zimmerman will officiate the service. Memorial contributions in Stan’s name may be made to the Dexter Community Orchestra or the Saline District Library and envelopes will be available at the funeral home. Our thanks to St. Joseph Mercy Home Care and Hospice who assisted in end of life support and to which memorial contributions in Stan’s name may also be made. Stanley J. Sekerka, 100, of Saline, died Friday, June 19, 2020, at home in Saline, where he has lived for more than 50 years with his loving family, after a well-lived life as husband, father, uncle, friend, educator, benefactor, musician and mentor. He was born in Toledo, Ohio on December 14, 1919 to Frances (Benedict) and George Sekerka from Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) and always joked that he was a “double Czech” (didn't speak English until kindergarten). Stan married Doris (Teufel) Sekerka on June 30, 1951 in Toledo. After getting his undergraduate degree in education from the University of Toledo, Stan earned his master’s in education from the University of Indiana at Bloomington and completed graduate work at the University of Michigan. He was initially a 5th grade elementary teacher but later became a curriculum coordinator and elementary school principal including 10 years at Saline’s Jensen Elementary School. Stan loved education and was always reading. He took pride in being well informed on a variety of issues and was a generous philanthropist to many causes, most supporting social justice and being good stewards of the planet. He was devoted to his family and, with an amazing work ethic, ensured all of his children had the opportunity to go to college. Stan’s other great love was music. Although he gave up playing while raising his family, he renewed his musical career in his 70s and, once again, picked up the violin (although he also played piano and trumpet in his early life in his father’s Bohemian polka band and with the 148th Infantry Band in Toledo before World War II). He joined a number of local bands, playing at church services and nursing homes for nearly two decades. He also became a member of several orchestras including the Dexter Community Orchestra and Tecumseh Pops Orchestra as well as the VA National Medical Musical Group which performed in Europe, Hawaii and at Washington's Kennedy Center. Stan (and Doris) were active members of the First United Methodist Church of Saline and assisted greatly with fund-raising and building the new facility north of Saline. In addition, Stan served for many years on the Saline Library Board and delivered Meals-on-Wheels until he stopped driving at 95. Stanley is survived by his wife of nearly 69 years, Doris, and children Susan (John), Scott (Clarissa) and Bradley who has been his dedicated and primary caregiver for the last nearly 2 years, allowing Stan to live his final days at home. Cremation has taken place. A gathering of family and friends will be held on Saturday, August 8, 2020 between the hours of 9:30 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. at the Robison-Bahnmiller Funeral Home in Saline. Please adhere to the social distancing guidelines and masks will be required. Following the visitation, a graveside service will be held in the Oakwood Cemetery in Saline at 12:00 Noon. Pastor Tom Zimmerman will officiate the service. Memorial contributions in Stan’s name may be made to the Dexter Community Orchestra or the Saline District Library and envelopes will be available at the funeral home. Our thanks to St. Joseph Mercy Home Care and Hospice who assisted in end of life support and to which memorial contributions in Stan’s name may also be made. Arrangements entrusted to the Robison-Bahnmiller Funeral Home in Saline. To leave a memory you have of Stan or to sign his guestbook please visit www.rbfhsaline.com

Tributes

Stanley J. Sekerka

December 14, 1919 - June 19, 2020