Edna Mae Nieratko

Edna Mae Nieratko Lansing Edna Mae Nieratko, 85 passed away peacefully in her sleep at her home on Saturday, May 15, 2010. She was a breast cancer survivor, but unable to conquer Alzheimer Disease. She was born Edna Mae Witschey on October 11, 1924 in the back of her uncle's general store in Hannibal, Ohio, and raised in Moundsville, West Virginia where she met her high school sweetheart Paul. He the captain of the football team and she the librarian, married on August 14, 1948. They moved to Lansing, MI in 1949 where Paul became a baker and Edna a secretary and homemaker. From 1962 to 1987 Edna and Paul worked side by side as co-owners of Paul's Pastry Shop where Edna developed an outstanding talent for the art of cake decorating. Edna was a loving and devoted wife and an excellent parent and mother, not only for her own three children but to numerous other young people whose lives she touched. Edna enjoyed time with family and friends, vacations back to the "hills" of West Virginia, reading, crossword puzzles, and weekends volunteering at McRee House. Thanks to the devotion and compassionate care of her family, Great Lakes Home Health and Hospice, and special friend Rose, Edna was able to live out her life at home with her husband by her side. Edna was preceded in death by her parents, Lewis and Anna, her brother Paul, and sisters Thelma and Martha (Young). She is survived by her husband of 62 years, Paul, her children Ann, Paul II (Maureen), Barb (Roberto), and her beautiful granddaughters Katie and Natalia Mae. Her life was a sweet poem, now sung for eternity by angels. More than words can say she was loved and will be forever missed. In lieu of flowers, and in honor of the bakery years, the family requests donations be made to the Greater Lansing Food Bank in Edna's name. A memorial celebration of Edna's life will be held at a later date. The family is being served by the Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes, Lansing. On line condolences may be sent to www.gorslineruncimanlansing.com.