Karl Pawelka Obituary

Pawelka, Karl Karl Frank Pawelka, age 85, passed away December 6, 2015 after a short illness in Florida. He was born in the Czech Republic and lost both of his parents during the war when he was 15 years old. He spent many years living in Heidelberg, Germany before he immigrated to New York and met Hildegard, his wife of 56 years. He attended the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and worked in the New York area for many years. In 1971 Karl moved the family to Michigan and started his long career at Amway as a Chemical Engineer. He enjoyed playing tennis, biking, sailing and traveling with Hildegard. He was preceded in death by his parents, Josef and Anna Pawelka; and sisters, Edith (Norbert) Willem and Lydia (Dieter) Vogel. Surviving are his wife, Hildegard; children, Rolf (Mona) Pawelka, Walter (Kym) Pawelka, Heide (Chuck) Kotsifas; and grandchildren, Stefan Pawelka, Rachel and Jared Kotsifas. A memorial service will be held at St. Stephen Church, 750 Gladstone Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, on Friday, December 18, at 11:00 AM. The family will be at the church from 10:00 to 11:00 AM to greet friends. In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation to hospice or a charity of your choice.

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Published by Grand Rapids Press from Dec. 11 to Dec. 13, 2015.

Memories and Condolences
for Karl Pawelka

12 Entries

Al Meder

December 5, 2024

I have many fond memories of playing tennis with Karl. He was a wonderful friend. It was special when we got together over wonderful food with his family.

Miss him.

Al Meder, Lincoln, Ne, but formerly of Grand Rapids, Mich.

December 27, 2015

Dear Hildegarde and family

Our sincere condolences and prayers in this time of grief. You have had the pleasure of spending the majority of your lives with Karl.

I first met Karl when I took a trip to the East Coast to interview this engineer who was working at Lever Bros as I recall. We hit it off and Karl and family made the move to Amway and Grand Rapids. Our families became good friends and we had many evenings of playing cards along with the Bakers. We shared Christmases together. We played tennis together. We listened with pride as Karl would talk about his love for German cars.

Although we now live in Nebraska we often think of you all. This summer I talked at length with Karl and he was so proud of you all (and his new Audi!)

Karl had a wonderful sense of humor and a pleasure to be around. We all have so many great memories to cherish.

Al & Pauline Meder

Cheryl Carpenter

December 19, 2015

Our deepest sympathy to you and your entire family, Hildegard. We feel lucky to be your neighbor and it has been so great to get to know Karl. We thought the world of him. I always loved to see him drive away with his bicycle loaded on his bike rack. He had a wonderful spirit and we will miss him. Please let me know if we can help you with anything in the coming months.
Sincerely, Cheryl, Tom, Abigail & Joe

Greg & Pam Grochoski

December 18, 2015

Our deepest sympathies to the Pawelka family. Heaven has welcomed a most principled and caring man.

Mark Siehling

December 18, 2015

My condolences to the Pawelka family. I always enjoyed listening to Karl, and will remember the musical and poetic qualities of his voice, tone, and cadence of speech.

Mary Kretschman

December 17, 2015

Walt and the Palwelka family, We are sorry to hear about the passing of your dad. I only met him a few times but from our conversations, he was quite a guy.
Mary and Steve Kretschman

Terry & Roswitha Vander Laan

December 17, 2015

Hildegard, Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Stefanie Anderson

December 17, 2015

Our sincere condolences to the Pawelka family,
Stefanie & Donovan Anderson

Neal & Mimi Brophy

December 16, 2015

Our sincere condolences to Hildegard and the Pawelka family. Karl was a mentor and a friend of mine since Day 1 at Amway. I enjoyed the many stories and jokes he'd tell on our weekly Friday team lunches...it was always entertaining with Karl. I was with him for two major events; watching MSU's 1979 Basketball Championship game(while on a business trip in California)and the night Reagan was elected President (while were playing cards at his house)...with Rex his dog standing guard at the table. I consider him a modern day "George Bailey", making a positive difference in the lives of many.

December 16, 2015

Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Ellie Kopp Buggeln and family.

Bert Crandell

December 14, 2015

All of my heartfelt condolences to the Pawelka family. I always admired Karl and had great respect for him. He was a joy to work with.

Eleanor and Bob Langran

December 13, 2015

Our heartfelt condolences to Hildegard and family. Our prayers are with all of you.

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