Martin John Strelecki

Martin John Strelecki, 88, of East Tawas, passed on to the other side of the veil on July 25, 2025, just three days before his 66th wedding anniversary to Carolyn (Balanger) on July 28.
Martin was born on Nov. 14, 1936 in Hamtramck to the late Stanley Strelecki and Jean (Lukomski) Strelecki.
Martin proudly served in the United States Air Force from January of 1955 to August of 1958. He was stationed at McGuire AFB in New Jersey and was honorably discharged with a Good Conduct Medal at the conclusion of his service.
He was a member of the Holy Family Catholic Church and also the Knights of Columbus.
Most of Martin's working career was spent as an auditor at the D&M Railroad. A favored memory of the family continues to be hearing the train whistle, and also remembering the blowing of the 8 a.m., noon and 5 p.m. whistle. But especially the one at 5 p.m., because everyone knew at 5:05 they would be sitting together at the table eating dinner as a family.
Martin was a quiet and gentle man with the patience of Job and loved his family very much. He was also one who would lend a helping hand to anyone at any time and was loved by everyone.
His most beloved hobby was fishing and he also enjoyed woodworking. He was known for his late night pizza runs, great popcorn, sourdough pancake breakfasts and Sunday afternoon rides.
He is survived by his wife, Carolyn; children, Brigette (Jeff) Wolgast of Tawas City, Lisa (Nathan) Blury of Alpena, Scott (Bonnie) Strelecki of Traverse City, and Amy Strelecki of Cadillac; his brothers, Stan (Nan) Strelecki of Pinconning, and George (Tina) Strelecki of Ohio, and his sister Carrie Hallman of Standish; grandchildren, Brandon, Trista, Nathan II, Cassandra, Brenten and Luke, Michael, Kristin and Lois; great grandchildren, Amelia, Braedyn, Colton, Daisy, Duke, Kaleb, Alexis, Malik, McKenkie, Jaidyn and Laela and one more on the way; along with several great-great grandchildren and many beloved nieces and nephews.
Martin was preceded in death by his parents; and two sisters, Joanne DiBlase and Ethel Strelecki.
The funeral mass will be held on Saturday, Aug. 2, at Holy Family Catholic Church with visitation starting at 10 a.m. until the service at 11 a.m. Military honors will be held at St. Joseph Cemetery in East Tawas, after the funeral mass with a luncheon to follow.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Jude’s at www.stjude.org or any organization that is dear to your heart in honor of Martin.