Joseph Michael Gyulay

Joseph Michael Gyulay of Norton Shores, Michigan, died on Monday, December 2, 2024, at Trinity Health Muskegon Hospital, at the age of 67. Joseph was born in Rome, New York, and his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio in the 1960s, where his father owned a kitchen cabinet factory, and later an institutional food business through A.D. Seidel & Sons of Chicago. He attended John Marshall High School in Cleveland where he studied many practical topics such as mechanical drawing, metal shop, auto shop, graphic arts, and typing.
While Joseph was still in high school, his father had a massive heart attack which left him disabled and unable to work. At only 16 years old, Joseph stepped up to support his family by operating his father's food brokerage business. His work required constant travel, sleeping in hotels and living out of a suitcase. This early experience laid the foundation for the hard working, generous, creative, resilient, and resourceful entrepreneur and philanthropist that Joseph was to become.
Joseph worked in a wide variety of businesses over the subsequent years. He had a mail order business selling display materials for collectors of polished stones and gems and worked in marketing for International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT), selling telephone switchboard systems to stock brokerages and big enterprises. He worked for a safety clothing company going into places like steel mills, glass factories, and television picture tube manufacturers, and he peddled corporate vehicle leases for Hertz Corporation.
His big break in business came when he took a job introducing the first box sealing tape that was made of plastic instead of paper. He travelled around to all different sorts of companies to demonstrate the tape gun used for dispensing the tape. His favorite story from this time was when he met a successful record distributor in 1979. The old gentleman stepped out of his stretch limo wearing a fur coat and walking with a solid gold cane. He asked Joseph what was new in his life, and Joseph replied that he was expecting his first child. The man asked how many tape cartons he needed to buy so that Joseph could get $20k commission. "About $100k worth", Joseph quickly replied. And the man said "Done!".
That man's generosity helped Joseph along in founding his home fragrance business shortly thereafter, Countryside Herb Farms, in 1981, which is the business that made him his fortune. Countryside was inspired by Joseph's mother, Joan, who was an accomplished herbalist and crafted homemade potpourri as a hobby. Joseph, alongside his father and sister, built Joan's hobby into a highly profitable business, which was one of the first companies to mass produce and distribute potpourri as a luxury home fragrance product. Countryside's products could be found all across the country in the finest department stores and gift shops.
At one time, Joseph employed over 600 people and earned enough that he was able to establish his first charity foundation, the Allegheny Occupational Development Foundation, which helped people who were out of work find employment and get off welfare. He also bought a group home for United Cerebral Palsy and rebuilt their administrative headquarters. Joseph moved with his daughter Nicole to Seattle in 1988, where he was a strong patron of the Seattle arts & culture sector, for example through supporting the Seattle Repertory Theatre and the Pike Place Market Foundation. He also made a significant contribution to the work fighting against the AIDS pandemic in the 1990s.
Joseph's charity endeavors grew into the organization he ran for the rest of his life, Hesperina Group. His projects focused on education, health, economic development, and human rights. He was a particular supporter of the Friendship Foundation of American Vietnamese, which provides humanitarian aid in both Asia and the United States. Upon hearing of Joseph's passing, they have announced that they will fund 50 scholarships in his name, providing educational support for disadvantaged Vietnamese children.
Joseph achieved all of this while also being a single father to his daughter Nicole. He ensured she had a top-notch education, culminating in a Doctorate in English awarded by Royal Holloway, University of London. He was a loving and devoted father who enjoyed taking Nicole out shopping and to eat vast quantities of food, especially sushi. Nicole's favorite childhood memory of her dad is when he would come to her room and help her play with her matchbox cars. In Nicole's teen years, they enjoyed going to the movies and watching Star Trek on TV together.
In 2017, Joseph finally married his soulmate, Marisha. They moved to Michigan, living first in Kalamazoo and then in Norton Shores, where they made many friends in the local communities. Marisha works as a pediatrician and Chief Medical Officer at Muskegon Family Care.
Joseph was particularly proud of his association with the Freemasons. He was an active and devoted member and was very grateful for the many wonderful friends he made among his brothers. He was initiated as an Entered Apprentice on June 1, 2019, passed to the degree of Fellowcraft on September 21, 2020, and raised to the Sublime degree of Master Mason on July 10, 2021. He is a primary member of Grand Haven Lodge #139 and an honorary member of Kalamazoo-Anchor Lodge #22, which is the lodge from which he received his three degrees. Joseph also had lifetime memberships in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Saladin Shrine, and the Royal Arch Masons of Michigan.
Joseph is survived by his beloved wife, Marisha Agana, and her three adult children, Paulo, Mora, and Marco Lucero; his daughter and son-in-law, Nicole and Paul Edmondson, and their two sons Arthur and Henry, his beloved grandsons aged 12 and 10. They live in England, where Nicole is a regulatory affairs and risk management professional in London's financial services sector, and Paul is an IT consultant; His sister, Deborah Gyulay, lives in Wellington, Florida. She is an award-winning equestrian who trains her own dressage horses and has competed in top-level amateur competitions across the country. She is also a competitive ballroom dancer with Fred Astaire Dance Studios. Joseph was preceded in death by his parents, Joe and Joan Gyulay of Panama City Beach, Florida.
A FUNERAL MASS will be held at 12pm on Monday, December 9, 2024, at The VanZantwick Chapel of Sytsema Funeral & Cremation Services (620 Washington Avenue, Grand Haven, Michigan 49417). A Masonic Memorial Service will take place at 11am, followed by VISITATION with family prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Joseph's memory to either the Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly via Joseph's GoFundMe page, or the Michigan Masonic Charitable Foundation. To share special memories with the family and sign the online guestbook, please visit www.sytsemafh.com.