Maurice Aurell "Maurie" Janisse

Maurice "Maurie" Janisse passed away peacefully Monday, July 22nd in his home, surrounded by his loving family. He lived 92 beautiful years building a legacy that touched the lives of many, with nearly 68 of them married to the love of his life Jeanne Janisse.
Maurie was born on August 7th, 1932, in Quebec, Canada, to the late Anthony and Anne Marie Janisse, second oldest of three brothers Marcel, Andre and George. At age 4 they moved to a suburb of Detroit and became naturalized citizens where they first established their family as Janisse (previously known as Joannisse). In Detroit, Maurie began developing his skillset and love for carpentry through their family business learning the trade from his dad. Once older, Maurie was drafted into the Army for the Korean War where he served two years and was commissioned to leverage his carpentry skills building cabinets.
Returning from his service, Maurie's mother made the decision to set him up with a beautiful girl she worked with at J.L. Hudson's, Jeanne. When Maurie showed up, Jeanne's Mother told her "That's the one", which resulted in Maurie forever referring to their story, jokingly and lovingly, as an "arranged marriage". After two years of dating, they married on September 1st, 1956, to begin their epic love story which lasted nearly 68 years.
During their engagement Maurie put his woodworking skills to practice once again and built their first home together in Lake Orion using lumber he found and restored from surrounding neighborhoods. Maurie built their first home next to his brother, Andy, which began a life-long tradition of raising their families together, side by side.
While living in Lake Orion, Maurie and Jeanne welcomed their first seven children into the family. In 1968, they headed north to Roscommon where they transformed their small rustic cabin into a new family home, where three more children were born. Here is where Maurie and Jeanne's ten children were influenced by the creativity and playfulness of their father. Maurie was known for the thoughtful and creative gifts he would hand select for each child at Christmas, always gifting something that would encourage their imagination and creativity. He built a train set that wound through the entire house, finding its way through the kids closets and weaving in and out of walls. Even music was a staple in the house, with a speaker system installed throughout every bedroom playing lullaby music at night for the kids.
To raise and support his wife and ten children, Maurie leveraged his craftsmanship once again, working alongside his brother, Andy, at their construction company. Their first major project was installing a roof on the local Sunoco station to replace a leaky one that no craftsman prior could figure out how to fix. Maurie was known for his engineering mindset and ability to solve any challenge presented.
This led to the creation of Maurie and Andy's new business endeavor, the infamous Janisse family sawmill. It all began with a Kaiser-Frazer car sent to Jeanne by her father. Maurie had other plans for it, deconstructed it and transformed it into their first sawmill. The business began by milling lumber for construction and evolved to manufacturing pallet materials. Any scraps would be made into wood chips or sawdust and sold to local companies. A true best in class production that was only made possible by help from Jeanne, their children, and his brother Andy's whole family, all playing an integral role in the family legacy and business which supported two families for nearly 30 years.
In 1999, they closed the family business to begin the next chapter of Maurie's craftsman years, continuing his passion of woodworking. Maurie was known for his ability to build anything; cabinets, furniture, benches for the library, bunk beds for neighbors, armoires, and any special project that was presented to him. Tell him what you want, and he could build it, and he could make it better than ever imagined. His legacy was rounded out with his signature piece, making countless coat trees for his family and friends.
Maurie will forever be remembered for his radiant smile, quick wit and sense of humor, French- Canadian trait of talking with his arms crossed and most importantly the classiest and most kind gentleman to all who had the pleasure of knowing him. He left a legacy that will live on for generations to come through his 10 children, 28 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren all of their spouses and many other loved ones he was close to. A legacy of 92 years that will continue to live on through memories, stories, laughter and love.
He is survived by the love of his life, wife Jeanne (Shay) Janisse; children, Reese (Jaime) Janisse, Julie (Doug) White, Jerry (Mary Beth) Janisse, Tom (Julie) Janisse, Ginger (Mark) Webster, Marcel (Theresa) Janisse, Roger (Angie) Janisse, Jenny (Marty) Murphy, Chris (Jeri Ann) Janisse, Jeff (Danielle) Janisse; 28 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. Predeceased by his parents, three brothers, and in-laws Albert and Virginia Shay.
A funeral service will be held at 11:00am on Thursday, July 25th at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Roscommon. A visitation will begin at 10:00am. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Hospice or an organization of choice in Maurie's Honor.
For those unable to attend in person, the service will be livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/wagnerandwalshfuneraldirectors
Arrangements have been entrusted to Wagner and Walsh Funeral Directors, Roscommon.