Michelle Amelia Zakraysek

1957 - 2020

Michelle Amelia Zakraysek passed away on Tuesday, September 15, 2020, one week after her 63rd birthday. She died in her sleep, in a house that she built as single-handedly as possible. That was her way, in more ways than one. Her truck had a full tank of gas, and a full bed of dirt. Three water bottles, a rake and a shovel. She was already ready for her next adventure.

She was born September 8, 1957 in Syracuse, NY to Louis and Shirley Zakraysek, the youngest of three girls. Her dad taught her how to shoot and develop film. Her mom taught her how to accept country music and how to do her own taxes. As a teenager, she started work manufacturing magic tricks for her friend and mentor, Jack Miller. She graduated from Cicero-North Syracuse High School in 1975, and shortly after found herself captivated by the prospect of recreational construction. She built her first house at age 20. She married Douglas Cordes in 1982, and kept her own name. In Manlius, they built a house for their family and a barn for their horses. In 1994 they relocated their young family to Concord, NC, where snow is a rarity, and where they built a house again. Here her career took shape around the needs of her family. She read her children to bed - often non-fiction - before heading to work third shift at the Fed in Charlotte. She continued working for Jack, and eventually came to own and run Jack Miller Enterprises herself. Michelle had a reciprocal relationship with information. She was often both an authority and a student. After leaving the Fed she worked for Lowes Home Improvement, where she was recognized by her peers and customers as a reservoir of knowledge. She gained certification as an EMT. She became a licensed home inspector. She once said she hoped the afterlife would provide the answer to any question she'd ever had. If that's true, she's probably bored by now. She loved to make things. But she loved more to help things make themselves, to help things through their own course. Her children are two of those things. Apple tree saplings and daredevil turtles and wayward black snakes. She gave six years to see her parents through their final days with dignity and acknowledgment. She loved us, as was her way: stubbornly and full.

There are some things about Michelle that never changed. She loved her dogs, and she loved chocolate cake. She had a habit of taking things with her. Her library card, and her tape measure. Every receipt, every coupon. A quarter-sheet of plywood. Roadside furniture from an afternoon bike ride. Each room of her house has its own bookcase, and each bookcase is full. Part of us has certainly been taken with her.

She is survived by her two children, Mary and William Cordes, her sister Mary Kenny (husband Jim), her friend of 25 years, Scott Hunsucker, her ex-husband Douglas Cordes, and his two daughters Emily and Zoie.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Habitat for Humanity in honor of her memory.